Stony Brook dam, road to be rebuilt in long-awaited deal

A Stony Brook dam and road that collapsed in a storm nearly two years ago will be rebuilt and restored to look as they did before, after officials said they resolved an ownership dispute and forged a plan to share responsibility for reconstruction.

Officials from Brookhaven Town, the Village of Head of the Harbor and the dam's owner, Stony Brook nonprofit Ward Melville Heritage Organization, said in recent interviews they are jointly preparing engineering plans and seeking funding for the project, which is expected to cost between $8 million and $12 million.

The pond in T. Bayles Minuse Mill Pond Park in Stony Brook is expected to refill naturally after the dam is restored, officials said, bringing the park back to the way it looked before the Aug. 18-19, 2024, storm caused the pond to drain, officials said in recent interviews.

The announcements, made in separate interviews, mark the first time since the devastating storm that town, village and nonprofit officials have laid out concrete plans for restoring Harbor Road and the dam that supports it.

"It’s going to look like it did before," Gloria Rocchio, president of Ward Melville Heritage Organization, said Friday in a phone interview. "And as soon as the road and dam are rebuilt, the pond will come back."

A 100- to 200-foot section of Harbor Road washed away following significant flooding caused by the storm, which dropped 10 inches of rain along the North Shore of Suffolk County and hit sections of Smithtown and Brookhaven Towns particularly hard. 

The road collapse severed a vital connection between the village and Stony Brook, in the Town of Brookhaven. Head of the Harbor residents say they have had to use narrow, winding, unlit Rhododendron Drive to visit Stony Brook for shopping, medical appointments, and other needs.

Reconstruction efforts were slowed for months early last year by a dispute over ownership of Harbor Road, with Rocchio saying the road and dam belonged to Brookhaven or Suffolk County. The town and county produced records showing the nonprofit had previously claimed the property as its own. 

Head of the Harbor sued Ward Melville Heritage Organization last year to force the nonprofit to launch reconstruction. A state judge dismissed the village's lawsuit in April.

The crumbled roadway remains as it appeared the day after the storm. Rainwater has cut a thin river through mud where the pond used to be.

Preference for a pond

Ward Melville Heritage Organization is drafting plans and seeking myriad state permits for the project, while Brookhaven agreed to lead construction with engineering assistance from Head of the Harbor, officials said.

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said the town plans to acquire an easement within the park that would allow town workers to rebuild the dam and Harbor Road.

Almost all funding for reconstruction is expected to come from state and federal sources, Panico said.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) has announced $2.5 million in federal funds to resurface Harbor Road, and another $6.5 million is expected from the state, Panico said, adding any remaining funding would come from the town, village and nonprofit. 

Officials hope to complete reconstruction by the end of the year.

“I would like to start construction as soon as possible," Panico said, "but in New York State, nothing moves fast.”

Some environmentalists had questioned plans to rebuild the century-old dam, saying the river should be allowed to flow freely, as it did hundreds of years ago before a previous dam was built to support a grist mill, which still stands.

Conservationists have pointed out that amid the ownership squabble, the former pond had begun reverting to its natural state.

Officials will not seek funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to rebuild the dam. State emergency management officials said last year FEMA would not fund a dam and instead would prefer a natural river flowed through the park, Newsday previously reported.

“The people want to see the re-creation of the pond,” Panico said.

Head of the Harbor has hired VHB Engineering, of Hauppauge, to advise the village on key repairs to the village's end of Harbor Road. The village will pay VHB up to $25,000, according to a village resolution approved in May.

"The new dam is going to be half within our village. We want it built, we need to understand the environmental issues, the environmental permitting, and we're hopeful we can help and be part of it jointly to work together and get this done," Mayor Michael Utevsky said. "We want our own engineer to talk to their engineer."

A VHB spokesperson deferred comment to the village.

Mill Creek Road rebuild

Utevsky noted VHB Engineering worked on the rebuilding of nearby Mill Creek Road, which the nonprofit privately owns through an affiliate, the Stony Brook Community Fund. That road also sustained significant damage and was closed to traffic after the storm washed it out. Several homeowners on the road were trapped for weeks until the Town of Smithtown built a temporary street for residents.

Mill Creek Road, the access point for a seven-home neighborhood, reopened in May 2025.

Construction designs are expected to be completed by the end of July, and permit applications are expected to be submitted by August, according to Rocchio. The nonprofit is seeking permits from seven state, federal and local agencies, she said.

“We feel we’re in a very good place,” Rocchio said, adding how quick the pond returns will be determined by several factors such as rain and water runoff from springs that feed the pond.