For Monday’s board meeting, the East Williston trustees wanted to hear feedback about the villagewide tag sale on June 8 and other concerns throughout the village.
Mayor Bonnie L.S. Parente explained that a “decades old” rule in the village bars residents from holding garage sales unless they are moving. The village, Parente said, allows residents to hold a villagewide “tag sale” where people register to participate.
“Pay the fee, you’re on the map,” Parente said about registration. This year 55 homeowners participated.
While the next tag sale is next year Parente wanted feedback now, saying, “The thought process was to get feedback immediately following the tag sale instead of waiting until next year right beforehand and then people forget the pros and cons of having the tag sale.”
While she noted that “no one who’s participating is unhappy about it,” one resident, Barbara Dean, voiced some criticisms about the tag sale during Monday’s meeting. Dean noted that a villagewide sale on a specific date will not always be convenient for everyone.
Dean referred to three residents she knew that were not able to participate in the event due to timing. She said that is the only major criticisms she’s been hearing about the tag sale. “Everyone that I had any encounters with, or conversation, with was grateful for the opportunity to recycle their items,” Dean said.
Parente said one concern she has heard is a fear of strangers coming into the community to scout it for crimes. Barbara Dean’s husband, Ken Dean, said he did not think the “security issue” was credible.
Ken Dean said “that the thought of ‘I don’t want anybody outside of my community coming into my community,’ that alone makes me scared about the community that I lived in for 30 years and love.” He noted that residents have “many parties” where outsiders are invited and that there are no complaints.
Parente suggested that the solution to preventing future crimes is to have the tag sale in a central location, rather than homes. However, Barbara Dean said, “Lugging all your stuff to the Village Green is a little much.”
Parente said that the board is not making any decision about organizing the next tag sale for now. She noted the low attendance of the meeting, amounting to fewer than a dozen people, saying, “I was hoping more people would offer some input. Maybe at a future meeting we’ll get more support or criticism.”
Residents noted that in Garden City, residents are permitted to have one garage sale a year. The East Williston board rejected changing the policy regarding garage sales, with Parente saying, “I don’t think that’s something that we’ll be considering right now.”
