Deputies vacate landmark inn residents

MILFORD - Following the late December building condemnation by the borough, Pike County Sheriff’s deputies vacated the remaining residents of the Tom Quick Inn on Wednesday. Borough Council President Matthew Osterberg was angry that two families had to be directed to leave second floor apartments in the rear of the sprawling structure. “None of this would have been necessary if Mr. (Abraham) Wohl had handled his responsibilities like an adult,” Osterberg said. Osterberg said the building’s failing electric wiring had forced the condemnation, when Wohl failed to meet an extended Dec. 21 deadline to make repairs. “(Wohl’s) done nothing. There were workmen there today winterizing the property, but they were hired by the creditors, the banks, who were protecting their investment,” Osterberg said Wednesday. The famous inn and restaurant was closed for months, when creditors foreclosed on the property last spring. The property has repeatedly been scheduled for Sheriff’s auction sale since then, but Wohl has repeatedly won court stays to avoid the auction block. Some 17 residents were in the building when the first Sheriff’s sale was scheduled in August. Most have moved, but Osterberg said squatters and kids have continued to use and vandalize the unlocked three-story front section. We don’t have the authority to put padlocks on it,” he said. So far, it’s just been kids and squatters, but Osterberg worries that someone with darker intentions will gain entrance. “If there’s a fire and people are hurt, we’ll be accused of negligence.” That concern sent the borough back to court to have the Sheriff “secure” the building with police tape. “It’s a lose-lose situation. No one wants people hurt or homeless. We look bad no matter what we do, ” he said.