Village of North Hills trustees approved spending $42,000 Wednesday to move forward on four planned speed radar signs on two village roads.
The Board of Trustees approved a $24,000 bid from Welsbach Electric of Flushing, Queens, for the installation of four speed-radar signs — two on Shelter Rock Road and two on Searingtown Road near their intersections with the Long Island Expressway and Northern State Parkway.
Trustees also approved an $18,096 state contract to purchase the equipment, including three speed-radar signs and four steel poles.
Building Supervisor Donald Alberto said the Town of North Hempstead’s state contract expired last year, but a contract is still in effect in Buffalo.
Mayor Marvin Natiss said while the aluminum poles are about one-third of the cost of the steel options, Nassau County requires the signs be installed on steel poles.
“The county is requiring the steel poles instead of the aluminum poles, which would be a lot less expensive,” Natiss said. “We have to comply with what the county wants.”
The fourth speed-radar sign, Alberto said, was being donated to the village by the town and would be delivered when ready.
According to the bid, Welsbach will be able to pour the concrete in one day, which must cure for 28 days per Nassau County regulations, and install the signs within three days.
During the installation, the right traffic lane will be closed near the site.
In other business, Natiss warned homeowner Manheet Singh, who has been given multiple building permit extensions, that the most recent extension would be the
Willets Road in North Hills has been under construction since 2013.
(Photo by Rebecca Klar)
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re not getting any more extensions from me,” Natiss said, who has visited the property every day for the past two weeks. “If you don’t finish this job before the time is up, don’t file for a new permit because I’ve been there every single day and you’re not there. I’m there more often than you are. If it was my job, I would have had it finished two months ago.”
The permit expires on June 4, Natiss said, and he does not plan to extend the permit again. Natiss also he has seen little work since the permit was most recently renewed for 45 days in April.
During the meeting, Singh learned he had also been issued a violation from the village for his grass and weeds being too high, and Alberto said the area needed to be cut as soon as possible.
Shortly before the Wednesday meeting, Deputy Mayor Dennis Sgambati and Trustee Elliott Arnold visited the home, and Sgambati said much of the work still remaining should have been done weeks ago to finish by early June.
Singh, who has been working on the home at 90 I.U. Willets Road since November of 2013, said the extended cold weather and the coordination of the electricians, plumbers and installers was slowing his progress.
Sgambati asked if Singh hired a contractor to organize the workers, and Singh said he did not.
“If I don’t see anything happening, I can’t recommend a further extension,” Natiss said. “I don’t see you making progress, and it’s embarrassing to this village.”
