The Village of North Hills Board of Trustees discussed new village entrance signs at its meeting Wednesday night, while delaying an ongoing public hearing for the Seventh-Day Adventists church until its September meeting.

Mayor Marvin Natiss said the village has been looking into replacing the village’s entrance signs.

At the board’s July meeting, Superintendent of Buildings Peter Cinquemani presented the board with proposals from companies that would make the village’s new signs.

The board said the proposal costs were higher than they liked and requested Cinquemani to seek out additional proposals.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Cinquemani told the board that he had been communicating with another sign company that was going to submit a proposal, but no new proposals were submitted to the village prior to the meeting.

Cinquemani said he consulted a friend with a sign company about the pricing proposals the village was receiving, who told Cinquemani that the type of sign the village was requesting requires additional labor that increases the pricing.

Cinquemani said his friend suggested the board implement aluminum-backed signs rather than a PVC sign with gold leaf. Cinquemani said he was told this would be more cost-efficient and withstand time better – which last for about 5-8 years.

Deputy Mayor Dennis Sgambati said he consulted a local sign company which told him that gold leaf is more expensive and not as durable as it bubbles due to sun exposure. He was advised that gold paint would be more cost-effective and more durable.

Cinquemani said that the main cost-driving factor is that the gold paint or gold leaf, regardless, has to be hand-applied. He said the village’s logo on the sign is very intricate, making it more labor and time-intensive.

Natiss said he was not interested in the aluminum-backed signs but was open-minded to doing more research on the type of sign they wanted to implement.

“Maybe we can do some more research on the sign,” Natiss said. “The first one to save money will cheapen the village and our entrance signs, I will not be interested in that.”

Natiss asked that the decision be held off for another month to wait for any additional proposals to be submitted to the village. Cinquemani said he would look into the different approaches to the design of the signs in the meantime.

The North Hills Board of Trustees was scheduled to host a continued public hearing for a proposal of additions and renovations to the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists church, but pushed the hearing until the September meeting after the applicant requested it be adjourned Wednesday night.

The church, located at 7 Shelter Rock Road, is proposing a series of changes to the building and site, including expanding the parking lot, the building’s setback, a new recording studio and other building expansions. The proposal is drawing pushback from the surrounding neighbors, whose attorneys have spoken at previous meetings expressing their concerns.

The board also delivered its monthly shuttle update, which Natiss said shows the shuttle usage by residents is lower than it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but still increasing each month.

The North Hills Board of Trustees will convene again at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 20, when they will continue to discuss the village’s new entrance signs and hold the public hearing for the Seventh-Day Adventists church.