A cold-weather emergency shelter is scheduled to open for its second season at a city-owned warehouse in Thane next Tuesday, with officials hoping new indoor bathrooms, employee training and other measures will help avoid problems that resulted in complaints from surrounding businesses during the past year.
The shelter at 1325 Eastaugh Way is scheduled to be open from 9 p.m. to 6:45 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 9 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. on Sundays. It has the same capacity with space intended for up to 40 people a night sleeping on cots — although more than 60 stayed at the peak of a winter storm — but the three indoor bathrooms are a major change from the three outhouses outside the entrance door during the shelter’s first season.
“There’s one for staff, one for patrons and then one ADA-size for anyone who needs that,” Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said Wednesday.
The outhouses were a major source of complaints among people staying at the shelter, who cited strict short time limits as well as dark and wintry conditions. The outdoor toilets were also of concern for shelter officials who said drug use and other illicit activity was taking place in them.
Water for drinking and simple cooking (such as heating water for instant oatmeal and ramen noodles) will continue to be brought to the shelter since installation of a faucet for those purposes wasn’t possible before the shelter opens, said Dave Ringle, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Juneau, which is operating the shelter for a second straight year under a contract with the city.
One of the three outhouses outside the entrance of the city’s cold-weather emergency shelter is seen on its opening night of Oct. 20, 2023. This year the shelter has three indoor toilets. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
While there won’t be other major structural changes at the shelter, Ringle said some operational changes are taking place.
“We’re going to make sure our security cameras are installed before we open,” he said. “And just we’re getting a more formal training program. (It’s) just making sure that the training we have in place is easily accessible, and starting it off with staff as a whole at the start and continuing it consistently through the year. There’s a lot of little things that every time you run a program you see ways you can improve it.”
Ringle said “we’re going to probably do some outside camera monitoring” to address concerns of surrounding businesses about vandalism, theft and other problems reported to tour buses, buildings and other property. Some of the businesses are also taking their own protective measures including fencing and security cameras.
“From our standpoint better communication with the people at the warming shelter is a key,” said Brett Hutchinson, land operations manager for Juneau Tours and Whale Watch, who with other operators in the area formed the Rock Dump Coalition this spring to express their concerns to city officials. “Number two is a visible presence, whether that be JPD, a security guard working over there, or both. I think if they have a camera on their front door and they’re keeping an eye on who’s coming and going that will definitely help if there’s an incident, and then they can deal directly with that person.”
Hutchinson said his business has 24-hour on-site security due to an employee who has been living at the business location since the end of last winter — although for reasons not directly related to the shelter — as one of the precautions in place for the coming season.
The shelter is about a mile south of the Goldbelt Tram, which some advocates for people experiencing homelessness expressed concern about due to the length of the walk for people who may not be in physical or mental shape for it — especially during harsh weather. A shuttle will again be offered between the Glory Hall shelter near the Juneau airport and the warming shelter — with stops at locations in downtown Juneau — although the exact schedule was still being determined as of Wednesday.
“The morning shuttle will depart the shelter shortly after it closes for the day,” an announcement from the City and Borough states. “Detailed information about evening transportation will be available shortly.”
St. Vincent de Paul will operate the shuttle instead of Glory Hall staff that operated it last year. SVDP’s operating contract with the city was increased from $250,000 last year to a maximum of $285,000 this year, Barr said.
The nonprofit is also seeking donations of cold-weather gear such as hats, gloves, socks and hand/foot warmers), which can be dropped off at its facility at 8617 Teal Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays or at the shelter during its opening hours.
The shelter is at the opposite end of the same building that the City and Borough of Juneau is using as a ballot processing center for the Oct. 1 municipal election, with official results scheduled to be certified the same day the shelter opens — although municipal employees have up to three additional days if necessary. The middle portion of the building is used for storage of items from various CBJ departments — which Ringle said he’s hoping might eventually be at least partially available as shelter space.
“We would like to expand the capacity, but we’ve got to find area for storage of the items that are in the other part of that,” he said. “And that involves some asbestos that involves remediation work going on in other empty buildings before we can move it. So that’s not going to happen before we start, but we are hoping that there can be new storage space found for some of the items in the rest of the warehouse and we can expand the number of cots because the number of homeless is not decreasing within this community.”
People experiencing homelessness in Juneau since the warming shelter closed in April have been staying throughout the city under an official “dispersed camping” policy approved by the Juneau Assembly, due to reports of rampant illegal activity at the Mill Campground site near the warming shelter last year. The lack of an officially sanctioned homeless campsite has resulted in plenty of problems as well, including businesses and social agencies such as the Glory Hall asking for help dealing with troublesome campers in the neighborhood near the airport.
Problems related to illegal campsites are “an an ‘epidemic’ level,” according to Juneau International Airport Manager Patty Wahto, in a report scheduled to be presented during a board meeting Thursday.
“Airfield crew continues to see daily illegal campsites, trash and drug needles in the Jordan Creek greenbelt,” she wrote. “Juneau Police Department Airport Police are called to assist with the eviction while Airfield cleans out the abandoned items. The Glory Hall has been contacted again to assist with the cleanup. Signs are posted in the greenbelt about airport property and no camping, but these signs are pulled out of the ground and thrown into the creek, along with a lot of trash.”
The problem is a liability for the airport because the Federal Aviation Administration and airport’s insurance inspectors are monitoring the situation, Wahto added. She also noted the nearby UPS facility is experiencing theft of packages being dropped off somewhere other than designated bins outside of normal business hours.
Barr said that while addressing homelessness is an ongoing struggle — across the country, not just in Juneau — local efforts are surpassing those of many other communities in Alaska in particular. Among the efforts he singled out are the Assembly’s recent approval of a 51-unit residential project operated by Gastineau Human Services as well as 28 additional units Housing First is scheduled to open at its 64-unit Forget-Me-Not-Manor next year.
“Are there still people out camping on public property?” he said. “Yes, there are. Is it as big of a challenge as it was last summer? I don’t know that I would say that.”
Hutchinson, despite the concerns about impacts to his business during the past year, said he understands people without housing need someplace to stay and he’s willing to work with city officials to ensure there is a reasonable option.
“In general I think the city is being proactive and doing something about a difficult problem,” he said. “There’s no ideal spot for a warming shelter and if it’s going to be here, and if Dave Ringle and the St Vincent people are being proactive, that’s the most we can hope for. We all got to have a little give and take.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
