The Concerned Citizens Association of Farmingdale (CCAF) held a joint civic council meeting Thursday, Jan. 17 at Ellsworth Allen Park to provide an open forum for discussion and debate among residents and civic groups.

According to CCAF President Lisa Twomey and Vice President Chuck Gosline, the meeting had a "good turnout," which is something they said they would like to see become a trend.

The two-hour meeting featured civic leaders from East Farmingdale, Woodlawn and Viceroy. While debates were sparked on various local issues such as high property taxes, traffic congestion and local development projects, Twomey said the goal of the meeting was not reached.

That goal was to "create a common civic agenda that we can all pursue together," as mentioned in the CCAF board letter to residents leading up to the meeting. "We're working on a joint agenda," she said. "It is difficult dealing with a town that is separated by so many variables, including two different school districts."

The five municipalities that govern the greater Farmingdale area make it difficult to create a common agenda. Residents' complaints touched on Nassau and Suffolk Counties, the Town of Babylon, Town of Oyster Bay and the Village of Farmingdale, in addition to the two school districts, Massapequa and Farmingdale.

As a result, CCAF heard a great deal of comments and concerns from residents; however, these boundaries made it difficult to focus on common issues.

"I don't think that we have just one most important issue, I think we have many different important issues," Twomey said. "But we need to find a way to have less division and more unity [among the civics]."

The issue of high property taxes was one of the few everybody seemed to agree on. Illegal multi-family housing also brought strong remarks from residents. Families living in illegal apartments are not taxed properly, and thus the school taxes of others are raised as a result. One resident suggested a plan similar to Hicksville, where civic leaders were able to get the town to crack down on the issue.

CCAF also mentioned their disappointment in the lack of overall development in the community, particularly on the Liberty Site on the corner of Main Street and Motor Avenue. The association put down the idea of a Stop & Shop supermarket being built on the site, citing that traffic congestion in that area is already an issue and will only be worsened by traffic generated by a supermarket. Instead, CCAF is in favor of next-generation housing or office buildings to be built on the Liberty Site, which the association said will help to develop the community in a positive way.

A glaring concern that most civics and residents agreed most upon was the lack of overall community involvement with their civic groups and town meetings.

"I wish we could improve the civic participation in Farmingdale, in terms of attendance or just joining up with the local groups," Twomey said.

Civic leaders brainstormed for the final half-hour on ways to bring people out in the community instead of keeping those opinions to themselves. They urge the public to become more informed by attending meetings and voicing those opinions.

For more information email ccafdale@yahoo.com.