'A step forward' on Harbor Road, dam repairs: Nonprofit seeks FEMA input

A Stony Brook nonprofit has asked FEMA to weigh in on ownership of a dam destroyed last year in a storm, potentially breaking a stalemate that has blocked reconstruction of a section of Harbor Road that also collapsed, officials said Tuesday.

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization previously had denied it had any role in ownership of the dam and road after both were severely damaged in the August 2024 storm.

Officials have said the ownership dispute had stalled rebuilding efforts. Repair estimates run as high as $10 million.

Gloria Rocchio, the nonprofit's president, said in a telephone interview Tuesday she had sent copies of property title reports to the Federal Emergency Management Agency last month to determine whether the nonprofit is eligible for federal disaster relief funds. Suffolk County and Brookhaven Town officials, who commissioned the title reports earlier this year, have said they show Ward Melville Heritage Organization owns the dam and is therefore responsible for restoring the dam and a section of Harbor Road that runs over it.

Rocchio said the FEMA filing was not an application for disaster relief, nor did she admit the nonprofit owns the dam.

“We’re waiting for the response from FEMA [to determine] if we are eligible,” Rocchio said. “We’re very pleased that we are working together again, and it’s a step forward."

Attempts to reach FEMA officials Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The filing with FEMA followed monthslong talks between the Ward Melville Heritage Organization and Brookhaven and Village of Head of the Harbor officials aimed at resolving the impasse.

"It can start the process with FEMA, which is a very complicated and lengthy process," Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utevsky said in a phone interview Tuesday, "but there is still so much work that has to be done before we can get shovels into the ground."

Utevsky said Tuesday the town, village and nonprofit have tentatively agreed on a plan in which all three would help fund and plan reconstruction. 

Chunks of the dam and Harbor Road have lain in rubble since Aug. 18-19, 2024, when a storm swept across the North Shore, dumping 6 to 10 inches of rain and leaving a trail of destruction from downtown Smithtown to Sound Beach. The dam's collapse caused a centuries-old pond to drain, washing wildlife and plants north toward Stony Brook Harbor.

Plans to rebuild stalled as town, village and nonprofit officials squabbled over the property's ownership. Head of the Harbor sued the nonprofit in late August to force it to restore the dam and road.

In a joint news release Tuesday, the nonprofit, Brookhaven and Head of the Harbor officials said they were "working together to make this [reconstruction] happen as quickly as possible."

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.