Village of Great Neck receives 11 proposals to construct new village hall

Robert Pelaez
The Village of Great Neck received 11 proposals to construct a new village hall at 756 Middle Neck Road. (Photo from the Island Now archives)

The Village of Great Neck has received 11 proposals for the construction of a new village hall, according to village Clerk Abraham Cohan.

The proposals were required to be submitted to the village by 4:30 p.m. on Friday. In November, the village’s Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution authorizing Mayor Pedram Bral to purchase property at 756 Middle Neck Road for a new village hall.

No specific details were provided by village officials on who submitted the proposals, but  Bral said some were as long as 55 pages. He stressed that the village must take due diligence on the proposals before making a decision and deciding how the village will finance the project.

“The proposals are very lengthy, some about 55 pages, so we have to look at them, see what makes sense, which one of these architects will be elected to the job and who’s going to be the developer and the builder,” Bral said. “All those things are really important for us to know the exact cost and how we will make the decision on how we will exactly pay for it.”

Bral said most of the financing for the new village hall will come from selling the current Village Hall. Bral did not commit to raising taxes or obtaining a bond to help finance the project as there are “different moving parts” village officials have to take into consideration before providing more specifics.

“I think one of the things we need to see before we can really answer the question is what is going to be the cost of many different parts,” Bral said. “It has to do with how much it’s going to cost and how much money we have. Most of it will come to us from selling the current Village Hall.”

Deputy Mayor Bart Sobel said partial bonds and partial funding from other revenue sources present more options to finance the project.

“Sound municipal finance would dictate that building a village hall that’s going to last for the next 50 years or more would probably call for at least partial being bonded so that the cost is spread out,” Sobel said.

Village resident David Zielenziger expressed concern about the village’s ability to handle all of the work in the current environment.

“This is a big deal, and I am somewhat concerned that this may be a bigger deal than you folks are able to handle right now,” he said.

Bral said he would not rule out hiring a consulting firm after the village reviews all the proposals.

On another issue, Cohan said the most recent quote the village received to digitize files in the Building Department was $228,000. In terms of potential grants that the village could use, he said, “We are looking into that, but I haven’t found anywhere that they still offer any grants or anything to the village.” 

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