The North Hempstead Town Board unanimously approved a five-year capital plan last week that calls for $111 million in spending.
Projects highlighted in the plan include site improvements for the 9/11 Memorial site construction at Manhasset Valley Park, pool rehabilitation at Martin “Bunky” Reid Park, and engineering services for the first phase of the North Hempstead Beach Park visioning project. Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth touted the need for the improvements in the plan, which covers from 2020 to 2024, despite some not being as glamorous or visually enticing as others.
“This year’s five-year capital plan continues to focus on a wide variety of infrastructure projects for the Town,” Bosworth said in a statement last Wednesday. “As any homeowner knows, most maintenance projects are not glamorous, but they are very necessary and that is what we try to address with our five-year capital plan. It is our goal to keep the Town structurally sound and safe and to maintain a great quality of life into the future. We will also be concentrating on environmental projects including the installation of a vehicle wash station at our Roslyn Highway Yard.”
According to the plan, $78 million will be paid for through bonds, and the rest will come from government grants, available cash from prior borrowings and funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
The town will also spend over $20 million for the maintenance and resurfacing of industrial and residential roads and an additional $4.5 million for concrete road improvements over the next five years.
The plan allocated $1.7 million to drainage repairs, with no additional systems to be introduced despite the lack of drains on Plandome Road.
Continuing renovations for the parking lot of Clinton G. Martin Park, the pier and dock at Stepping Stone Lighthouse, and various environmentally friendly projects at Whitney Pond Park were also featured in the plan.
Other park improvements featured are the installation of a new playground at Charles Fuschillo Park, a Leeds Pond culvert rehabilitation project, and a feasibility study for the water management system at the Solid Waste Management Authority landfills and Harbor Links Golf Course.
The capital plan will also fund a project for the town’s Building Department to digitize all property records, historical documents, deeds, drawings, certificates of occupancy and more. The project will safeguard the records in the event of a natural disaster such as a flood or fire and will make them accessible to be viewed online by residents. The cost of this project will be $2.6 million over five years.
The plans for the first phase of the North Hempstead Beach Park project were revealed to the public in January, highlighted by outdoor dining, a motocross track, kayaking and an outdoor waterpark.
As for the 9/11 memorial, the town has allocated $100,000 for each of the next five years to place a 19-foot-tall steel beam from one of the World Trade Center towers in the park.
