Oyster Bay Harbor boundary dispute lingers

Attempts to settle out of court an Oyster Bay Harbor boundary conflict between independent baymen and a commercial shellfish firm have fizzled, with a return to litigation likely, all parties agree.

The North Oyster Bay Baymen's Association last October filed an amended complaint seeking $750 million in damages from Frank M. Flower & Sons and Oyster Bay Town, which leases land to Flower, alleging the unchecked usurping of harvesting grounds and illegal shellfishing practices.

The three parties began settlement talks in April, but the baymen last week expressed angry frustration at the lack of progress. They said they have met only twice with the town, which they said has not fulfilled a promise to call them regularly with updates.

"You want to believe they're going to do the right thing, but every time you believe that, you get hit in the head," Bayville bayman Bill Painter, 50, said. "Flower is playing with us, and the town is playing, too."

Town Supervisor John Venditto said the fight resembles "a matrimony issue, with core, fundamental differences. Each side believes the other doesn't even belong there [the bay]."

He said town attorneys this week will help Flower "to fill in the holes" of the firm's proposal for settlement. If that effort fails, Venditto plans for the town to draft its own "last-ditch" proposal. If that also fails, Venditto said, he expects to be back in court before the summer is out.

"We have virtually exhausted negotiations," Venditto said. "Based upon what I've observed over the past few months, I'm increasingly doubtful that we are going to amicably resolve this matter."

The town would not detail the terms it hopes will be included in either Flower's draft proposal or its own.

Flower co-owner Dave Relyea, 65, of Bayville, declined to comment, citing ongoing talks.

The firm's lawyer, Gary Ettelman, of Garden City, also declined to comment, saying only, "I agree the process hasn't been as quick as I would have liked."

The motion by Flower and the town to dismiss the amended complaint and a bayman affidavit are scheduled for review by a State Supreme Court judge on July 6, said the baymen's lawyer, Darrin Berger, of Huntington.

The baymen, whose association has 60 members, said the town still hasn't scheduled this year's bay management meeting, an annual forum with local government, nonprofits and other stakeholders.

They also allege the town hasn't fixed broken floating upweller systems, protective devices they use to grow shellfish and ensure their livelihoods.