The East Hills Board of Trustees discussed the installation of heaters in the community pool, a sales pitch from a company that creates local government apps, a potential summer concert series in the village and possible renovations to the mezzanine at a meeting Monday night.
Mayor Michael Koblenz swore in Associate Justice Peter Zuckerman Monday. Koblenz also swore in incumbent trustees Clara Pomerantz and Manny Zuckerman for another term.
The Board of Trustees awarded the lowest bid from a heating company to install new pool heaters in the village pool. Three bids were made to install the new heaters. The winning bid was from Paul Yonkers Plumbing and Heating Inc. at a cost of $36,450.
Board members heard a presentation from a GOGov salesman. GOGov is a national software company headquartered in Patchogue that specializes in communication between local government officials and residents.
The salesman, Kevin Strauss, pitched a mobile app for the town of East Hills that residents could download through the Apple or Google Play app store. The app would be a streamlined means of village communications and board members could choose which items from the village website should live in the app.
The app could be used for event announcements, road blockage alerts and so on. Residents could receive alerts through push notifications via the app or by signing up for an email list.
The annual cost of the GOGov app for the village would be $4,260, according to Strauss. Board members did not issue a decision on whether they would sign on for the app.
Trustee Stacy Siegel discussed the possibility of hosting a summer concert series in East Hills to draw more residents to the village center.
“Morgan Park in Glen Cove has Sunday concerts all summer and they are packed and it’s a beautiful-looking location, so [it would be] sort of mimicking that here,” Siegel said.
She proposed holding three Sunday concerts at the great lawn in East Hills this summer. She suggested the concerts be held at 4 p.m.
“Parents won’t have to worry about dinner. Just come to the park with the food trucks or caterer,” Siegel said.
Different names were thrown around during the discussion of who should perform, such as Billy Joel concert drummer Mike DelGuidice and 1980s tribute band Jessie’s Girl. The estimated cost to hire musicians for the concerts would be between $6,000 to $8,000 per concert, Siegel estimated.
The concert plans are tentative.
Board members are also discussing possible renovations to the village mezzanine.
Trustees heard a presentation last year on the estimated cost of knocking down the mezzanine and rebuilding a new one. Since it was a high estimated cost, board members heard a presentation Monday night on the cost of renovating the existing theater structure and building an addition.
The cost of renovations to the existing structure is an estimated $1.9 million, but board members noted that the cost in reality would be much higher due to design costs and other costs not included in the presentation.
These are preliminary estimates and the board is still in the early stages of discussing a mezzanine revamp. If board members decide to renovate the theater, resident taxes would not be raised to cover the costs, according to Koblenz. He pointed out that village taxes have not increased in 13 years.
The next Board of Trustees meeting is April 17 at 5:30 p.m. at 209 Harbor Hill Rd., East Hills.