CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Following a spirited public comment session, Charlottesville Assistant City Manager Samuel Roman gave City Council on Monday a presentation of the work that has been done and is currently being done on transitioning individuals away from the Free Bridge encampment.

“I think it’s important to note that we continue to build relationships and partnerships to achieve the transition at task,” Roman said.

As part of the presentation, Roman said City Human Services Director Misty Graves is serving as a staff liaison to the Public Spaces Work Group, which focused heavily on the encampment in its June 10 and July 8 meetings, and will again focus on the encampment during its meeting on Wednesday.

“This group includes members who are currently staying in the encampment, service providers, the Rivanna Trails Foundation and the Rivanna Conservation Alliance,” Roman said. “On Friday the 17th, city staff from the Department of Human Services visited both encampments (at Free Bridge and at 0 East High St.) to provide the occupants notifications of the upcoming closures as well as the upcoming needs assessment happening over the next few weeks.”

He said Graves, along with City Councilor Jen Fleisher, is providing coordination support for the assessment and PIT (Point In Time) count team, who will facilitate the needs assessment and the count for people staying in the encampment “and beyond.”

PACEM, which stands for People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, staff as well as clinical staff from UVA Medical Center are leading this effort, according to Roman.

“The intent is to learn about each individual’s current needs and begin gathering information helpful to prioritize and organize transition plans,” Roman said. “Director Graves’ staff has also been assigned to the team as assessors and scribes, and this will take place beginning today (Monday) throughout likely July 31.”

At the end of the data gathering, the city will then use it to align needs with available resources and connection to services.

There’s also an internal city camp transition team, made up of city departments, that will help provide consultation, planning, and resource allocation to support the effort.

Roman said this team is meeting on a weekly basis, with the next meeting Wednesday.

“The city has also taken the lead in researching and identifying viable available options to open the Holiday Drive location as an emergency shelter,” said Roman. “This includes locating a viable source to manage an emergency shelter, which includes producing an operational plan that will address and inform how that work will be done.

“We will continue to collaborate with providers and donor funded opportunities as we consider all available options.”

The other priority Roman expressed is the cleanup of the encampment spaces.

“Our goal is, and will continue to be, restoring the space to its original intended use,” Roman said. “As a result, we are not waiting until Sept. 1 to begin as Parks & Rec staff will continue to monitor and support handwashing stations, portable toilets and dumpsters available at 0 East High.”

Roman said Parks & Rec staff will also make daily drives through the Free Bridge side to pick up bagged trash and distribute trash bags to the encampment occupants.

At certain intervals through the transition, Roman said they’ll organize a larger professional cleanup of items like abandoned and broken tents through and beyond Sept. 1.

After Sept. 1, there will be a more comprehensive cleanup.

In terms of safety at the site, Roman said both the Charlottesville Police Department and Charlottesville Fire Department have “partnered to expand safety patrols to serve the riverfront which began this past Friday.”

“Dedicated staff from both CFD and CPD will be specifically assigned to the riverfront to ensure high level of safety is achieved,” Roman said. “Without going into too many operational details, the presence of our public safety team members is to ensure that the safety of the encampment occupants is intact, as well as people visiting the area where the encampments are located.”

He said they’ll maintain presence “through physical and technological means deemed most effective” by CPD Chief Michael Kochis and CFD Chief Michael Thomas.

Both departments will look for and mitigate illegal actions and behavior as well as take care of “life safety issues” such as open fire and “use of equipment that further endanger life and quality.”

Roman did not specify such equipment, but Police Chief Mike Kochis as well as other city officials have expressed concern over the past few months about the use of propane tanks.

The Assistant City Manager told Council staff he has produced an informational brochure which will be distributed to those at the encampments.

The presentation was made after the packed public comment session of the meeting, with only 16 able to speak and over 100 people in the council chambers.

One Greenbrier resident supported the Council’s plan.

“The principle we have lost is simple,” the speaker said. “Compassion must include standards. Public spaces belong to the public and no one has the right to convert a trail, park, sidewalk or riverbank into a private residence, intimidate other users, openly consume drugs, harass residents for money, or create dangerous or unsanitary conditions.”

But he also opposed what the city is trying to set up at Holiday Drive.

“Nor do I support building a low-barrier shelter that institutionalizes those same behaviors indoors at public expense,” he said.

However, some speakers took exception to that view, including some encampment occupants who showed up to speak to Council.

“I moved to Charlottesville in 2016 and from there I had a job, I was working, I was staying in Garrett Square, I wanted to move out of there, and I’ve been through all the programs that you all have for people that are homeless,” Donez Chambers told the Council. “(I’ve been) through The Haven, through the Salvation Army, through Region Ten for help, and I’ve been in these low-income housing you all have and they’re all trash. You all do nothing with them. Every other night there’s shootings, there’s bullet holes coming (through) your door. Nobody wants to live in those places, but you all sit here and blame the homeless people for being homeless.

“You all have to fix you all’s problem if you want us to fix our problem.”

Councilors did not respond after the public comment nor after the presentation by Roman, as they went directly to the consent agenda. But City Manager Sam Sanders did respond.

“I’ll just add that this is a difficult and challenging issue, it is one that faces many communities around the country,” Sanders said. “No one has figured it out. We’re having to come up with our version of what applies here in Charlottesville. Our commitment is that we will continue to dig into what are the issues and try to work our best around that.

“Compassion is a part of the consideration as we work to make sure that we’re looking out for everyone in this community regardless of their housing status.”