Stony Brook post-flood reconstruction: Officials to meet Wednesday to kick-start efforts

Leaders of Brookhaven Town, the Village of Head of the Harbor and a nonprofit group plan to meet Wednesday to restart reconstruction efforts in Stony Brook after legal squabbles brought plans to repair storm damage to a halt last month.

The mid-August storm that swept across the North Shore from Smithtown to Rocky Point left an estimated $10 million in damage in Stony Brook, where a historic grist mill pond drained, collapsing a dam and two roads. 

Brookhaven Town last fall set aside $1.4 million to begin restoration efforts, and officials of the town, Head of the Harbor and Stony Brook nonprofit Ward Melville Heritage Organization, which owns much of the damaged area, pledged to work together to rebuild roads and the pond.

But Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said Tuesday those plans were put on hold last month after the village and the nonprofit filed notices of claim indicating they planned to sue the town. Panico said town officials refused to discuss the rebuilding effort while the threat of lawsuits loomed.

"It took us all by surprise," Panico said in an interview, adding the notices of claim have since been rescinded. He added that questions over land ownership and whether Brookhaven is legally entitled to work on property it does not own remain unresolved.

He said he will meet Wednesday with officials from Head of the Harbor and Ward Melville.

Ownership muddies efforts

The Aug. 18-19 storm destroyed a dam and washed away parts of Harbor Road in Stony Brook and Mill Creek Road in Head of the Harbor. Brookhaven had agreed last fall to restore the mill pond, the dam and Harbor Road, which runs over the dam. 

"The town wants to do everything that we can to see the restoration and rebuilding of the pond and the road," Panico said. "The Ward Melville trust is private property — therein lies the issue." 

The trust, which owns Mill Creek Road, is paying an undisclosed sum to rebuild that road.

The planned meeting comes a week after Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utevsky and Katharine Griffiths, executive director of the nonprofit Avalon Nature Preserve, said they were "alarmed" by continuing erosion under the Harbor Road overpass that they said "may soon extend beyond Brookhaven Town into Head of the Harbor."

In a Dec. 31 letter to Panico and Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro, Utevsky and Griffiths said storm-related damage had blocked visitors from using the nature preserve.

"We are concerned that the Town of Brookhaven has not yet commenced work to rebuild Harbor Road," Utevsky and Griffiths wrote. "Future efforts at stabilization and restoration are becoming more difficult with each passing day, especially after each new rainstorm."

Optimistic about meeting

Utevsky told Newsday he hoped the planned meeting would help resolve the dispute.

Utevsky said he believes Harbor Road is a Brookhaven town road, adding the road collapsed east of the grist mill on Brookhaven's side of its town border with Smithtown.

"It came as a complete surprise to us. We always assumed this was a town road, belonging to the Town of Brookhaven," Utevsky said. "Apparently it took them four months to figure out they didn’t think they own it."

Brookhaven officials have said half of Harbor Road is in Brookhaven and half in Smithtown. Panico said town officials are awaiting a title search to determine ownership of properties in the area, including the dam and Harbor Road.

Ward Melville president Gloria Rocchio said the nonprofit had been advised by its attorneys in November to file a notice of claim against Brookhaven but rescinded the legal document after learning it would impede talks with the town.

“That became a problem,” she said Tuesday. “It was critical to take a chance to move forward.”

Rocchio said erosion beneath Harbor Road is "getting much closer to the grist mill,” raising fears of further damage. 

“The rain is coming through and taking more of the road," she said. "It’s just collapsing.”

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.