COLORADO SPRINGS — The City of Colorado Springs and El Paso County want to partner to clean up more homeless camps. The decision is ultimately up to the Colorado Springs City Council.
El Paso County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the intergovernmental agreement on Tuesday morning. The agreement voted on by the county would mean the city's team would clean up camps up to a mile from city limits.
However, Colorado Springs City Council members Henjum, Donelson, and Avila expressed skepticism about the agreement on different issues, including the boundaries, how not all encampments should be treated the same, and how would it benefit the city to enter into the agreement.
Councilmember David Leinweber argued "We just need to clean up the damn camps," drawing a parallel to helping your neighbor with an issue they are not able to address themselves.
City Councilman Dave Donelson proposed limiting the agreement to half a mile. City staff reminded the council the agreement would not require assistance out to a mile but would allow service within that distance. City staff also mentioned the county has expressed no interest in reducing the distance included in the agreement.
The vote to suggest a change to half a mile was rejected in a 2-6 vote. A vote on the original language in the intergovernmental agreement passed in an 8-0 vote, authorizing the Mayor's office to enter an agreement with the county.
"The county doesn’t have its own team to clean up homeless camps so we contract those services out," said the county's Strategic Services Manager, Mindy Schulz.
Right now, the city's 'Quality of Life' team is only responsible for camps inside city limits.
"It’s so important because the community doesn’t see city limit lines," said the city's Neighborhood Services Manager Mitch Hammes.
Hammes said the team cleans up 2-4 homeless camps daily.
The new partnership would mean the city's team would clean up camps up to a mile from city limits.
"It’s needed because it affects the city and county, any opportunity to work together, benefit for the both of us," said Schulz.
The county reported 31 homeless camps so far this year, as opposed to the city which has reported 1,500.
But not everyone is on board. One man said he's been living on the streets for three months.
"I’ve been kicked out a couple of times and I move constantly," said Robert Remas.
He said he feels like he has nowhere to go.
"You don’t want to be by people’s houses, don’t want to be by cars, don’t want to bother the businesses, they won’t let you camp in the alley even if you take down your tent, so you just try to move as much as you can," said Remas.
As part of the agreement, El Paso County will reimburse the city for the costs of cleaning up camps, plus a 10% administrative fee.
Hammes said each camp can cost up to $1,500.
This proposal came just a day after the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) responded to Dorchester Park about complaints of camping and narcotic usage. The HOT team detained 14 people on suspicion of camping and an active fire, two of the people were given verbal warning.
According to the Colorado Springs Police Department, the other 12 people were taken to the El Paso County Jail on felony and misdemeanor charges. The department says these were the warrants cleared and charges filed during the sweep:
- 2 Felony Warrants cleared
- 35 Misdemeanor Warrants cleared
- On arrest for Felony Possession of Scheduled II Controlled Substance
- Two cited for interference/obstruction
- One Unlawful Possession of a Financial Transaction Device
- 4 Fire Citations
- Two Camping Citations
- Recovered 1.2 grams of Fentanyl along with Drug Paraphernalia
The department says that 40-year-old Christopher Lewis was wanted out of North Carolina for felony bank robbing charges.____
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