Stony Brook’s beloved Mill Pond was drained in August 2024 following torrential downpours that swept away the dam and with it, Harbor Road.
Not only was a generational, cultural touchstone lost, but the connection between the towns of Brookhaven and Smithtown was severed with the loss of Harbor Road. The Village of Head of the Harbor is now relegated to alternative routes to access Stony Brook.
Ownership disputes have harangued progress on construction, with the Ward Melville Heritage Organization (WMHO) insisting they are not the owners of the land on which the road rested. The technicality led Suffolk County and the Town of Brookhaven to exhaustive records searches, which found that the WMHO is the rightful owner of the property.
Time is also of the essence, as FEMA dollars remain on the table, but not forever.
But Congressman Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) has secured $5 million for the Harbor Road repaving project, as well as townwide repaving projects.
The funds come from a bipartisan Appropriations bill for FY2026 and has been signed into law by President Donald Trump (R-FL).
This package delivers real, tangible results for Suffolk County, includes five Community Project Funding initiatives totaling more than $15.35 million, invests in critical infrastructure like road repaving and transportation safety, and delivers a 3.8% pay raise for our servicemembers — a meaningful raise for the many military families who call Long Island home,” said LaLota in a statement. ”The legislation makes major investments in our local industrial base, supporting defense manufacturers, advanced research, and good-paying jobs across Long Island. From strengthening missile defense and shipbuilding to funding innovation at companies and universities in our district, these dollars keep Long Island at the center of America’s national security and defense supply chain.”
Of the Harbor Road project in particular, it will “restore safe, reliable access for residents, school buses, and first responders while also improving driving conditions across Brookhaven, reducing accident risks from failing pavement, and strengthening long-term infrastructure resilience ahead of future storm events,” according to a statement from LaLota’s office.
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico (R-Center Moriches) said that the plan he pitched has generated “widespread agreement” between all municipal stakeholders.
“It has been a long time, but quite frankly, the Town had to spend a year defending specious claims by WMHO that we, in some way, owned anything there,” Panico told The Messenger. “After a year, we proved conclusively that we do not own anything there. In fact, if we owned it, it would have been on its way to being complete by now.”
Panico added that the Town has “no adversity” to taking on “large or complicated projects,” but that “ownership matters even more” when owners must sign on the dotted line for FEMA reimbursements under penalty of perjury.
“I am in no way going to expose the taxpayers of the Town of Brookhaven to potential liability that is not theirs,” said Panico. “We’re now working to get it done for the people of Head of the Harbor and for the people of Stony Brook. I think we are the only entity that has the familiarity and sophistication to get this done when it comes to construction and permitting.”
One of the biggest issues outside of funding are permits from the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to impound the water for a dam. Panico found that DEC’s support for a culvert instead of a dam was “a surprise to everyone,” and that he has spoken to the State of the need for a permit to recreate Mill Pond.
The other issue is if the FEMA route is not taken, it could create a massive financial problem for Head of the Harbor.
