Nassau County has renewed its lease on a section of land that is owned by New York State and is adjacent to the Massapequa Preserve in the Viceroy section of Farmingdale. The original lease agreement between Nassau County and New York State was for a 20-year period that would have expired on Feb. 28 of this year. The county has renewed the lease for 10 years and is in negotiations to acquire the land from New York State in a land swap deal. The new agreement does not satisfy some local residents who are upset with the condition of the land and feel that much more needs to be done to protect and preserve the area.

"The extension of the lease does not solve the problem," said Richard Schary, who is president of the Friends of the Massapequa Preserve. "It's good that it buys more time, but right now there are no signs of anyone taking ownership of the property."

The area that is the focus of all this attention is a 31-acre stretch of land that is adjacent to but not part of the Massapequa Preserve. It is located behind Farmingdale High School and runs north towards the Woodward Parkway Elementary School. Schary and the Friends of the Massapequa Preserve have been petitioning for years to have the land become part of the Massapequa Preserve or at least have a local government take responsibility for the care and maintenance of the area.

Led by the Long Island Greenbelt Trail Conference and co-sponsored by Friends of the Massapequa Preserve, local residents joined a free, guided hike of about three miles of the aforementioned area on Sunday, Feb. 25.

"The county has done some cleaning up but the problems continue," said Schary. "There are parties, ATVs and other off-road vehicles, fires, tree-chopping, dumping, encroachments and litter. To this date, we have not gotten control of this area. The Friends of the Massapequa Preserve is tired of getting e-mails, phone calls and letters complaining about the area and asking us to do something about it," Schary said. "There are more problems in this 31 acres of space then there are in the 423 acres of the Massapequa Preserve."

Added Lisa Schary, who is a board member of the Friends of the Massapequa Preserve, "the woodlands are a free-for-all for illegal activities and harm to the environment. Passive recreation in the form of a nature trail will increase visibility and serve to remove negative behavior and serve to preserve our quality of life for future generations."

Mike Grello is president of the Concerned Citizens Association of Farmingdale. He also expressed similar concerns about the state of the area and a strong desire to see the land declared an extension of the Massapequa Preserve.

"Renewing the lease does zero for the property," said Grello. "It's time to do the right thing now, stop the short-term fixes, take over the land and designate it a preserve. It needs a designation of a preserve to preserve the property forever and to make it a preserve - not just woods. Renewing a lease doesn't give it the added protection of county workers who are familiar with maintaining a preserve and it doesn't give it protection from development."

Nassau County Legislator Dave Mejias has been a supporter of protecting this area. According to Mejias, the county has been working towards cleaning up the area and is in negotiations to take over the land in a deal with New York State.

"The county has done our part," said Mejias. "We've cleaned it up, signed the extension and are negotiating to take it over."

According to Mejias, the 10-year extension does not mean that the situation will continue as such for 10 years. The legislator stated that the extension was signed for 10 years, as that is a standard lease. However, Mejias said that Nassau County is negotiating with New York State to have the land transferred to Nassau County as part of a multi-land deal. If the land is transferred, the county could then declare it a perpetual preserve and provide it with all of the benefits of such a designation.

Mejias also said that as a local resident, this is an important issue to him. "The preserve is very important to me. I live near it. I train for the marathon in it. I will do everything I can to make sure that it is protected and kept in pristine condition."

Those interested in learning more may contact the Friends of the Massapequa Preserve at 541-2461 or by logging on to the Concerned Citizens Association of Farmingdale's website, www.ccaf-civic.org.