WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. December 20, 2006: As reported by WPCNR this morning, in Executive Session this evening, the Common Council did indeed consider the appointment of Deputy City Assessor Lloyd Tasch to the position of Acting Assessor and approved it in resolutions offered at the conclusion of the Executive Session. Councilmembers would not comment on other matters discussed, or whether a search for an Assessor was continuing while Mr. Tasch filled in. Last week, the city choice for Assessor, a high profile candidate who had been offered the job, turned it down citing commuting issues.

North Street Community OLD Parameters in Red outline, New configuration of North Street Community in Dark, as outlined by Alfred Caiola of North Street Community Wednesday evening.

In other action this evening, the council heard a new proposal from North Street Community which trims the  number of luxury condominium units from 390 down to 353, raising the minimum age of possible residents to 60, and eliminating 38,000 square feet of office rental in exchange for more "assisted living" units in the former St. Agnes Hospital building. The maximum heights of the four residential buildings have been trimmed from seven stories to a maximum of five stories and the four main residential buildings have been redesigned to be more "cornered" with multiple courtyards, and moved 75 feet farther away from the Wyndham Close property, substantially reducing the visibility of the project from the Bryant Avenue residential sites. All parking would be underground.

  Alfred Caiola, one of the four principals in the North Street Community property, said his costs had escalated substantially, and that they were fast approaching the point where more scaling down of the senior luxury condominium project would make it not feasible. Mr. Caiola told WPCNR the luxury condominium senior living units would still be offered from $450,000 to $900,000.

Manelaos Rizoulis, the President of the Wyndham Close Association remained resolute in his opposition to the project, which though the new design was better, he told WPCNR "it's still too big. Too dense."

Rizoulis has maintained since September  that Wyndham Close would be supportive of the project if it were scaled back by about half. "Half" to Mr. Rizoulis, he said, was defined as one half of the 390 independent condominium units proposed plus the 40 asssisted living units and 80 long-term care units proposed for the former St. Agnes Hospital building.  Rizoulis told the CitizeNetReporter his idea of "half" of this figure would make for 230 units.  Rizoulis said this would be acceptable to Wyndham Close.