Twelve years of active community involvement may be good enough for most people, but according to former Concerned Citizens Association of Farmingdale (CCAF) President Mike Grello, a move to Suffolk County will not hinder his affinity for Farmingdale.

Having presided over his last meeting as president this past summer, Grello is still an active board member of CCAF. The organization is "a nonprofit, non-partisan neighborhood organization dedicated to representing the ordinary citizens and homeowners of Farmingdale who wish to maintain and enhance the quality of life in our community," according to the organization's mission statement.

"Mike is so passionate about what he believes in, and one of his greatest passions is Farmingdale, and that comes from his longtime roots here," said current CCAF President Lisa Twomey. "He has a terrific sense of right and I think he has really been the backbone of CCAF."

Having served as the president of CCAF from its inception six years ago until last June, Grello and his family are moving to Suffolk County after nearly a half-century in Nassau. It appears Farmingdale is losing one of its most active residents.

Grello is a leading player in the campaign for the proper use of the Liberty Site adjacent to Allen Park, in addition to the preservation of the Massapequa Preserve.

However, Grello will not allow himself to disappear from the public forum. Although his family is moving for personal reasons, he said he has a passion to see these two issues through to completion in a manner that will better the community.

"I'm not done and I'm certainly not walking away," Grello said. "Unfortunately I have to move, but I will still be a stakeholder and will continue to work on the Liberty Site issue until we see next-generation housing or something that will benefit the community. Something more than a supermarket."

The clean up of the Liberty Site and proposal to build a Stop & Shop supermarket in its place has been an issue in this community since CCAF began. According to the organization's August newsletter, "CCAF was at the forefront in achieving what is designated as a SL-3 cleanup which will enable recreational use of the western portion of the site."

"We all worked hand-in-hand on the clean up of Liberty, but Mike really was the driving force behind that," Twomey said. "He almost single-handedly got the EPA to clean it up to the level it should be cleaned up."

With the help of the town and money acquired from the Sea Fund, CCAF guided the town into purchasing 21 of the 31 acres that will be used to expand Allen Park. As for the rest of the property, Grello and CCAF are openly against the building of a supermarket and "seek something with better tax revenues and jobs to support the community," according to their newsletter.

"The community doesn't want a supermarket and it is an inappropriate area for it," Grello said. "Why would you put an 80,000 square-foot supermarket next to a 32-acre park?"

Grello said that if traffic generated by a supermarket is not fit to be next to a school, it therefore is not fit to be next to a community park that can attract more children on a daily basis than a school.

"When you have 20 soccer and/or baseball games on a Saturday or Sunday, you're talking about 2,000 people a day," he said.

Preserving the Massapequa Preserve issue is another issue that Grello wishes to see through. CCAF is working on a project that would make the area between Farmingdale High School and Woodward Parkway Elementary School a permanent part of the Massapequa Preserve, and thus allow it to be maintained properly. Meanwhile, they are simultaneously lobbying for the bike path by Bethpage State Park to be owned by the park itself, instead of by the New York State Department of Transportation, whom Grello claims it belongs to now.

"Mike is going to be very hard to replace because he's not afraid to take a stand and not afraid to take a controversial position," said Friends of Massapequa Preserve President Rich Schary. "He's been one of our greatest allies in bringing to the attention of the community the problems that continue to exist in the wooded area along the Bethpage Parkway."

Grello was also instrumental in the demolition of The Raven's Nest in 2003, and as a result of pressure brought by the town, county, local politicians and CCAF, the neighboring Off-Track Betting purchased the Raven's Nest site and converted it to a parking lot for customers.

"They demolished the building and cleaned up the parking lot, and made it look pretty," Grello said, "and it was done at no cost to the county, but with profits of OTB. It cost taxpayers nothing in reality."

Oyster Bay Town Councilman Anthony Macagnone, who has worked very closely with Grello on a variety of issues, knows that someone as passionate and aggressive as Grello is an asset a community is lucky to have.

"Michael works like a pit bull, and when he sinks his teeth into something he doesn't let go," Macagnone said. "He donates so much of his time, money, time he could spend with his family, all to better the community. His leaving makes me feel like I'm losing a real good friend."