Cover photo: Collapsed of Mill Creek Road (Credit – Senator Mario Mattera)
The remnants of Hurricane Ernesto have caused monumental damage across the north shore of Suffolk County, including the collapse of the dam at Stump Pond and its subsequent drainage, the emptying of Mill Pond at the Avalon Nature Preserve in Stony Brook, and car-engulfing mudslides in Rocky Point. Sound Beach saw the most rainfall, at ten inches in just three hours, while numerous businesses and homes saw flooding and some forms of destruction.
However, a dead-end street in the Village of Head of the Harbor is experiencing a crippling form of destruction: about one hundred twenty feet of Mill Creek Road was swept away with the collapse of Mill Pond, leaving the residents of just seven homes with vehicle access.
The Town of Smithtown is aiding the Village in the repair efforts, but a Thursday morning meeting at Village Hall between Village, Town, and State representatives shed light on one lynchpin of the solution.
The solution currently put forward is to create a temporary road across one homeowner’s property to connect the rest of the street to Harbor Road. Elected officials acknowledged that the plan would only work if the resident, Mr. Hubert Pool, consented to the plan.
Fortunately, Mr. Pool is willing to accommodate the work that could take longer than one year to enact the solution. The work is estimated to last for such a long period due not just to repaving, but debris removal, land grade reconciliation, and resetting Mr. Pool’s property as close to its original condition after the temporary access is no longer necessary.
Senator Mario Mattera (R-St. James) provided contact with U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D) office, whose personnel Mattera says have been “amazing” with the response efforts.
Next door at Avalon Park, the Ward Melville Heritage Association is consulting Hayduk Engineering to remediate the pond, a task that would have to be completed in tandem with the Mill Creek Road restoration to ensure structural integrity in the future.
Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R-Kings Park) touted Hayduk Engineering’s expertise in land engineering, as the firm delivered the final product of Fort Salonga’s Callahans Beach that won multiple awards for its design.
Village and Town officials have consulted with the residents of Mill Creek Road regarding their services. The municipalities are working out school bus arrangements, garbage pickup, and have recommended residents put a hold on their mail to pick items up from the post office. The only aspect of services completely in the hands of the residents is fuel oil deliveries. Residents will have to consult with their carriers for smaller trucks to deliver oil down the temporary road.
Other Head of the Harbor residents present at the meeting simply requested that the temporary road complement the grade of their driveways for ease of access.
Officials also agreed to requests from Mill Creek Road homeowners that non-residents be penalized if they park their cars on the road, especially in light of “disaster tourists” descending on the area to witness and capture the damage.
One resident suggested an easement between properties for easier access, to which Head of the Harbor Mayor Michael Utevsky said that the Village “has the power,” but “does not want to use it.” Any agreements between private property usage would have to be worked out between the residents.
“The homeowner [Mr. Pool] has been so amenable to working with us, that we can keep that [easement suggestion] off the table,” said Mayor Utevsky. Village officials agreed that Mr. Pool has been “magnanimous” in his cooperation with the Village and his neighbors.
Councilman Tom Lohmann (R-Smithtown) and Town Highway Superintendent Robert Murphy (R-St. James) reassured Mr. Pool that his property will be “restored back to normal” after the construction is over.
“Thank you to everyone from the Town, the State, our neighborhood, and especially Mr. Pool for being so kind,” said Mayor Utevsky.
The Town is currently working under an intermunicipal agreement (IMA) with the Village to build the temporary road. Once the paperwork is signed, the Town Highway Department will build that road within a few days. Markouts for the road have already been completed.
The Head of the Harbor Highway Department is too small and requires a much larger fleet to handle a job of this nature, a Town spokesperson told The Messenger. The IMA is in place to assist the Village with the project.
“We will absolutely work in lockstep with the Village’s team so we’re all on the same page,” said the spokesperson. The entire construction of the road, trucks, and personnel will be provided by the Town Highway Department.
IMAs are commonly used between the Town and its three villages: Head of the Harbor, Nissequogue, and Village of the Branch. The villages all make use of the Town’s Highway crews to pave roads and build drainages.
“It’s not free, but it’s significantly cheaper than if they hired a private company to do the work,” said a Town spokesperson. “A recent example is the transformation of an old section of Route 111 in Village of the Branch into an access path.”
