Blowback in Bloomingburg; Former mayor gets $960k offer for mobile home park

Posted 8/21/12

BLOOMINGBURG, NY — Documents that were unsealed and revealed in multiple news stories last week indicated that, even as developer Shalom Lamm and his partner Ken Nikdiman were selling the concept …

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Blowback in Bloomingburg; Former mayor gets $960k offer for mobile home park

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BLOOMINGBURG, NY — Documents that were unsealed and revealed in multiple news stories last week indicated that, even as developer Shalom Lamm and his partner Ken Nikdiman were selling the concept of a retirement community with a golf course, the real plan was to build a Hasidic community with eventually 5,000 families.

That process has been mired in legal battles for several years, and last week’s revelations are likely to have an impact on at least one of two legal fights going forward. One is the federal lawsuit brought by Lamm against the Town of Mamakating and others charging discrimination. The suit was sparked after officials declined to grant a permit for a girls’ school, and is the case that triggered the unsealing of the documents.

Another case is a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit brought by the Town of Mamakating and Village of Bloomingburg against Lamm and his associates. The suit charged that the entire attempt to build a new community in Bloomingburg was fraudulent and involved the corruption of numerous local officials. That federal lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Katherine Forrest in September 2015, the same federal judge who ordered the documents unsealed. Forrest dismissed the lawsuit, in part, because she said it was not filed timely. The attorneys in that case have appealed that decision.

In the meantime, the Sullivan County Board of Elections made a deal with previously challenged voters in the village, and the deal made it very difficult to bring new challenges against voters in the village. In the election after that deal was made, candidates who support the development were voted into office, and now that they constitute a majority, it is not clear if the Village of Bloomingburg will withdraw from the appeal of the RICO lawsuit.

The new mayor of Bloomingburg, Russell Wood, presided over his first meeting on April 21, and was called corrupt and a puppet for Lamm by some of the 70 or so people that turned out to the meeting. Wood was formerly the planning board chairman, and he was the only person on the board who was in favor of granting the permit to build the girls’ school.

Major changes continue to impact the lives of the residents and the village because of the development, in which Lamm says anyone can buy a unit, but which has been marketed primarily to members of the Hasidic community. Most recently, residents of the Amberlite Mobile Home Park have been notified that they must make plans to move out of the park because the owners, Everett and Regina Saunders, have received an offer to purchase the park for $960,000.

Everett Saunders is a former mayor of Bloomingburg and he and his wife Regina are identified in the RICO lawsuit. The complaint says, Lamm “induced” Everett and Regina, who was a member of the Mamakating Town Board at the time, to go along with his plans. According to the complaint, Lamm purchased the couple’s home and hardware store for about $150,000 over the market price. Lamm and Nakdimen also promised they would have the trailer park annexed to the village, and hooked up to the promised water and sewer systems that Lamm would later build, which would allow more trailers on the property, and make it much more valuable.

The current residents have the option of getting together and matching the offer made by the other buyer, which is identified only as Amberlite LLC, but the residents are not financially in a position to do this. Matching the offer would involve coming up with $365,000 in cash by July 27.

The notification to residents says, “Time being of the essence… The proposed purchaser has certified to us that it intends to either upon closing (July 29) or within 60 months thereafter, to use the land on which the manufactured home is located for a purpose other than manufactured home lot rentals, which will require you to secure other accommodations.”

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