Such a tough issue.

On the one hand you have a person in financial distress.

On the other hand you have an eyesore.

No easy answers.

Town ordinances requiring legally parked cars to be towed just because they look decrepit are so stupid.

However it is a tough call when they break down in the way of things. Like the infamous burlington bus.

Yes, it's so terrible when you have to look at poor people

>Many residents reported feeling intimidated when having to pass the motor home, Nulty said.

> “How is this beautifying the property by allowing this stuff to happen?” Wilder resident Doris Villandry asked during public comments, when describing the state of Robinson’s vehicle during a day of repairs.

​

jesus christ. compassion really is dead.

You can see all the sand he dumped after dropping the tranny pan. Oil went everywhere most likely with no drain pain. What a mess. I can feel the guys pain though as I have lived in an RV in the past and had to do repairs but I have tried to stay at places like walmart lots and even dirt cheap campgrounds. TBH though I am not buying the work vehicle line. A 70's shitbox camper that gets 5mpg na he's living in it. Gotta set a line somehwere or things will start looking like they do out west with hundreds of them lining the streets. And of course then comes the drugs crime and all that. If this guy is legit and really just trying to work someone in the community should let him park on their land for a bit and avoid all this stuff.

Legally? Don't think any town around these parts would let me park my car for days/weeks without it getting towed eventually. No matter the condition. And quite frankly towns don't want this getting out of hand. Understandably.

Some of the cars in this were required to be towed from private lots. Even if they had permission from the lots owner.

So, the town is on the hook for the tow and $80 a day in storage costs, but things look nicer now...so that worked out well for Hartford overall?

Na shes got a point the guy is dumping oil all over public property. Look at the photos and the other ones are tossing trash. Next time it rains all that leftover oil will wash into the sewer drains and into our rivers.

Edit: McDonalds property but still.

That's a different story see my reply below. It's one thing in a ok place walmart etc but in a town parking space na sorry.

Edit I reread the article and found no instance of anything being towed from private property. Complaints yes towing no. The one here was parked at a McDonalds no wonder they had it towed and thats well within the company's rights.

We are going to start seeing a flood of stories like this now that the Covid emergency/VERAP monies have dried up. Beyond shortsighted and unfair that the program ending coincided with winter

Most of these folks pissing and moaning about the aesthetics of the motor home, and feeling intimidated, likely have nothing better to do. And they're probably insufferable busybodies who can't mind their own business.

I feel badly for them.

These are not mutually exclusive.

That whole bus incident this past summer at Jake's Market in Burlington was not a "breakdown". Those moochers simply ran out of diesel, and parked-up at a place they thought they could inconvenience and take advantage of until some poor sap paid to fill up their tank. It wouldn't look good for Jake's, or any other business, if they had immediately gotten that bus towed. That would have been counter to the image Jake's was trying to cultivate as a community-minded, neighborhood hub and shop and would have portrayed them as heartless and greedy. Of course that's where the bus "broke down".

https://vtdigger.org/2022/07/20/after-8-day-stay-in-old-north-end-parking-lot-inhabited-school-bus-moves-along/

TBH I don't know a single person who took that money and actually needed it. I am sure there were quite a few but good gosh so many people were just using that as supplemental income. Kinda became a running joke let the state pay your rent. There was zero vetting going on at all.

I can’t stand people who’s main concern is the way things look, “beautifying” the town should probably be a concern that comes after making sure people can eat and sleep somewhere heated.

They also had thousands of well meaning but misslead college students following them on social media and ready to go off the minute things didn't go their way.

Burlington is really ripe for scammers

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You know there is a Walmart right over the river from there that allows RV parking. It's got plenty of light, safe and has restrooms inside to use. Where do you think these people are pissing and crapping while parked in a town lot. 100 bucks says the toilet in these RV's have been busted for years or just empties on the ground. Or poor as they are if they do work they prolly pull the drain over a storm drain as they sure are not driving to campground and paying to dump it. In my days of RV homelessness we avoided downtown areas for these reasons.

:)

Holy shit. You charge $2,444 a month in rent. And "he", one person, skipped town?If this is real and accurate then that hurts MY brain.

Probably in desperate need because rent is almost $2.5k a month for one person, under you. So.

Was 1450 for a 3br/2ba house and they kicked in every door and cabinet and refused to leave. Punched medicine cabinet, police reports, ripping out wiring, you get the idea. Was over nine months rent plus all the crazy attorney fees that VERAP put into their bank account and they just kept it and finally moved out. At least we have the house back

They outsourced it to some group in CT. We used it for a few months and even after telling them many times to stop they kept sending checks. In our case they went right to the owner but ya I saw how many were just getting paid directly. I'm not faulting anyone for taking the cash though we did and did so according to the guidelines but really it was like a click the box if you had kids home during covid etc it was so open to anyone.

We rented out our past house here I get what you went through completely. Never again. And they wonder why so many people just go the short term route.

There's a word for them. Or acronym

NIMBY's

In Vermont it's BANANA-NIMBY:

Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything - Not In My Backyard.

We do know five families with varying numbers of children who took the VERAP assistance and needed it.

I’m not saying anything about the eyesore issue. But there are rules for dwellings for sanitation. Water and toilet facilities, and heat in winter. I have an RV and am responsible for taking care of those issues. If people are camping outside without the necessary sanitation, they need to be given warning and then towed.

