Rumshock Homeless Vet Project Stalled
The final Victory Village hurdle, payment for a building permit, has been made but mysteriously lost.
Two halves of a tiny house and the beginning of another are sheltered in a BOCES carpentry workshop, built by students for the Rumshock program to house and educate homeless veterans. Last spring, Corey Moore, BOCES carpentry instructor, volunteered to have his students build the ten houses to be trailered in halves to the Port Jervis site on East Main St. in the fall of 2024.
However, on December 17, asked how the project was progressing, Moore said, “There has been very little movement. We have not gotten the building permit as of close of business Friday.”
His students can’t build more tiny houses until the one built is moved to the Port Jervis site. The BOCES workshop has limited space, but without the building permit, no construction can begin.
First Ward Councilman Jason Vicchiariello, chair of the Code Committee, which oversees city regulations, said that a building permit could not be issued until required fees are paid. The building permit fee had been waived by Port Jervis Common Council, but the engineering and recreation fee remained.
“There’s a limit to how much we can ask residents to pay,” said Vicchiariello.
Bill Whetsel, of Monroe, Rumshock Foundation founder and veteran, hatched the idea for ten tiny houses in 2019 when he discovered that Orange County had more homeless veterans than surrounding counties, 27 compared to seven or less elsewhere. Newly discharged veterans were dropped off at Stewart Airport with little support. They could get Veterans Administration help with PTSD and drug addiction and move to halfway houses for a while, Whetsel said, but after that, with nowhere to go, they were likely to land at a Newburgh homeless shelter.
“The military gives you food, clothes and a regimen. Then they drop you at Stewart Airport with nothing,” he said. “What do you do? Veterans do better with veterans.”
He noticed that Orange County has many veteran services but no veteran housing. Whetsel explored what worked at veteran shelters in other counties. He saw that community gardens and transportation were important. So his plan included growing micro-greens, mushrooms and hydroponic vegetables that veterans could both sell and eat. They would do electronics recycling, use solar panels to reduce electricity costs and have a garage with a lift. These resources would provide vets with a regimen, help pay rent, and new skills would offer opportunities.
In 2020, Jen Metzger, who was then state senator, helped Rumshock get a grant for the $400,000 needed to pay $200,000 for the .75 acre Port Jervis property and other program expenses for Victory Village. In March 2024, Congressman Pat Ryan (D-18) presented Rumshock with a $1 million federal grant added to a $400,000 new state grant. But government funding can be slow in arriving. Fundraisers have helped, like a Warwick dinner served by Warwick officials. But Whetsel is still waiting and using on-hand funds, including from his credit card, to move the building process along.
On July 12, Port Jervis officials approved Rumshock plans. Port Jervis Common Council agreed to waive the $14,000 building permit fee, but the fee was still included on his invoice from the city building department, Whetsel said. In eight emails from the building department, fees kept shifting, he said. His attorney advised him not to provide press with the emails.
“Only two weeks ago, they finally took away the building fee the council and mayor said I didn’t have to pay,” Whetsel said. “Then an additional engineering fee was added.”
He said he asked for a bill itemization that never came. He was already frustrated by the time needed for environmental review, looking for bat and mussel habitats, radon mitigation, requirement of sewage system expansion, fire hydrant and sidewalks. Those issues were not so unusual, but when Whetsel paid the fee, $4750, to the city with his credit card on Nov. 14, it didn’t get through to the city. Initially, the impediment was that he needed to confirm the charge with credit card customer service because of the amount charged.
After Whetsel confirmed the charge, the funds went through from the credit card, as a Chase Bank representative confirmed in a three-way call between the representative, Whetsel and this Lookout reporter. The problem that has delayed the payment is that the Port Jervis payment system has not acknowledged receiving the check, Whetsel said.
Asked to explain, Stacey Hosking, Port Jervis City Clerk/Teasurer said she could not explain. “It’s a private project.”
“We can’t cut trees and prepare the land until we have a permit,” Whetsel said. “The zoning process already took two years. I think someone’ s working against us.”
But Councilman Vicchiariello said he was unaware of this last payment hurdle. “We waived the building fee. I don’t understand what’s being done,” he said. “This is a wonderful project.”
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