On a surprisingly hot and humid late May evening, people were craning theirs necks as they rode up and down East Shore Road, wondering why two dozen people were plunked down outside an office building, complete with a large free-standing American flag. If you were one of those wondering, the unusual sight was the Great Neck Village Officials Association's May meeting, forced out to the steps of Thomaston Village Hall due to an air conditioning malfunction. Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman addressed local officials, calling for "participation" and announcing plans to begin a "visioning" for Great Neck.

Mr. Kaiman began by discussing his office of intermunicipal coordination, now under the directorship of Rafe Lieber. The goal is getting everyone together (villages, school districts, etc.), all in the same room, to discuss options dealing with working together. Villages, he said, may participate as much as they want.

"We can save others money," Mr. Kaiman said. One quick example the supervisor presented was a school district that saved $100,000 by hiring the town to pave driveways. "I have salt, we buy in bulk; we can salt (during snowstorms) for school districts and save them money by only charging what we pay," Mr. Kaiman said.

As far as emergency management goes, Mr. Kaiman called the GNVOA a model for the town, and added that "We can get even more money, maybe more federal grants, if we work together."

Taking participation and working together one step further, Mr. Kaiman reported that the town is "partnering" with Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman and County Assessor Harvey Levinson regarding the issue of special districts and audits. "We are just seeing if the numbers add up, not how they are spending; this is just to give a comfort level," Mr. Kaiman stated.

And then the town supervisor broached the subject of a "visioning," a public planning process, for Great Neck, similar to the recent, highly successful visioning in Port Washington. Both Mr. Kaiman and some of those in the group noted the overall public satisfaction and success of the Port Washington effort.

In Port Washington, Mr. Kaiman reported that thousands of residents came out to discuss the future of the Port peninsula, with lots of meetings, studies and planners working. Meetings were held at several different spots, including the senior center, and questionnaires were distributed. The town asked the public for priorities, and especially addressed traffic, density and pollution, as well as some frustration with the workings of government.

"We gave people a public forum," Mr. Kaiman said, adding, "If we all have the same information, we tend to come to the same decisions."

Mr. Kaiman said that the town wants to do the same for the Great Neck peninsula, with $100,000 already set aside to begin. The plan is now to begin with traffic and parking studies. "We will be partnering with Nassau County," Mr. Kaiman said. "Tom Suozzi is inclined to help us match our funds and Lisanne Altmann is helping too." And he then said that a main concern is traffic calming on the main corridors in Great Neck.

According to the supervisor, visioning should also touch on work-force housing, water and environmental issues, and emergency management.

Mr. Kaiman went on to report that they are now in the process of obtaining a lot of state and federal grants. "I hope the villages and the districts and all will want to join."

The visioning is expected to begin next year. "This is a long-term goal; a plan we will implement in this mature suburban community," Mr. Kaiman stated.

Mr. Kaiman also touched on the town's new 311 system, a hotline for town residents, the first such suburban system in the country. Residents can call with questions and they are directed to the right departments. The system went into service in November and there have been 10,000 calls. The town would now like to see a window for each department and for the villages and special districts, so residents will have even greater ease reaching the one who can answer the question.

Returning to the visioning concept, Mr. Kaiman reminded the gathered local officials that "There are opportunities out there; this is the trend of the future." He continued, stating that "Great Neck is ahead of the curve with the GNVOA."

For visioning in Great Neck, Mr. Kaiman said that the community needs to focus on certain issues, and he hopes to begin by tackling a traffic and parking study.