Southold Town has rebuted allegations its police officers used crowbars to seize a building on Fishers Island for use as a barracks, according to new court filings.

The Fishers Island Ferry District filed a $2 million lawsuit in May, alleging the Southold Police Department illegally took control of a house at 357 Whistler Ave. for use as a temporary barracks. Southold polices the 4.2-square-mile island, which is only accessible via ferry from Connecticut.

Town attorneys and police officials disputed the allegations, raising questions over who owns the half-acre property and whether the ferry district has legal standing.

Southold Police Chief Steven Grattan said the allegation that the police department forcibly cut locks and removed people and property from the home is “blatantly false” in an affidavit on Wednesday. The house was vacant, according to Southold's court filing.

“It was a vacant, unoccupied, Town-owned property. No-one was ejected from the premises, no property was disposed of, and there was no dramatic scene involving crowbars,” Grattan said.

Southold Town began policing the tiny island in 2023 after New York State troopers left, citing unsafe conditions in their barracks, Newsday previously reported.

The town is using the Whistler Avenue property as a "rational, reasonable alternative” while the main barracks nearby is renovated, Grattan said, adding that loss of the property would “prejudice our ability to provide police protection on Fishers Island.”

The island, part of Southold Town, has a population of about 424 people, according to U.S. Census data, though officials said that number grows in the summer.

In December, the town board voted 6-0 to revoke the district's use of the property “with the intention to renew” permissions after renovations are completed. Renovations under consideration include asbestos remediation and a new HVAC system.

Scott Kreppein, of Smithtown-based Devitt Spellman Barrett LLP, who represents Southold, said the ferry district lacks the authority to sue as a special improvement district established by the town board.

“It cannot assert a due process claim because it does not have any independent existence or property rights,” Kreppein wrote in a court filing dated Monday.

Suffolk County property records list Southold Town as the owner of the 357 Whistler Ave. site.

The ferry district was created in 1947 to provide “day-to-day” oversight of the ferry terminal, airport and other town-owned properties on Fishers Island but has “no real authority,” Kreppein wrote. Ferry district actions, from hiring employees to signing contracts, are approved by town board resolutions.

Keith Corbett, an attorney for the ferry district, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday but previously told Newsday the district cannot “allow a town to usurp its rights.” 

Southold Town Attorney Paul DeChance declined to comment on Thursday.

In the filing, Kreppein also took issue with the district’s claim that it has spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” renovating the residence. The district is “not supposed to be controlling funds other than $1,500 in a petty cash account,” he wrote.

At a hearing on Wednesday, acting Supreme Court Justice Joseph Farneti set a July 24 deadline for filing responses.