BARRE — City councilors have tacitly endorsed a plan to allow unhoused Vermonters to “discreetly” camp in their community, while City Manager Nicolas Storellicastro continues to negotiate with the state over the possibility of using the BOR arena as a temporary indoor shelter.
On a night when councilors agreed to earmark surplus funds that far exceed current “conservative” projections for the fiscal year that ends June 30, Storellicastro recommended councilors embrace what he characterized as the “broad consensus” of a well-attended emergency meeting held the previous evening.
Storellicastro told councilors the top-line takeaway from Monday night joint meeting of the Homelessness Task Force and its Cow Pasture Stewardship Committee was a shared belief there is no good place to designate as a camping option for homeless residents as now that the state has started winding down its pandemic-era motel voucher program.
Storellicastro said that is partly due to what he described as a “patchwork” of restrictions — some in ordinance, some in the council approved management plan for the Cow Pasture, some in the deed for Canales Woods and some in the city’s zoning regulations.
In a mostly developed city with only four square miles to play with, Storellicastro said finding suitable surplus space that doesn’t have a conflicting use was beyond challenging and, he believed, the best viable option in Barre — at least through Sept. 1 — is using the BOR arena as a congregate shelter that is staffed and secured at the state’s expense and sufficiently mitigates impacts on the Barre Civic Center complex.
Storellicastro said conversations with the state are continuing and there appears to be interest in the space, though no decision is imminent and his opening offer of $29,025 a day to use the facility is off the table.
Responses to the state’s recently issued request for proposals for staffing congregate shelters of between 40 and 150 people in Washington, Rutland and Chittenden counties starting July 1 could bring some clarity to those discussions. The responses were due Wednesday afternoon.
Absent existing shelter capacity, Storellicastro acknowledged camping is the fallback for unhoused residents being exited from the motel program for whom better options are not available. He also acknowledged, camping has and will continue to occur in Barre, and recommended the city continue its practice of responding to complaints, but not actively look for those who are forced to shelter outdoors.
Councilor Teddy Waszazak said there was no sugarcoating what amounted to a prohibition on camping.
“What this says is homeless people are not allowed to exist in Barre after dark or before sunrise if they are using camping equipment to keep themselves warm or sheltered overnight,” he said. “That’s what this is, and I just think we should be honest about that.”
“You’re right,” Storellicastro replied. “I acknowledge that.”
Storellicastro said there is no disputing people are camping in Barre and other Vermont communities, and those numbers will likely increase. However, he said when the city intervenes, like it did recently with campers who voluntarily left Canales Woods, they are directed to service providers, who, in many cases, point them to areas where they can camp “discreetly.”
“We know that’s happening,” he said. “It’s not a secret.”
It was problematic for Waszazak.
“Basically, the policy is: ‘As long as they’re out of sight and out of mind, and we don’t have to look at them, then we’re good,’” he said of the unhoused.
On that point, Storellicastro and Waszazak agreed to disagree.
Though there was no formal vote on Storellicastro’s recommendation, Waszazak was the only council member to express concern about the proposal.
There was plenty of concern about the problem, but none of it was new.
For the third time in as many weeks, Mayor Jake Hemmerick lamented the fact that communities, like Barre, will be disproportionately affected by what amounts to a state policy decision and Councilor Samn Stockwell echoed those who suggested making the BOR available until Sept. 1, while laudable, wasn’t a long-term solution.
Others echoed that sentiment.
Resident Ellen Kaye wasn’t one of them.
“When someone is bleeding, the compassionate response is a Band-Aid,” Kaye said, adding: “This (shelter proposal) is a Band-Aid because this is a wound.”
Meanwhile, councilors received welcome news on the financial front and made some decisions involving a yet-to-be-audited surplus for a fiscal year that is weeks away from ending.
Finance Director Dawn Monahan said her “conservative” estimates suggest the city will end the year with a fund balance of roughly $225,000 and Storellicastro presented them with a proposal that would reserve as nearly $400,000.
By charter, the city is allowed to retain 5% of its annual operating budget, which based on this year’s budget is a little more than $686,000. The city is holding nearly $642,000 in reserve, and part of Storellicastro’s plan would be to max that fund out by adding roughly $44,000 of the projected surplus.
Storellicastro also proposed designating $170,000 of the projected fund balance to the city’s capital fund.
Councilors were told the capital plan the council adopted earlier this year is starting to pay dividends and the additional money could cover already identified funding gaps.
Though it isn’t clear how much, if any, of this money will be available when the city closes its books on June 30, Storellicastro asked councilors to designate up to $170,000 of the surplus for two known capital needs. At least one of them — a new public works garage — isn’t included in the capital plan, though Storellicastro said the city is considering a more economical option than the $30 million facility that was previously pitched to the council. The other use of the money, if any is available, would be to match funding U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., designated for planned improvements to the Barre Municipal Auditorium.
The plan was approved and, while Councilor Thomas Lauzon voted against the motion, he stressed he didn’t have a problem with Storellicastro’s logic, but believed the council should revisit the charter in order to create a mechanism for voters to approve the use of surplus funds in excess of the amount the charter indicates can be held in reserve.
david.delcore
@timesargus.com
