ווי באריכטעט
דא האבן זיך די ראשי קעי דזשעי אלייענס געטראפן מיט הארלי דאולס, זיי האבן געזאגט אז זיי האבן נישט גערעדט פון די אנעקסעישאן...
למעשה איז היינט ארויסגעקומען א בריוו וואס יעקב מאיר פערענץ האט געשיקט צו איינע פון די טאון קאנסילמעמבערס. (פארדעם האבן זיי גערופן דאולס און אים עס מסביר געווען פרעזענדליך, נישט וועלענדיג צו שיקן דעם אימעיל פאר אים... וואס פאר די וואנזיניגער דאולס שטייט דאס אויס ארויפצוברענגן אין פאבליק און פארשפרייטן...)
[left]From: Jacob Ferencz <jacfer@gmail.com>
Subject: Kiryas Joel Annexation without Discrimination
Date: September 4, 2015 at 5:01:58 PM EDT
To:
Cc: Lipa Deutch <lipadeutch@yahoo.com>, Chaim Yosef Niederman <joseph@gsiequities.com>
Dear
We are faced with the reality that whether through the votes of the respective boards in Town of Monroe and Village of Kiryas Joel, or through the Courts in case one or both annexation petitions are voted down by the Town of Monroe board, Kiryas Joel will most likely get what they want and annex the entire 507 acres into KJ.
The moment the voting ends, the entire process moves to the Courts where KJ has a history of getting their way with their high priced Park Ave lawyers paid for by the insurance companies once the Village is sued or by the tax payers of KJ if the Village has to initiate the Court action. Either way, it is paid by the public and not by the Village leaders personally and therefore there is an unlimited budget for Attorneys which will give them the upper hand in the eventual litigation.
Therefore, the ONLY time that the Village has any need for the Town representatives is between now and September 8. After that vote has taken place, the Village leadership has no need for ANY of them, does not care at all whether they will be re-elected or not and certainly doesn't care for their and their families struggles resulting from the vote.
For us, so called "Dissidents" residing in KJ and in the to-be annexed areas, the situation will become even more perilous on several levels. If up to this point we could build our community facilities, Shuls, Mikvahs, Schools in the Town of Monroe, close by to the borders of the existing KJ, as we are doing now with the Grunhut shul and Schwimmers shul, we will be pushed out evenoutside the borders of the expended KJ Village making it impossible for our families to walk that distance on Shabbos and holidays.
Additionally, the water hookup agreement signed by ALL owners of annexed properties, section 7 (n) the agreement specifically provides that the water be used solely for "residential" purposes and water can not be provided to "institutional" use. Since the ground water of the properties are by this agreement sold to the Village, there would be no water available for Shuls, Mikvah's, Schools and other community facilities in the entire annexed area. Obviously this provision is not meant to restrict development of a baptist church in KJ, it is intended and will eventually complete bar the newly annexed lands from being used for any of the "Dissidents" religious needs.
Attached is an agreement drafted by our Attorney which will lift that restriction and allow for our community to foster and grow with the religious services we need in our daily lives.
Obviously, an annexation with such a restriction in place can not be considered to be in the "Overall" public interest. No religious community should endure government sanctioned discrimination and oppression in the USA in 2015.
While we might get verbal niceties from the elected officials that this restriction will not be enforced, that we will be given equal treatment under the law, we need to keep in mind the 25 year history on this subject. It took a federal court to force the Village of KJ to allow the "Chareidim" shul to exist. As we speak, the Village of KJ is actively blocking the building of Shuls in Town of Monroe property by bringing up concerns that do no concern them, as evidenced by their own buildings in the Village that they fully control.
These promises ring hollow when pitted against the actual past and current history of the Village when it comes to building shuls.
In addition to the attached amendment to water use agreement, the Village should have no objection to write and publicize an open letter committing themselves to allowing Vayoel Moshe, Bnei Yoel to build Shuls and Schools and other religious facilities within the borders of KJ.
In regards to the Grunhut shul and Schwimmer shul, the Village should have no objection to formalize their verbal promise via letter to the Town of Monroe planning board and ZBA waiving all their objections to these shuls.
Finally, we are all aware that post the annexation vote the actual annexation might be in limbo for a year or two while the court sorts out the various challenges. To ensure that these much needed shuls are not frozen in bureaucratic limbo, an agreement should be reached by the Town of Monroe and the Village of Kiryas Joel that the projects currently pending before the Town boards, shall continue to be addressed and disposed of by those boards and the boards decisions shall be binding on the Village of KJ.
Absent these protections the approval of the annexation petitions will directly lead to extreme oppression of a community that counts close to 2,000 families and school systems educating approx 5,000 children. A vote for annexation without the above understandings firmly in place by legally binding agreements will condemn these families and children to perpetual harassment and not being able to practice their religion as they choose. Pretty soon, the entire annexed area will be built out with only Village leadership aligned community facilities available on Shabbos and Holidays, when we can't drive.
The above is the minimum needed to ensure that annexation will not directly result in oppressing a community for religious differences. The above is by far not the complete list of grievances that we have against the village nor an enumeration of their oppressive tactics and discriminatory action against their citizenry. It does address at least in part the detrimental effects that annexation would impose on our community.
Please feel free to share our thoughts with your colleagues of the Town of Monroe leadership.
Jacob Ferencz[/left]
(איך האב נישט קיין קאפי פונעם אימעיל, איך האב נאר דאס באקומען, צו ס'אמת צו נישט איז דיין באשלוס... We report you decide...)
