Ram’s Head  Inn’s suit against Town is settled

The lawsuit filed by Ram’s Head Inn owner Aandrea Carter last year against the Town Board has been “discontinued,” meaning, in legal parlance, the parties have settled.

The action  came in Suffolk County Court last week.

Wednesday night, the Town Board, released a statement saying that almost a year from the day the lawsuit was filed, “All claims against the Town of Shelter Island and against Supervisor Siller and Town Attorney Kiely in their personal capacity have been dismissed by the Court.”

But the statement said there are two claims that were “amicably resolved by the parties.”

Mr. Kiley told the Reporter said there was no exchange of money between the parties.

One of the two issues was a Freedom of Information request from Alex Kriegsman who represented Ms. Carter. The exact nature of that request isn’t clear at present.

The Town Board’s press release stated that  the town “is grateful for this outcome and wishes continued success to Aandrea Carter and the Rams Head Inn.”

The dock in use by Ms. Carter and former owners James and Linda Eklund for about 50 years was long the subject of debate with claims that it was partially on town-owned land. Many surveys were done and by 2021, a final determination was reached that the dock was partially on town-owned land.

Nonetheless, the Town Board granted use of that dock for the summer of 2021 so as not to disrupt the Inn business.

In 2022, with the dock still in place, Town Attorney Stephen Kiely advised the Town Board to take action to remove it. The Board agreed and Public Works Department staffers removed the dock. Part of the dock was fenced in and planks leading from the land to the dock were removed.

In February, Ms. Carter won approval for a replacement dock, but sued Mr. Kiely and Town Board members for the action in destroying the original dock.

Eventually, charges were dropped against most of the Board, but charges against Supervisor Gerry Siller and Mr. Kiely as individuals remained, forcing both men to recuse themselves and leave the room whenever there was a discussion of the application for the replacement dock.