Kelly Kenoyer
City Council members heard an impassioned presentation about the state of homelessness in Sweet Home at their Jan. 26 meeting.
Councilors Greg Mahler, who is the mayor, Susan Coleman, Diane Gerson, Lisa Gourley, Dylan Richardson, Angelita Sanchez and Dave Trask attended the Jan. 26 meeting.
Rotarian Larry Horton gave a report focusing on the encampment at the Church of Nazarene, and made it clear how much the topic weighs on him personally.
“My sister was homeless, and she ended up dying in a truck I donated to her,” said Horton, who is retired as superintendent of Sweet Home School District. “I know this is an inconvenience and people don’t like to drive by it, but right now people are being saved, their lives are literally being saved.”
He added that the shelter situation at the church is temporary and intended to protect the residents there from the cold.
“Tonight outside, it’s basically freezing,” he said. “If there weren’t shelter out there, there would be some individuals facing some very serious health conditions.”
The current shelters involve a wooden platform with a dome made out of a tarp over it, with a smaller tent set up inside. The shelters create a heat barrier which keeps the residents much warmer than a tent alone would.
“One gentleman said it was so warm he had to climb out of his sleeping bag,” Horton said. “I talked with one of the gentlemen there last week: He told me if he hadn’t had this tent he probably would have been dead.”
However, Horton acknowledged, neighbors and police alike are somewhat frustrated by the temporary shelter.
“What we have going on down there right now needs change, there’s no doubt,” he said. “Right now the church is looking at March 1 as the end of the winter.” After that, he predicted, a lot of the residents would end up sleeping in doorways and parks, and “we’re not allowed to tell them no” because of recent court decisions related to camping on public land.
Gerson said, “I drove by there yesterday, and it looked very neat and quiet. However, there were people sleeping on the porch, and it was sleeting outside.”
Horton responded that there aren’t quite as many shelters as there are people who need them. Additionally, indoors shelters aren’t possible right now due to COVID regulations. He said he’d like to see the local government provide land for a more secure shelter, perhaps with Conestoga huts, which are currently in use in Eugene. Those shelters include a lockable door and cost about $2,500 each to construct.
Mahler said he’s concerned about having someone qualified run the shelter and keep it safe. Horton said there are qualified people interested in running such a shelter at the Family Assistance and Resource Group. He added that the organization has funding and grants available for such a venture, but needs land to locate the shelter on.
“The plan is trying to come up with a way to transfer from emergency housing to temporary housing for the homeless to then transfer into more permanent housing on their own,” he added.
Mahler reiterated his concerns about staffing, and Horton said that’s less of a problem.
“I don’t think the staffing is going to be as much of an issue as the facility or the land,” he said. “It’s got to be close enough to services but not right in someone’s backyard.”
Mahler said he’s a bit worried about the city drawing in homeless people from other areas because of the new shelter, and added that he doesn’t want a shelter to hurt economic development in downtown. But he acknowledged there is an “incredible housing need in our community,” referencing a nearby apartment complex which has already leased most of its apartments, despite still being under construction.
In other council action:
– Mahler read a proclamation denouncing “destruction and violence” in the U.S. at the capitol on Jan. 6 and in Portland over the past several months.
He also said the city of Sweet Home “denounces all hateful speech and bias-motivated violent actions in our community,” and “denounces extremist conspiracy theories, misinformation, and disinformation that cultivate an alienated and mistrustful electorate, undermine democratic institutions and processes, and increase the likelihood of violence.”
He urged citizens to adopt the same values in their own lives, and denounced “hate and extremism” to “keep us all safe.”
Mahler congratulated City Manager Ray Towry for putting the proclamation together, and the council did not discuss the issue any further.
– Councilors unanimously approved a resolution to surplus and sell numerous city assets, including four vehicles from the Police and Public Works departments. They include a 2012 Dodge Charger, a 2005 Chevy Impala, and a 2002 and a 1999 Ford F-250. The police vehicles will be sold at auction, while the two Ford F-250s will be traded in through the Enterprise contract, according to Finance Director Brandon Neish.
Half a dozen smaller pieces of equipment from Public Works will also be sold at auction, including a chipper, a sprayer, and a chainsaw.
Other surplus equipment include computers and other technology, which will be disposed of for cyber security reasons.
Sanchez asked Neish why the city is purchasing vehicles when so many citizens are struggling through a challenging economic time. He said the purchases had already been made and were part of the budget process in previous years.
“Our fleet, as far as the Police Department is concerned, has been updated to include current technologies, better engines, good fuel efficiency,” he said, adding that the surplus vehicles don’t currently serve a purpose.
Public Works Director Greg Springman added that his department doesn’t use the two vehicles anymore either.
“We can do better for our staff,” he said. “We need to provide them good operating tools.”
All the equipment on the list, he added, has already been replaced by newer equipment.
“This is kind of getting rid of some of the old equipment we’ve replaced over the past several years.”
– Council voted in favor of a zoning amendment for a parcel of land near the railroad tracks behind Swan’s Restaurant, Dan-Dee Sales, and U.S. Mini Mart. The tract is currently zoned for industrial use, but developer Steve Kaye out of Silverton is working to move the property to residential zoning and split it into seven single-family home lots.
The development would involve putting in a new road that lets out onto 9th Avenue. The drawings appear to show the road going in just behind Ames Creek Storage on a vacant tract of land owned by the same company, then curving up behind a few single-family homes to run alongside the railroad track to service the new lots.
The motion passed unanimously.
– Mahler also announced subcommittee appointments, many of which remain unchanged due to ongoing projects. On the administrative and finance/property committee, Trask is chair with Coleman and Gerson as members. On Charter Review Committee, Gerson is chair with Trask as a member. Trask is also the council representative on the parks board/tree commission, and Gerson is the council representative on the Youth Advisory Council.
New members Richards and Sanchez will both be council representatives on the Chamber of Commerce, and Sanchez will also take the Area Commission on Transportation and the Council of Governments, which Mahler noted she would be a good fit for given her prior experiences. Richards got the Solid Waste Advisory Committee and the Legislative Committee. Gourley and Mahler will be representatives on the Ad Hoc Community Healthcare Committee.