Village Hall receives planting makeover in Village of Great Neck

A makeover at Village Hall in the Village of Great Neck could signal the start of further beautification projects in the village.
Last Friday and Saturday, Great Neck-based Garden Plus Designs placed various plantings around Village Hall to improve the building’s look, said Jean Pierce, a resident who spearheaded the landscaping effort.
“It’s the start of an improvement of our village,” Pierce said. “Let’s hope it can continue to spread throughout our village and make it a welcoming and nice place.”
 In June, she said, she spoke with Mayor Pedram Bral about improving Village Hall’s exterior appearance.
Pierce said along with Village Trustee Anne Mendelson, she sought out a local company to landscape Village Hall.
After receiving two bids, she said the Board of Trustees approved Garden Plus Design’s $4,000 bid.
The company planted various types of plants and trees, including blue spruces, hydrangeas, green arborvitae, golden hinoki cypress and more.
“It’s an improvement, it’s a start, it’s been long overdue,” Pierce said. “And now maybe we can add to it and get it in better shape.”
She said she wanted to help  make Village Hall look more aesthetically pleasing as it is a frequent destination for residents.
“People were coming to pay the village tickets and summonses for their messy gardens,” Pierce said. “Can you imagine them coming up to pay their summonses because their property was not maintained and they saw that mess?”
Village Clerk-Treasurer Joe Gill said the board was pleased with improving the aesthetics of Village Hall and was having discussions on other areas that could be further beautified.
Gill said the median strip on Middle Neck Road was an area that the board has considered landscaping, but there were limitations because the road is owned by Nassau County.
“If it’s our road, then we can say ‘OK, let’s do it,’” he said. “But as the road itself is a county road that limits what we can do with the median, but we would like to beautify that too.”
Gill said that while specific locations and plans have not been discussed, the village has about $400,000 in its community benefit fund, which could be used for  beautification.
In order to ensure that the village continues to look more pleasing for residents and others visiting the area, Pierce said, it would take a group of village officials, business owners and residents to complete the effort.
“It’s just that nobody is taking charge and saying this is what were going to do,” she said. “We need to have a plan and follow through with it.”