Chelan County, its partners clean up large encampment in Malaga
Chelan County and its partners completed the final day of cleanup on a large homeless encampment in Malaga.
The site was on 3.5 acres of county-owned land along the Malaga-Alcoa Highway across from Lower Hedges Road. It took three days to clean up the site, with work starting on Dec. 18.
From the start, the focus of the multi-agency effort was about health and safety, said Amber Hallberg, Chelan County Community Services manager. The camp’s condition caused concerns for the people living there as well as the crew working to clean it up, Hallberg said.
“We were able to make contact with seven people during the four visits from the Chelan County Homeless Housing Network staff, the Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) and Chelan County Code Enforcement,” Hallberg said. “Only two people refused connection to services. Others already were enrolled in services, or had a plan in place for shelter.”
Prior to cleanup efforts getting underway, the Chelan County Homeless Housing Network staff and BHU visited the site on at least four occasions to offer shelter and housing assistance through the Coordinated Entry program.
Coordinated Entry (CE) is the access point for local services for people experiencing homelessness, or at risk of experiencing homelessness. It matches people to local programs and services and grants immediate needs when possible.
The outreach timeline included:
Dec. 12: An initial outreach visit was made to the site to offer housing options and community services for people and to notify them of an upcoming notice to vacate.
Dec. 16: In a first outreach visit, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office posted notices to vacate throughout the site, alerting people to the Dec. 18 cleanup start date. The notice included a phone number that could be used to contact CE personnel and a QR code linked to the CE website. A second outreach visit was also made that day by BHU, CE and Code Enforcement.
Dec. 17: A third outreach visit was made by BHU, CE and Code Enforcement.
Dec. 18: Cleanup began with CE personnel on site to offer assistance to anyone needing support.
“On the day of the cleanup, we spoke with clients as they packed their belongings and they stated that they were grateful Chelan County provided them enough notice to be able to make a plan,” Hallberg said.
No person on the property was cited for trespassing, which was a big success in itself, said Sgt. Dan McCue of the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
“We are thrilled that the outreach prior to the cleanup worked,” McCue said. “The agencies worked very well together, prioritizing community safety and health. We even got a few people housed.”
Overseeing the cleanup effort was Chelan County Solid Waste. The Solid Waste team was joined by Douglas County Solid Waste, Chelan County Public Works and BNSF’s contractor Layland Construction of Roy, Wash.
While final refuse numbers aren’t available yet, as of Dec. 19, 5,060 pounds of metal and 130 cubic yards of garbage were removed from the site, which included two camps adjacent to or close to the main site. The refuse was taken to the Greater Wenatchee Regional Landfill in East Wenatchee and scrap metal was taken to the Dryden Transfer Station.
“A number of factors caused concerns for the cleanup, including crew safety, weather, the tall vegetation on site and limited site accessibility, but crews were able to make steady progress in those three days,” said Kris Perry, Chelan County Solid Waste manager. “Two mini-excavators, a loader and four dump trucks were brought in from Public Works to assist in the efforts.”
Cost of the cleanup is unknown at this time but is estimated to be at least $30,000.
“Homelessness is a regional problem, and it was exciting to see so many agencies come together these last three days,” Perry said. “We are especially thankful for the cleanup assistance from Douglas County and Layland Construction, both of whom have experience with this work.”
On Oct. 29, Chelan County passed a new code section making it illegal to camp on county-owned property. The new code section deems the unauthorized use of county property to be a public nuisance. In early November, county commissioners then passed a policy that outlines how a variety of departments will respond to a site, once it is identified as an encampment. The new code section, when combined with the policy, is a tool to protect county property while also reaching out to people living in homeless encampments to offer them any community services they may need.
Last Updated: 12/20/2024 12:07 PM
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Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
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