Brookhaven, Head of the Harbor reject nonprofit's pressure campaign over stalled road repairs

Officials from Brookhaven Town and Head of the Harbor expressed frustration last week after a Stony Brook nonprofit called for public pressure on the town and Suffolk County to resolve a monthslong stalemate that has blocked reconstruction of a dam and road destroyed by a storm last summer.

Graham Scaife, a trustee of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, told Head of the Harbor village officials during an often tense public meeting Wednesday evening that the nonprofit lacked the funds to begin rebuilding the dam and part of Harbor Road. They were washed out during an Aug. 18-19 storm that devastated parts of the North Shore.

The dam's destruction caused the collapse of a portion of Harbor Road that connects Stony Brook and Head of the Harbor. A pond that straddles the Brookhaven and Smithtown border drained out when the dam collapsed. 

Reconstruction plans have stalled as officials from the nonprofit and Brookhaven remain locked in a dispute over Harbor Road's ownership and the question of who should pay for the rebuilding.

Scaife outlined a plan calling on multiple governments — including the village, Brookhaven and the county — to help fund restoration. Scaife said the nonprofit is willing to put up “a sizable amount” of money for repairing the road but estimated the road repairs would cost between $4.5 million and $5 million, a figure the nonprofit “cannot afford.” 

Scaife said the nonprofit wants to find a solution as "quickly as possible" and asked Head of the Harbor officials and residents to pressure Brookhaven and the county to get involved.

Panico at 'a boiling point'

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said Thursday the nonprofit's plan is unworkable because the town and county are precluded from funding repairs on privately owned land. He said he had reached "a boiling point" as talks aimed at rebuilding the dam have been stalled for nearly a year since the storm.

“An initial glance and reading of their proposal is that it's predicated on really a lot of governmental entities [paying for repairs] that may not have the ability to do so under the law,” Panico said in a phone interview. He said the best solution is for the Ward Melville Heritage Organization to seek Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements for the project.

“The bottom line is almost a year has been wasted," Panico said.

Brookhaven officials have said records show the dam belongs to the nonprofit, while Ward Melville Heritage Organization officials have said its title search of property records was inconclusive.

Michael Martino, a Suffolk County spokesman, said Thursday the county "performed its own title search, which conclusively proves that the county has no ownership of the road or the dam."

'Strange dance' of inactivity

Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utevsky at Wednesday's meeting described a “strange dance” in which there was “no movement to date” toward breaking the deadlock. 

Residents criticized the nonprofit at the meeting, demanding it admit ownership of the road so repairs can begin. Some suggested building a bridge over the damaged road area as a temporary measure.

Village trustees told Scaife they want a resolution quickly and have authorized Utevsky to sue the nonprofit to accelerate the repairs.

Repairing Harbor Road “is critical to Head of the Harbor," Village Attorney Brian Egan told Scaife during the meeting. He said Scaife presented a “shifting analysis” on who bears responsibility for the funding.

Egan said the board had authorized litigation against the nonprofit to make the nonprofit responsible for the road so the repairs can begin. However, the mayor is holding off on authorizing it in hopes of determining a solution, Egan added.

“We have the largest stake, but the smallest amount of money and the smallest voice on the lowest level of government,” Egan said. “The bombs are loaded and the plane is circling. This board authorized the litigation and the mayor has not hit that button yet in the hopes of trying to come to a solution where reasonable heads will prevail ... but we are prepared to do it.”