Damakant Jayshi and Shereen Siewert
The Wausau City Council on Tuesday approved a fencing project under the Scott Street Bridge that aims to keep homeless residents out, even as advocates are scrambling to find housing and services for the people who once lived there.
The $40,000 in carryover funding will be used to fence in areas underneath the Scott Street Bridge where unhoused people frequently camp, seek shelter and store their possessions. Police recently cleared the area, citing flooding risks during a period of inclement weather. Afterward, police told city leaders they will continue to enforce rules that prevent homeless residents from returning to the area. In April, Deputy Police Chief Matt Barnes told the City Council that encampments were removed under the bridge and at Barker-Stewart Island after officials were alerted by Wisconsin Public Service about potential for rising floodwaters in the area.
The resolution passed 8-3, with Alders Gary Gisselman, Tom Kilian and Doug Diny voting against it. Alders Lou Larson and Carol Lukens previously voted against the funding but on Tuesday cast their votes to approve.
Nowhere to go
Since the police sweep, homeless residents are moving from place to place throughout the city with nighttime shelters near capacity. Many are struggling to retrieve their seized possessions that were taken to a holding area in Marathon Park, where a 30-day deadline to claim them is nearing an end.
Advocates have criticized the sweep as well as the fencing project and are working together to keep tabs on dozens of known homeless residents in need of food, shelter and services. Some, including Jerry Edwards, say these actions will backfire.
“Chasing people in circles, preventing encampments, will only temporarily make the homeless problem less visible but it will boil over in other ways with encampments inside apartments, infuriating landlords and causing neighborhood problems, more arrests occurring, and everyone hitting the street again as evictions increase and inmates are released from jail,” Edwards wrote in an email. “Consistently not addressing the real issues will only hurt the community. Enough shelter space, rehab facilities, and mental health support all are needed to make progress, not just band aids for political correctness to fool the public.”
In March, the City Council held off on making any decision on the fencing project and subsequently toured the area underneath the bridge. Both Larson and Lukens said they changed their minds after visiting the area, where one homeless woman died late last year.
Larson said some business leaders downtown feel victimized by the situation.
“I know of two businesses that have moved out of downtown because of the homeless situation,” he said. “There is no dignity living under the bridge.”
But some downtown business owners told Wausau Pilot & Review they wish they had more tools to help the people they see, such as a laminated one-sheet handout with a list of service organizations, addresses and phone numbers to give people who are in need. Others say the decision to place the methadone clinic in downtown Wausau, as well as the local public defender’s office, is partly to blame, since more people with drug or legal issues will stay in or near the downtown area due to their proximity.
The Wausau Comprehensive Treatment Center upgraded to an 8,000-square-foot space downtown in what is commonly called the Washington Square building in 2016. Similarly, the Wisconsin Public Defender’s Office in Wausau moved to the City Square Office Center at 500 N. Third St. recently after an extensive third-floor renovation. Both are occupying spaces owned by Compass Properties, which approached the city in 2022 to fund a community service officer for the area, and each serves some residents who are among the homeless population.
City efforts continue
Even for those with nighttime shelter, daytime presents a unique problem. Open Door, 319 Fourth St., is working to fill the daytime gap that currently exists in Wausau with upgrades underway to become a day shelter. Edwards said significant improvements are underway including having a secure room to store belongings, organizing storage for donations and other efforts. Volunteers are still needed to make the 24-hour goal attainable, with some paid positions also available. Open Door is also working to match bicycles to residents to help people get to work, since buses do not cover evening or overnight shifts, do not run on weekends and do not provide service to many industrial areas.
However, Alders Gisselman, Kilian and Diny said they oppose the proposal because it falls short of addressing the needs of homeless residents even as efforts are accelerating.
“I do agree that some of the funds that we do have applied toward homelessness have helped tremendously in the mainstream situation,” Kilian said. “We still have a massive, unaddressed void when it comes to homelessness, mental health issues, certain health issues, certain substance and alcohol use.”
Alder Gisselman said the measure was not the right effort for the City of Wausau. “If we put our minds to it, instead of putting up fences, let’s get people on the street that need help so that they can find the help in the right direction,” Gisselman said. “I don’t think this is the way to go and I’ll vote against it.”
