I appreciated the article in last week’s Bucks County Herald (“Haycock Camp witnesses fail to allay concerns over expansion plan,” March 21) concerning the Haycock Camping Ministries Inc. expansion. I would like to summarize what this expansion will include.
The following information was taken directly from the six-phase plan filed in the Springfield Township office.
• An 18,000-square-foot gym which could accommodate 100 overnight guests
• An 8,000-square-foot commercial kitchen attached to the gym
• Paved parking lots for 100 cars
• Overflow parking for 100 additional cars
• An additional sewage lagoon with spray irrigation field
• Playground with gazebo and picnic area
• An additional rifle range and shotgun, pistol, ax-throwing, slingshot and archery ranges
• Several additional maintenance sheds
• Outdoor basketball courts
• Splash pool with bath house
• Seven year-round cabins with dedicated kitchen/dining hall
• Expansion of the present dining hall
• Stables with horse barn and coral
• A new camp office
• A camp store
• A nurses station
• An outdoor worship pavilion
• A 10,000-square-foot meeting room
• RV sites
• A second lodge for additional staff
• Expansion of present overnight camper facilities
• A 700% increase in sewage to be processed which would necessitate a proportional amount of groundwater extraction.
The present road infrastructure can not accommodate traffic associated with this expansion and we, the taxpayers, will be footing the bill for upgrades if approved.
These facilities will be available for rental by outside groups, all to the financial gain of this “nonprofit” camp.
The neighborhood is not opposed to the camp. We are opposed to its expansion into a busy, commercial enterprise. I personally am concerned because the present 14,000-square-foot sewage lagoon was constructed 550 feet from my home and 100 feet from my property line and intermittently produces noxious gasses during the summer camping season.
The plant was planned and approved without me being informed. It was only after a large swath of mature forest started being logged that I found out what was being constructed.
Rodger Scheetz lives in Springfield Township.
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