Mayor Wendell Tripp expects a majority of the board of trustees to vote to approve the memorandum of understanding between the village and the Friends of Doubleday when he calls a special session of the board in the coming days.

"My guess is the majority will vote to authorize the mayor to sign it," he said Tuesday afternoon. "I would be astounded if the trustees did not authorize it. This will give them a clear go-ahead to sell pavers."

Tripp has often voiced his opposition to the plan which calls for the Friends to sell personalized paving bricks to raise money for renovations to the grandstand and create an endowment fund to help provide for the future of Doubleday Field.

The village board and the Ohio-based not-for-profit organization have discussed the proposal since it was first introduced to the board in August 1999. Last summer, the board asked the Friends to halt the sale of the personalized pavers until a formal agreement between the two parties could be worked out.

During last week's board meeting, the mayor commented that village attorney Gar Gozigian had completed his review of the document and had some reservations about it.

Most of the changes the attorney suggested were minor, Tripp said, but Gozigian was also concerned about the termination clause of the memorandum. It appeared even if the village wanted to withdraw, it would not be possible because of commitments contained in the agreement.

Trustee Stuart Taugher, the Doubleday Field committee chairman, recommended during the meeting that the mayor forward the attorney's concerns to the Friends of Doubleday and work out the differences as soon as possbile.

Tripp said he had spoken with Friends executive director Thom Lach since the meeting and that Lach had agreed to the changes suggested by Gozigian.

Like the mayor, Gozigian did have some general reservations about the entire agreement and that the village was committing itself to a very long and complex process.

"As far as I'm concerned this will be very time consuming and I think the time could be better spent on things like sewer, water and the streets," he said, adding, "I hope it goes smoothly and that the money is raised and everybody lives happily ever after."