Reopened investigation into Smuggs drowning concludes

This story by Aaron Calvin was first published in the News & Citizen on July 11.

A second investigation by the Department for Children and Families into the drowning death of a 3-year-old at Smugglers’ Notch Resort concluded after finding one minor violation.

Last month, the department ended a reopened investigation into an incident where Tate Holtzman died after falling into an underground cistern that feeds a splash pad at the resort.

The department found the resort violated a regulation that requires filing an incident report for “each accident, injury or medical emergency that leaves a visible mark, or first aid has been administered, even when medical treatment is not required.” The resort failed to file a report after Holtzman’s death.

The department initially found no violations in the immediate aftermath of Holtzman’s drowning, which occurred last July, but reopened its investigation at the request of the Holtzman family when the child’s father, former resort employee Zachary Holtzman, contacted the state and “pointed out several potential violations of state regulations, among them a requirement that outdoor play areas be free of hazards,” according to a Boston Globe report in May.

“The Holtzmans are disappointed by the Department’s response to this tragedy,” the family’s lawyer, Jennifer Denker of Boston law firm Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow, said in a statement. “They cannot understand why DCF, the agency charged with protecting children in Vermont, assessed no violations against Smugglers’ Notch relating to the unsafe conditions on its premises, which resulted in the death of their son Tate.”

“The family sincerely hopes that moving forward the Department will take a close look at modifying its own regulations in continued efforts to ensure the safety of Vermont children in licensed daycare programs,” Denker said.

Vermont State Police also found no criminal wrongdoing in the aftermath of the drowning. The Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration levied a negotiated fine against the resort for $21,850 after finding it violated multiple workplace regulations. VOSHA indicated that the resort put the lives of employees who tried to save Holtzman at risk after failing to include information about the cistern in its training and failing to properly identify the manhole covering the water tank.

The Holtzman’s told the Globe that they felt the day care center and summer camp program at the resort should have been shut down immediately. Denker and the Holtzmans also said that they wanted to avoid taking the resort to court and instead hoped the resort would work with them to resolve their concerns about safety.

“While nothing can bring Tate back, his family is hopeful that Smugglers’ Notch will accept responsibility for its role in their son’s death and work with them cooperatively to resolve their claims. Tate’s parents are committed to ensuring that no other family ever has to go through what they have,” Denker told the Globe.

So far, the resort has not indicated any changes would be undertaken because of Holtzman’s death. No one was fired or disciplined in the aftermath of the incident.

Resort president Lisa Howe said in December that it would never be known “why the bolts weren’t in the place where there were holes for the bolts,” but the Vermont State Police detective who investigated the incident told the Globe that, “Even without the screws, if that cover was secured the way it should have been, there’s no way that cover should have flipped up.”

Howe declined to comment on the results of the Department for Children and Families’ reopened investigation.

“If one person, just one person, at Smuggs did their job. Tate would be alive,” Zachary Holtzman told the Globe.

A petition for the resort to convert the splash pad where Holtzman died into a memorial garden garnered nearly 1,500 signatures, but resort officials have declined to comment on whether the idea is under consideration.

Editor’s note: Aaron Calvin’s partner works at Smugglers’ Notch Resort.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Reopened investigation into Smuggs drowning concludes .