At the meeting of the Village of Massapequa Park Board of Trustees held on Tuesday, Feb. 13, the board passed a resolution canceling the tax lien sale scheduled for Feb. 22.

The board has opted to join the New York State Bond Bank, which was created by state law during the last session of the New York State Legislature. The bank is in the process of being set up, and will be operating by next year. The bank will purchase tax liens from all the villages. Giannattasio noted that by canceling the sale and purchasing the liens, his administration is ensuring that no resident will lose his or her house to tax speculators. This will allow residents two years to pay their village taxes plus interest and penalties. Although four houses were lost during the previous administration, the mayor pointed out that no residents have lost their houses during his term.

In related business, the mayor announced that the village has scheduled a meeting on Feb. 20 with American Express to set up a system for residents to use that card to pay village taxes. The village is expecting to obtain the state rate of 2.1 percent, meaning for every dollar charged, the village will collect 97.9 cents.

The village is also in the process of scheduling meetings with VISA and Mastercard this month, which will allow residents to use those cards if they choose to use them when paying their taxes in June.

The mayor also addressed the ongoing issue of cellular towers. He announced that since the board has abandoned plans for a second tower on village property, officials have no plans to enter into leases for any other towers within the village. The mayor pointed out that the board has no intentions of putting towers on any property, especially in the parks, which would require an act of the state legislature.

Furthermore, Giannattasio said the village will be creating a "Committee on Cell Tower Sites" by resolution at the next board meeting. According to the mayor, all future applications for a cellular site will be sent to this committee for review. The committee, he noted, will have 60 days to hold hearings to gather public input and forward their recommendations to the board of trustees. The committee is expected to be sworn in on Installation Night. "Since we have abandoned our plan, which would have closed all the rings in the village with just two stealth poles, we have removed the cork from the bottle," stated Giannattasio. "Now, we must hold the Genie in with our hands - and we need lots of hands to help us."