Attorney Kathleen Deegan Dickson presenting to the North Hempstead Town Board the details of London Jewelers’ third floor addition
Cameryn Oakes
The North Hempstead Town Board OK’d seven bond resolutions Tuesday, amounting to a total of $8.7 million for various capital projects throughout the town.
The board approved the bond resolution for one special district capital project of $1,600,000 for LED streetlights through the North Hempstead Lighting District.
The remaining six bonds were $580,000 for various town facility improvements, $3.4 million for town park improvements, $403,868 additional funds for roof replacement at the Department of Public Works building on Denton Avenue, $1.46 million additional funds for improvements to the solid waste management facility, $737,272 for equipment and vehicles and $450,000 for various project design plans.
The bond resolutions kicked off the spending for the town’s 2025-2029 Capital Plan, which the board adopted on Jan. 8. The plan encompasses a myriad of projects from infrastructure, parks and building improvements, serving as a collection of projects the town has earmarked for the next five years.
In other news, the town board also discussed the potential addition of alternate members to the town’s Board of Zoning Appeals to ensure the board has a quorum or full board for scheduled public hearings.
The purpose of the alternate member would be to fill the place of an absent board member. Deputy Town Attorney Deborah Algios said this would prevent hearings from being canceled due to a lack of a quorum or ensure a full board for more complex issues on the docket.
“We never want to be put in the situation where we don’t have that quorum,” Algios said. “Where applicants for a particular meeting have gone through all the noticing, they’ve arranged all their experts, they’ve spent a lot of money preparing and getting ready for their hearing and then, last minute, we don’t have a quorum. We never want to be put in that situation.”
Council Member Robert Troiano said he was concerned that alternate members would disrupt the continuity of public hearings if different members were hearing and acting on a certain application.
Algios said alternates would still be responsible to read up on the application and visit the site if called to the board, and main members who miss a hearing would be expected to review the material they missed.
Alternate members would be permitted to vote, but Algios said the board could also choose to continue the hearing to conduct a vote with its main board members.
Another concern Troiano expressed was the cost this could incur for taxpayers, with an estimated maximum yearly amount set at $30,000.
Algios said the cost of an alternate member would prevent additional costs for an applicant who may schedule for an attorney or an engineer to be present at a hearing that is then canceled due to a lack of a quorum. She said this has not happened over the past five years.
Troiano argued the town has more of a responsibility to protect the taxpayers, not the applicants. Algios said many times applicants are also residents.
Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena asked if it were possible to remove the additional cost for an alternate member by removing the $600 hearing stipend from the absent member to be transferred to the alternate member who takes their place. Currently, members are still paid even if they do not attend a hearing.
Algios said it is something she can look into. The board opted to continue the hearing until next month while Algios investigates the stipends.
The board did vote to approve an application for the Manhasset Americana’s London Jewelers to add an additional third floor to its building, which would include a terrace. Attorney Kathleen Deegan Dickson said the expansion would be to elevate the experience for its customers, but was designed not to impact neighboring residents. She said no comments were made when the plans were presented to the Village of Munsey Park.