Damakant Jayshi and Shereen Siewert

The Wausau Police Department intends to enforce an ordinance preventing encampments in the city and not allow the people who had camped under the Scott Street Bridge and parks to return, said Deputy Police Chief Matthew Barnes.

“Now that those encampments are gone and not there, it’s the intention of the police department to not to allow them to return,” Barnes told the Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday. “Those are areas we don’t feel are appropriate for people to be camping. That’s information I shared with the (city) council during the COW (the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 28).

Unclear is the legal position the decision places the city in, as similar actions in other communities have resulted in a range of lawsuits. In San Francisco, for example, a federal judge banned the city from clearing homeless encampments, saying the city violated its own policies by failing to offer other shelter. And in Spokane, Wash., a lawsuit filed in October also centers on removing homeless encampments, citing potential violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed lawsuits in several cities including Phoenix and Pittsburgh over property and encampment sweeps as well.

Efforts to reach the ACLU of Wisconsin were not immediately successful this week.

A number of homeless residents had been camping under the Scott Street Bridge. The Department of Public Works and Utilities is seeking to implement a bridge fencing project to prevent encampments by homeless residents, but the Wausau City Council held off on it last month after facing criticism from advocates.

Under the postponed bridge fencing proposal, the DPW sought to carry over $40,000 in previously approved funding from 2022 into 2023 to fence in areas underneath the Scott Street Bridge.

The council, instead, opted to tour the area under the Scott Street Bridge before the meeting of the COW meeting – devoted to discuss homelessness in Wausau – last month.

Encampments were removed by the police, said Barnes told the Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday, after the police department, the DPW and the parks department were alerted by the Wisconsin Public Service about potential of rising floodwater in the area.

“We made the decision as city staff to remove certain encampments,” said Barnes, listing the encampments that were located under the Scott Street Bridge and at the Barker-Stewart Island.

The police could not get to the Isle of Ferns Park due to the flood water, the deputy police chief added. He said they did their best to give notice to the individuals camping in those areas, although, he admitted, it was a short notice. The seized belongings will be stored for 30 days. According to Barnes, the officials have posted instructions “pasted and posted everywhere” in the city.

Committee member Lou Larson said he is in favor of implementing the laws to prevent camping in the city and not just by unhoused residents.

Committee Chair Lisa Rasmussen told the committee previously that the situation in the areas of encampments are not safe or dignified for anyone and pointed to the city’s efforts in expanding shelter capacity.

But not everyone chooses to live in shelters for a variety of reasons, Tracy Rieger, the community outreach officer told the Public Health and Safety Committee last month. Others may not be not allowed in shelters if they are unable to stay sober or have certain mental health issues.

Bridge Street Mission figures adjusted to reflect actual number of people living there

Rieger, during her monthly update to the committee on Monday, said that she adjusted and updated the number of people taking shelter at the Bridge Street Mission to be consistent with other shelters run by the Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army. The faith-based organization provides shelter to people released from jail/prison, drug rehab, or those who experience homelessness.

Until now, her report only included those people who sought shelter in preparation for being transitioned into the “apartments” on the main level of the building, Rieger said. But her March 2023 report included all those who are part of the program. Without shelter at the Bridge Street Mission, Rieger added, “about 80% of those would be unhoused and on our streets.” The February 2023 report put the number at 5; the March report said 38 people were sheltering at the Bridge Street Mission.

Craig Vincent, executive director of Bridge Street Mission, said their outreach center at 115 West Bridge Street was open every day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There was another center, a sober living shelter, on 1140 West Bridge St. Vincent added it was really a 24/7 programmed homeless shelter, “with the goal of taking people from the point of need to where they can function again in society.” The program is time-based but the mission was flexible to allow individual to extend their stay if a need arose. The March figure reflects all the people sheltering at the mission.

Vincent also said the mission is planning to extend the shelter to women as well but added providing any further details at this time would be premature.