East Williston trustees unanimously decided to move forward on a proposal to install six surveillance cameras to cover Devlin Field and their tennis courts on Monday night, following sporadic incidents of vandalism.
Trustee James Iannone, the board’s liaison to East Williston Little League, which uses the field, said Devlin Field has been the subject of “sporadic incidents” of vandalism like a damaged fence and a stolen pitching mound.
“Ultimately what we want to do here is keep our park vandalism free because it is something we take pride in,” Iannone said on Tuesday. “It’s a beautiful field and we don’t want to see it vandalized.”
Michael Delury, the village treasurer, said the total cost of the project – which includes the six cameras, software, hardware and associated installation costs – would be $37,458.21.
Mayor David Tanner said they have been eying different measures and that the price of what they wanted to do has changed over time. The village got a few different bids for the project, added onto the project and been involved in re-negotiations, before reaching this final price.
These cameras differ from past ones they’ve used in that they are more high definition and have more coverage area, Tanner said.
“It’s taken us awhile to get the right solution,” Tanner said.
Iannone said the Little League’s volunteers have both helped take care of the field – whether it’s through storm repairs, putting speedy dry on the field and managing the turf – and made a difference to the community.
“These are members of our community that step up with their time and concern for the community by taking an interest,” Iannone said. “It’s more than just coaching for them.”
Iannone said when the fence was damaged, the East Williston Little League president reached out to him and expressed willingness to assist in whatever way they could.
“But it is our village field and like I said, we looked into the matter, we budgeted a certain amount of money, we explored different proposals and ultimately the proposal that we went with, we think it’s going to be the best one to provide security for both the Little League field and the tennis courts,” Iannone said, adding that he hopes it serves as a deterrent for would-be vandals.
The timeline for the camera system’s installation is unclear.
