North Hempstead Town Board Regular Meeting – July 7, 2026

The Town of North Hempstead Town Board met at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in the Town Board Meeting Room at Town Hall, Manhasset, New York. The meeting opened with a ceremony honoring volunteer firefighters for a residential rescue, followed by public comments and unanimous adoption of the agenda’s resolutions. All votes were 6–0, with Councilmember Dalimonte absent.

Ceremonial Recognition

• The board presented proclamations to volunteer firefighters who responded to a house fire in Roslyn Heights on Father’s Day evening, June 21, 2026. Firefighters described finding and removing a woman from the home; she was transported to a hospital and survived. Board members and speakers thanked the volunteers, noted the rescued woman’s family was able to proceed with an upcoming wedding, and emphasized that the volunteer fire service keeps town taxes from rising significantly.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Multiple residents, including Denise Hill, spoke in support of Councilman Troiano’s proposed resolution concerning town communications and mailers, asking the board to set a hearing date. They criticized glossy town mailers featuring the Supervisor and official town social media posts expressing positions on national and foreign issues, calling this inappropriate use of taxpayer-funded resources. Mr. Nicolello, responding to a question, said board members vote on resolutions setting hearing dates and noted no such hearing-date resolution had failed since he joined the board in 2024.
• Cat and animal welfare advocates, including Stuart Kroll and Gloria Grafer, urged the board to establish a town cat shelter, stating North Hempstead is the only town on Long Island without one. They cited the dog shelter’s roughly $1 million annual budget, the $57 dog adoption fee, and inadequate spay/neuter and TNR services, and asked board members for support; board members did not respond directly during the comment period.
• Carol Lentner of Great Neck Terrace requested help with daily leaf blower noise from apartment-complex maintenance, describing levels over 100 decibels. Councilwoman Liu noted the town’s leaf blower ban is in effect from June 15 to September 15, advised calling 311 and public safety with the company name and schedule, and took her information for follow-up.
• Michael O’Donnell supported the proposed Union Turnpike no-commercial-parking ordinance, asked about residential fence height limits, and urged town outreach to the Islamic Center following a lawsuit settlement that he said cost the town about $500,000. A board member disagreed with his suggestion that the town treated that matter differently than it would have treated a similar Jewish institution.

Consent Calendar

• The board adopted the consent calendar containing agenda items 1–10, 12–19, 21–34, 36, and 37 by a unanimous vote. These included public hearing dates for August 11, 2026 at 7:00 PM on:
  • Ming C. Cheung’s appeal of the Building Department’s disapproval of a residential dock application at 200 The Tideway, Plandome Heights. The proposed work would extend the existing 4-foot by 108-foot pier by 100 feet, making the total pier 208 feet, and add a boat lift bringing total dock width to 21 feet.
  • Tabs Motors of Valley Stream Corp.’s special use permit application to redevelop the 12,627 sq ft (.29 acre) site at 200 Hillside Avenue, New Hyde Park with a 1,250 sq ft convenience store and a self-service BP gas station with eight pumps under a 2,088 sq ft canopy.
  • Tabs Motors’ application to install two 12,000-gallon double-wall fiberglass-reinforced plastic underground fuel storage tanks at the same property.
  • The unsafe building/demolition hearing for the property at 76 Lee Avenue, Albertson.
  • A proposed reserved parking space in front of 41 Madison Avenue, New Hyde Park.
  • An ordinance prohibiting commercial parking from 7 AM to 7 PM on Union Turnpike between Lakeville Road and New Hyde Park Road.
• Other consent items included supplemental budget appropriations of $284, $9,687, and $2,059; grant applications to the ZBGA program (up to $100,000 per year for three years for Clark Memorial Botanic Garden), the NY PLAYS program ($520,000 with a $130,000 town match for Martin “Bunky” Reid Park playground renovations), and the CREST program ($500,000 with no local match for 13 EV charging stations); bid awards to Zo-Air Company, Denis O’Regan Electrical, Gershow Recycling, The Metro Group, and S&F Supplies; agreements including the Bayview Colony Club easement, CIPCO emergency fencing ($6,329), a LIPA easement ($13,800), D&B Engineers for North Hempstead Beach Park utility improvements ($114,450), an articulating lift rental for Tully Park ($2,993.55), LiRo Engineers for Town Dock replacement construction management ($256,140), NV5 for a Caemmerer Park feasibility study ($54,940), Met Sales bathroom partitions ($6,100), Berkman Henoch legal services at $250 per hour, and the Village of Old Westbury Police for the STOP program ($1,952); amendments, software maintenance purchases, property address assignments, Parks and Recreation supervisory arrangements, claim settlements of $400 and $395.17, and firefighter membership changes.

Discussion Items

• Town Dock Reconstruction Award (Item 11): The board authorized the award of DPW Project 19-03 for reconstruction of the Town Dock in Port Washington to H&L Contracting LLC for $11,980,549, after rejecting the apparent low bidder, Pioneer Landscaping & Asphalt, as nonresponsive. Supervisor DeSena said the project is almost entirely grant-funded, with FEMA funds supported by Senator Chuck Schumer, and will include stormwater-capturing landscaping. The motion passed 6–0.
• North Hempstead Beach Park Utility Improvements (Item 20): The board authorized a $114,450 agreement with D&B Engineers and Architects, DPC for professional services related to utility improvements at North Hempstead Beach Park. The Supervisor noted the survey of water, electric, and septic infrastructure should have been done after Nassau County transferred the park to the town in 2007. Councilman Troiano commented on the park’s long-neglected conditions. The motion passed 6–0.
• Personnel Resolution (Item 35): The board approved the personnel resolution covering employment, appointments, salary changes, merit raises, and separations in various town departments. Supervisor DeSena struck item number five—a seasonal clerk-typist hire whose candidate was no longer interested—before the vote. The motion passed 6–0.

Key Outcomes

• All 37 agenda resolutions were adopted. Agenda items 11, 20, and 35 were considered individually; the rest were approved on the consent calendar.
• Public hearings were scheduled for August 11, 2026 at 7:00 PM for the dock appeal, the Tabs Motors special use permit and underground tank applications, the 76 Lee Avenue unsafe building matter, the 41 Madison Avenue reserved parking space, and the Union Turnpike commercial parking ordinance.
• The board authorized grant applications to ZBGA, NY PLAYS, and CREST, and awarded or ratified numerous construction, professional services, and equipment contracts.
• Personnel actions were approved as modified by the struck item. Discrepancy note: the written minutes still list approval of William Auger as a seasonal clerk-typist in item 5, despite Supervisor DeSena’s statement striking that item during the meeting; the record does not reconcile this conflict.
• Discrepancy note: some resolution result blocks in the minutes show “AYES: None” even though the accompanying roll call and transcript record unanimous 6–0 approval; this appears to be a formatting error.