Six years ago, the Friends of Massapequa Preserve was formed to overturn the deterioration that had been occurring in the preserve. Six years later, the preserve is not as neglected and members of this group take pride in what has been accomplished.

"This is the first real advocacy group for a preserve in Nassau County," said the organization's treasurer Ralph Healey. "This is a non-partisan group with a proud history of working with Republicans and Democrats as well as community leaders to get results. Those results are apparent because of the state of the preserve."

Recently, an open meeting was held at the Bar Harbour Branch of the Massapequa Library to observe the organization's sixth anniversary. At that meeting many of the organization's accomplishments were discussed as were current and future concerns regarding the preserve.

"We are starting to make some progress," said the organization's president, Richard Schary. "This past summer has been our best summer yet as we received more compliments than complaints." Schary noted that the ongoing maintenance has made the preserve much more appealing to its visitors. According to Schary, tree houses set up by local teenagers to be used as places to "hang out" were removed, the bicycle path has been kept clear of overgrowth from the trees, plants and weeds and garbage has been regularly removed from the preserve.

A guest speaker at the meeting was Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation & Museums Chief Deputy Commissioner Richard Murphy who was representing Commissioner Jose Lopez. Murphy, who has worked for the County for the past two years, said that the department has greatly improved its maintenance of county parks.

"The parks are in excellent shape," said Murphy of the county's 83 parks, which cover 6,000 acres of land. "Every park is visited once a month. Photographs are taken and sent to a manager who fixes the problem and then sends back photos with the problems fixed. What six years ago was deferred maintenance has now turned into a well-oiled machine."

Also speaking at the meeting was Frank Monteforti, who is the regional supervisor of the Southeast Region of Nassau County Parks. Monteforti stated that the department is waiting for major projects but is doing routine things such as cutting grass and performing normal maintenance.

Following the speeches from Schary, Murphy and Monteforti, residents had a chance to ask questions, make comments or broach concerns. Compliments were made about the improvements to the preserve. A question was asked about expanding the sidewalks, which will not happen, as the park is a perpetual preserve. Another resident asked about putting restrooms at the soccer fields on Walker Street, which Schary indicated would not happen, as there are concerns that this would lead to trespassing late at night, as there is no one to lock the preserve.

One resident asked about a site in the park used by teenagers for late-night parties. Schary assured the residents that such sites are marked and then eliminated. However, he urged residents not to confront any violators in the park and put themselves in jeopardy. Instead, residents who notice such activity are encouraged to call the Nassau County Public Safety's 24-hour hotline at 572-0300.

Perhaps of greatest concern to residents is a stream enhancement project, which is projected to occur in the near future. This project is resulting from a 20-year-old agreement between Nassau County and the Federal Government, which resulted when the stream flow dried up due to the construction of sewers. If this project goes forward, a pipeline will be put in along the bicycle path that will pump water from an underground well at Brady Park north towards Linden Street. Concerns were raised that this would speed up the underground plume and also increase the flooding problem that already exists for some homeowners.

"A major concern is the county's ability to do this correctly with too much inconvenience and disruption," said Schary. "I'm concerned that there will be repercussions. People will not be happy if the preserve is closed for two years. That is why we need a very strong organization like Friends of Massapequa Preserve because there will be a lot of issues once this project starts. There is the potential for major disruption and someone needs to keep an eye on it."

Residents who are interested in learning more about the Massapequa Preserve or the Friends of the Massapequa Preserve Organization may contact the organization at 541-2461 or friendsmp@longislandnn.org. Members receive a DVD copy of a documentary about the Massapequa Preserve.

Those interested in learning more about the Massapequa Preserve should visit either branch of the Massapequa Library. On display through the end of November are pictures of the preserve taken by Friends board member Lisa Schary The pictures show the preserve in all four seasons.

Said Lisa Schary about the preserve, "It is a family place that doesn't cost any money and is a treasure that we want to keep for many generations."