Just talking to a coworker who is homeless. She parks her van at a 24-hour fitness place and has a cheap membership so she can shower. We are trying to get her help but there’s a long list other than at a local shelter

lol nimby

> They declined the city’s offer to tow the bus because the vehicle was in too poor condition to handle it, they said.

This tells me one of two things. Either the bus was in such poor shape that it absolutely should not have ever been on the road or that the owners knew if they made themselves a big enough nuisance that someone would "fix" the breakdown for them for free / cheaper than a service call.

Since the article also notes that a mechanic eventually showed up to prime the engine and get it moving again; I'm voting in favor of the latter, with the added kicker that the owners of the bus are idiots who should have their licenses revoked.

Running out of fuel in a diesel vehicle is certainly a bigger PITA than doing so with a gas car but getting a prime almost never takes more than 1 or wrench. Crack open the line on the fuel pump, crank engine until the bubbles stop coming out the the line. Tighten it, then do the same thing on your injectors*. Should take less than 10 minutes and is absolutely something every owner of a diesel should know how to do on their vehicle. 10 seconds on google gives you dozens of videos and articles showing you exactly how to do it.

* Technically most diesels you can get away with just cranking the engine in 30-40 second bursts given enough time for the starter to cool down between attempts but this is more abusive to the starter and depending on how badly you lost the prime you can kill your batteries before you actually get it started.

It effects nearby property value I’d assume.

I drive by one of the Park & Rides on 91 and there has been a conversion van parked there for a couple of weeks. Moves around a bit. Pretty sure someone is living in it. I've also seen the two RV's mentioned in the article.

If you have a safe, warm place to lay your head at night, count your blessings.

Nobody is talking about the transmission fluid gasket made of cardboard. That'll last a day and leak fluid everywhere all over again.

Once again, it comes down to balance. People shouldn't be demonized for just trying to survive. I know people who lived/are living in campers and it's not fun during the winter time. These folks normally would rent an apartment but there aren't any that they can afford/too far from work.

On the other hand, if you're using a public lot/public property, pick up after yourself. I can see why these NIMBYs were riled up. Pretty soon, VT will be nothing but Boomer BANANA-NIMBYs that own all the property and hoard all the power. It's already there I believe.

It wasn’t a backyard it was a parking lot. Nimjonemply (not in my Jake’s one market parking Lot)

Well thank you for clarifying - I wasn't sure and thought the town was just straight up towing all the things.

I mean, how much would an actual gasket cost, compared to the PITA of dicking around with this poverty gasket that will fail in very little time, stranding the guy again, preventing him from apparently using the camper as a "work truck".

Derelict RVs are currently all over the west coast. Look at West Jefferson Blvd in Playa Del Rey on Google Street View.

If people didnt park in huge groups, in high traffic areas and kept things clean I don't think it would make others so mad. The amount of pollution, trash and junk found by most of these RVs is staggering.

How things "look" is a proxy for all of the other issues that come with this. People aren't talking about the color of the RV or other esthetics. They are talking about the trash, noise, commotion, smell, etc.

Been that way for a while now.

Awww... =(

Paper gaskets work quite well, actually. Stop punching down.

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You are both half right. Paper gaskets are not made of cardboard box material. Paper gaskets are usually wax coated or impregnated. Can get plane sheets of gasket material for pretty cheap, but they still might be too much for the dude in the video. Maybe he just doesn't know about this option too.

It's been that way for a while. I think we have the oldest average resident age in the country or we did for a while there.

With most on-highway diesels, thee fuel pre-filters usually have an integrated hand pump primer or an electric priming pump.

Yeah obviously modern paper gaskets are superior to the cardboard this guy is using, but a non preg paper gasket still works great considering the situation we are observing. If he can’t spend $10 for a TH400 pan gasket and wants to improve his situation, a pizza box will do a damn good job for a while and he doesn’t deserve to be shit on.

It will do good for a couple days maybe. Once that cardboard soaks through, it will leak like it isn't there. Definitely agree that he doesn't deserve to be shit on.

Have you ever seen a real gasket? They’re often made of a paper or cardboard, sometimes even cork.

I've replaced dozens and made my own with RTV sealant. They are not made of amazon box.

How many liters of ATF is this amazon box trying to hold back? There's a difference between a gasket for an intake manifold or carb, and a pan gasket holding a huge amount of fluid.

For his transmission, there’s 6qts in the pan, however the fluid level with engine off is below the gasket so the qty doesn’t matter. The pan gasket is not holding any pressure while running either. It’s basically holding back the fluid dripping and flying around during operation. A gasket for an intake manifold actually would see much greater pressure differential than that of a th400 pan. And just to be clear, I’m not saying everyone should be frugal and use cardboard to fix their cars, I just think this guy deserves more credit than he’s getting in these comments. He’s replacing what experience tells me is probably a completely cracked and leaking gasket, with a gasket that will stop the uninhibited leak with the downside of slowly wicking fluid out. It’s not a permanent solution but a solution nonetheless.

I would only rent short term or charge as high as I could. Too many broke assholes that don't care about the home because it's not theirs. One bad renter can ruin it for everyone else when someone is decent enough to not charge as much as they can.

Definitely been that way for a While. Will be the death of VT. VT will either become NJ or WV. With the current demographics, it looks like WV.