7 Responses

1. “The sect, based in Rockland County, runs a camp at the old hotel without a permit and continues to ignore requests to evacuate voluntarily in spite of warnings the buildings are firetraps.”

   Compare this to testerday’s headline:

   HaRav Kanievsky Rejects Bracha Request for Traffic Violator

2. “County and town emergency personnel have called the buildings firetraps. Inspectors have found multiple code violations: holes in the walls, ceilings caving in, and water, sewer, electrical and plumbing problems. Sprinklers and fire alarms don’t work.”

   It wasn’t like that when Tom was running maintenance. He sometimes used spit and chewing gum to hold the place together, but hold it together he did.

   “By opening in early July, the camp openly defied the state. On June 30, the DOH denied the permit because the camp wasn’t in compliance with town regulations and didn’t have a fire plan, town records indicate. Neither did the group have a special-use permit from the town to switch the property’s status from a hotel to a girls’ camp.”

   “In December, the town forced the owner to put up notices on several buildings indicating that the fire suppression systems were disabled and the buildings were vacant. Wednesday morning, lights were on in some of these buildings and people were inside.”

   Chilul hashem, much?

3. Don’t worry. It won’t be long before someone is shouting “Anti-Semitism!”

4. I know I will be bashed for what I’m writing here, but at least I will try to give an accurate report on the facts.
   The camp has some minor violations like every single camp has. (Imagine your house, if you realise the battery is missing, I don’t think you’ll evacuate your family to a nearby hotel…..). These minor violations where never a problem in the previous years. In fact this camp is even better equipped then 90% of heimishe camps. The facilities are open for anyone to inspect.
   This camp is operating already for a few years with BH great success.
   Let me clarify what happened this year. Skver bought this property in 2005 to build their future new village, shtetel, there. In the meantime they are using the hotel as a girls camp. The Skvere Rabbi instructed the community leaders to leave it incorporated as a hotel and to pay the full amount of taxes as long as there is an hotel also operating on the site (although they were able to divide the property in half and claim 2 separate entities, with one as a non-profit camp with tax exemption). The Skvere Rabbi instructed to do so, although it cost close to $350,000.00(!) annually, so not to aggravate the local officials and town leaders. And to make a Kidush Hasem to our neighbors there.
   This year as the economy declined, and business of the hotel decreased, the managers of the site decided, that it would be cheaper to close down the hotel, and file for a camp with a tax exemption.
   The town officials declared that they will do everything in their power it shouldn’t be a legal camp, so that they can collect they’re taxes! So the only safety hazard is that the county and town will lose money this year.
   That’s the reason of the name change, as you saw in the article.
   Btw, Do you see one of the complaints? I will quote the article:

   “The congregation’s original application to the state for a permit to run a camp indicated that 340 girls and about 30 boys would attend.

   “We have never received an accurate accounting of their population,” Knudsen said.”

   Wow, what a claim. A real safety hazard……..

   For those of you who are still mad, I have news for you. All the violations are in an attached building, not used. But the county claims they don’t trust Skver that it won’t be used…… What a claim. But a correct claim if you need the tax money and you dont wanna approve it as a camp.
   Whoever wants to contradict should please go and inspect the site first…..
   One small comment. Skver called down privately a health inspector from a different town (can’t name who for obvious reasons), to make sure everything is safe….

5. responding to #5
   i have been going to the homowack for years now, the school where i work holds an annual shabbaton there. over the past 10 years the place has really deteriorated. this past fall when my family and i were there i vowed never to return. it was disgusting. to say it has a few violations is a severe understatement. the rooms downstairs are infested with frogs, rooms upstairs have major mold issues. bugs, flies, insects, everywhere. i gaged when i entered our room – the smell of mold was overwhelming. i can not imagine that this is better then 90% of other heimesha camps and if it is i feel very sorry for those campers as i do for these girls. i have the utmost respect for the skver community and my family i have the zechus on many occasions to meet with and receive brachos from the Skverer Rebbe, SHLITA. but this hotel and its conditions are totally unacceptable for anyone to stay for a night or long period of time. perhaps you might want to take a road trip to the homawack to see for yourself the condition it is in. spend a few hours or a night and you will see (or feel it in your throat and nose) what kind of dump it is. these girls deserve a clean, safe environment to enjoy their summer. maybe i am naive but not everything is about money and tax claims. and even if the towns’ motivation is wrong their assessment is accurate. i said it as soon as i arrived there last october this place is a major health, safety, and fire hazard. like i said go see for yourself and if you or anyone feels differently then what i just wrote i guess we just have different standards of what we deem appropriate for living conditions.

6. From a post to a local paper’s comment section: “As Chief of the Summitville Fire Co. # 1 I was the ICO on this scene and I can say that there are so many hazardous conditions at this complex that I wouldn’t let my dog stay in this building.
   There is health issues, fire safety issues ,and quality of life issues.
   If it was up to me as Fire Chief I would close this complex no questions asked,,PERIOD!!!! but needless to say I do not have that power…”

   This doesn’t sound like a dispute over taxes.

   Not to mention, the contractor they first hired to clean out the oil spill backed out after they found in their records that the camp still owed them $15,000 from the *last* time there was an oil spill. The camp would up hiring another contractor.

   Hit google news at http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ned=us&hl=en&q=HOMOWACK for more stories on this.

7. I agree with #1. Building codes, health codes and the like are safety rules, no different than traffic laws. A person who chooses to ignore them does so at the risk of injuring (or even murdering) their unsuspecting customers. But for some reason, there are frum people who don’t think that secular laws of safety apply to them. They should refer to the gemara which speaks often about local customs setting standards of care in business. Secular law in the U.S. creates such local standards which one ignores at risk of (a) criminal prosecution, (b) civil liability in secular courts, or (c) the risk of Divine sanctions for ignoring dina d’malchusa dina.