New Hyde Park residents can expect to see some changes to some of their parks in the coming years as part of the Town of North Hempstead’s 2019-23 capital plan. The plan, which was approved late last year, includes the creation of a brand new dog park, a new parking lot for Clinton G. Martin Park as well as improvements to Michael J. Tully Park.
The town’s capital plan will continue to focus on allocating funds to address the town’s critically important infrastructure, which include funds for roads, drainage and sidewalk improvements. The capital plan also includes funding to address facilities and equipment throughout the town that will lead to more efficient service delivery.
The General Fund five-year Capital Plan includes $102.9 million of infrastructure investment. The town will fund the 2019 expenditures with $18 million of additional long-term borrowing, after accounting for grants and existing funding. In developing the plan, the town took into account grants that have already been awarded—assuming that federal and state grant funding will continue in future years. The town said that they would be aggressive in applying for all possible additional grants to reduce the costs of projects to town taxpayers.
The capital plan includes total infrastructure investment of $33.3 million with $7.1 million of additional long-term debt to fund projects in 2019.
The construction of a dog park at Michael J. Tully Park is expected to begin early this year. The project would create a dog park for town residents, which would include fencing and equipment purchases. The construction of the new dog park costs $380,000 while operating maintenance costs may increase slightly at Michael J. Tully Park due to the additional amenity.
Clinton G. Martin Park’s parking lot will also be reconstructed under the town’s plan. The reconstruction project will provide new drainage and lighting as well as a repaved parking lot. The new parking lot will reduce annual repair costs for the town.
Besides the new dog park, Michael J. Tully Park, which will be receiving more than $10 million in investments, will be facing other general improvements. The changes will provide funding for various capital improvements at the park, which includes the replacement of the turf field at the stadium and the reconstruction of the existing handball courts. The project will also provide funding to evaluate and repair drainage issues at the softball fields.
I-Park off of Union Turnpike will also see the replacement of the two natural grass fields with two synthetic turf fields, which will take place in 2020-21 with the cost of a little more than $1 million.
FEMA will also be funding projects for Michael J. Tully Park from damages that occurred from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
