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Following months of back and forth between the Town of Brookhaven and the alleged owners of Harbor Road, the reconstruction project at Mill Pond is no closer than it was in August, when the roadway collapsed.
It’s been seven months since a flash flood event collapsed the Mill Pond dam, along with Stump Pond at Blydenburgh County Park — draining both ponds — and nature has since crept back in.
The overgrown grass, collapsed road, warning signs and damaged homes in and around Harbor Road have become an eyesore for the community and a burden for local businesses trying to efficiently connect with customers.
The town held a press conference Friday to explain why nothing has been done, which officials boiled down to one word: ownership.
“For months, we have tried, we have worked cooperatively to find a pathway forward to restore this dam, this roadway — a roadway that connects the Town of Brookhaven with the Town of Smithtown,” said Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico. “All of these efforts have been stymied, and the inability that every level of government has to restore this road is because the owner, the responsible party for the dam, has refused to sign the application to New York State to get this project done.”
Panico presented a document from Fidelity National Title and a title report from Suffolk County alleging that the owner of the property is the Ward Melville Heritage Organization. The privately funded not-for-profit corporation has not admitted ownership, and Panico said the group is now working on a second title report to prove the claim.
“We’re not getting a second title report,” said Gloria Rocchio, the group’s president. “We had one done, which, in conclusion, it’s a complicated issue.”
Rocchio said the organization believes the road is owned by both the Village of Head of the Harbor and the Town of Brookhaven. She said the town has maintained the road for decades, issued parking tickets, changed the name of the road, installed signage approved by the Town Board, and paved and plowed the road.
She added that the town and the organization had long maintained a good relationship, and that she can’t fathom the current dispute.
“Our chairman said for 80 years the organization never received anything from anybody that stated we were in charge or owned that road,” Rocchio said.
What wasn’t clear is what the downside is — either to the town or the organization — to claiming ownership, other than potential liabilities, either having to foot the bill for this current project, or future issues.
If the project moves forward, 75 percent of the costs would be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to applications made through the state. But Panico warned that offer might drop to 0 percent, claiming President Donald Trump had already begun to reduce FEMA funding — and could eliminate the agency altogether.
“We will take care of the project, and we have made overtures to cover the additional 25 percent expenditure because we know that not-for-profit agencies in small villages can’t necessarily cover these types of costs,” said Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Daniel Losquadro.
Another complication is time. The environment at the site is beginning to bloom again, which could increase costs and spark debate over whether the dam should be rebuilt at all.
Panico said some might prefer to let the area return to a natural stream or meadow, eliminating the man-made impoundment that once formed Mill Pond.
“It is greening over, and I guarantee you, if that happens, we are going to have a fight with some of the people in the environmental community on the restoration of that dam,” he said.
Panico added that the suggestion — made by some residents — that Brookhaven and Smithtown, or the village, can simply step in and restore the area is not feasible.
The towns or village, he said, can’t legally spend taxpayer money on property they don’t own.
He also noted Harbor Road needs to be excavated and rebuilt to modern standards with mitigation.
But Rocchio disputes that claim.
“The dam didn’t break,” she said. “The dam is completely there, intact. The breach is an earth embankment. It’s just dirt under the asphalt.”
Rocchio said the organization is worried about how quickly the road is eroding, as it threatens the historic Stony Brook Grist Mill, which the trust owns. She said they may need to place rock near the spillway to protect the building.
Losquadro said if the town can “get past this hurdle,” the highway department is ready, willing and able to design, engineer and manage the construction.
Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich said the community has a vision for what the rebuilt road should look like, “informed by the memory of what the pond and surrounding area looked like.”
He added that the area can be rebuilt even more beautifully than before.
A community rally is planned for today, Saturday, from noon to 2 p.m. on the sidewalk at the corner of Harbor Road and Main Street to advocate for the restoration of Harbor Road and Mill Pond. The rain date is June 1, from noon to 2 p.m.
Top: The collapsed Harbor Road looking north toward Stony Brook Harbor on the morning of Aug. 19, 2025, after what experts described as a 1,000-year weather event collapsed the roadway, draining Mill Pond, also known as the duck pond, to the immediate south. (Credit: GLI file photo/Andrew Theodorakis) Inset: Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico on Friday. Inset: Onlookers that had flocked to Mill Pond to survey the devastation after the collapse in August.
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