By Andrew Coen
Atlantic Beach is the third Nassau County community, along with Bayville and Manorhaven, to have the system, and the first on the South Shore.
We used to think about how we could alert everybody on a block in an emergency, and now we don't need to, said Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler at the July 14 Village Board of Trustees meeting.
The system cost $2,600 to set up with an estimated four lines, but it is undetermined how much the calls will end up costing. Their cost will determine how many are made. I'll have to see what the costs are before we decide how many messages we'll send, said Mahler.
The main purpose of the system is to let residents know about emergencies, but it will also be used for announcements and reminders. A phone will ring and a pre-recorded message of any announcement, like that of an upcoming village board meeting, will play. Or in the case of an emergency, an evacuation announcement will be made. The main purpose is for hurricane evacuations, said Mahler.
Mahler, who is the second vice president of the Nassau County Village Officials Association (NCVOA), got the idea at a NCVOA meeting last year. It's a great organization, because you get to mingle and exchange ideas with other mayors in Nassau County, he said. One idea that came up was this phone system, and it struck me that for an island community, it was ideal. This is an ideal solution at a
relatively low cost.
Vicky Siegal, NCVOA president and mayor of Bayville, was the first to implement the system in 1997. Bayville, on Nassau County's north shore, faces coastal emergency concerns similar to Atlantic Beach but has a larger population, at 9,500. Atlantic Beach's population is about 2,000.
Siegal thinks the system has been a success. It's worked out wonderfully, because our village is prone to storms, and this gives our residents a sense of security, she said. I would not do without that system.
It cost Bayville $7,000 to set up the system. It's the best $7,000 I've spent, Siegal said.
Siegal got the idea for the system from her husband during a 1996 winter storm. During the storm we did not have the ability to address all the residents except from a loudspeaker, and my husband said, ÔWhy can't we get a system that the telemarketers have?' she recalled.
Warren Tattenberg, NCVOA's executive director and a former mayor of New Hyde Park, presented the idea along with Siegal at a NCVOA meeting last year. I brought it to the NCVOA because I thought it would be a logical way for villages to get in contact with the residents, especially in coastal communities like Atlantic Beach, said Tattenberg. I think it's something that can serve them well.
Whether the phone system catches on in non-coastal communities on Long Island remains to be seen. I think it's something that they can benefit [from], said Tattenberg. Whether it's financially possible is another story. Some interior communities might decide it's not as much of a necessity.
The Atlantic Beach Board of Trustees approved the money for the phone system at the Oct. 15, 2002, village board meeting. The first call to go out from the new system was made on July 3, to inform residents about a change in the garbage pickup schedule because of the Fourth of July holiday. A message was also sent out informing residents of the July 14 village board meeting.
