Residents rally to call for rebuilding of Harbor Road at Mill Pond in Stony Brook

Residents of Stony Brook and neighboring communities — some holding signs with messages like “Fix the dam road” and “Stop ducking the problem” — rallied Saturday afternoon to push for a solution to rebuild a road and dam damaged in an August rainstorm.

Nine months after the collapse of Harbor Road and the emptying of Mill Pond, residents expressed mounting frustration over the ongoing stalemate between a municipality and a nonprofit over ownership, which officials have cited as the reason for stalled progress.

“The road continues to fall apart,” said rally organizer Beth Zweig. “The pond is a pit of muddy sludge, and we remain disconnected from our Stony Brook neighbors, as our main thoroughfare is totally impassable.”

Local officials representing Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County, the state and the Village of Head of the Harbor all spoke to the crowd of more than 200 people during the two-hour rally. While there was agreement on the need to rebuild the road, and officials shared in the frustration felt by residents, finding a path forward remains elusive.

The main holdup, officials said, centers on dueling title reports to determine who owns the road — a necessity to sign an application for federal reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Brookhaven Town and Suffolk County showed title reports that support the nonprofit Ward Melville Heritage Organization as the owner.

“We have proved conclusively who owns the property,” Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico told the crowd, adding that Suffolk County has committed to front the cost.

The supervisor held a news conference Friday where he said records include notarized documents signed in the 1980s by Gloria Rocchio, president of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, pointing to the nonprofit as owner.

But the nonprofit says the title report it independently secured is inconclusive and the organization has concerns over liability it could face and potential litigation.

“We don’t know if we own it,” said Rocchio, in response to questions about transferring the property to Brookhaven.

After the event, Rocchio told Newsday the organization needed to analyze its title report more and said the report's conclusion was that ownership was “undetermined.”

“It’s very complicated,” she said.

Residents proposed various paths forward, from eminent domain, binding arbitration or court intervention.

Legis. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket) cautioned that the court process, which could include lengthy appeals, could drag on longer than anyone wants.

Brookhaven Councilman Jonathan Kornreich said some type of arbitration, in his opinion, could be a path forward but the town attorney would need to sign off on that. Officials all agreed eminent domain was not a viable solution since the new owner would not be eligible for the federal reimbursement.

Kornreich said the town has completed the FEMA process for other areas in the town damaged in the same storm and could easily do so on Harbor Road if the title showed the town as owner.

"If there's a title report that says that the town owns it, give it to me today, we'll sign the application tomorrow," he said.

Lisa Davidson, a rally organizer and Head of the Harbor village trustee, told Newsday at the conclusion she “feels a tiny bit more optimistic” and was hoping the nonprofit could publicly share its title report.

Overall, she said the rally “helped the community.”

“People are so fed up,” she said.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

---