School district opposes shelter plan; council balks at funding to acquire motel

MOSES LAKE — The city of Moses Lake’s initiative to acquire and use a motel to provide services for unsheltered people hit snags last week.

In a press release Friday, the Moses Lake School District announced it did not support the proposal for the El Rancho Motel, at 1214 S. Pioneer Way, to be used as a shelter.

“Our students’ safety and well-being must remain our top priority — and is a responsibility we do not take lightly. We believe that our community’s most precious resource is our children, and we cannot support a development that may put their safety at risk,” the district stated.

Earlier, the Moses Lake City Council voted 4-3 against adopting a proposed funding package to buy the motel and convert it to an enhanced shelter. The city would use the rooms for unsheltered people, those who are at risk of going without shelter and individuals fleeing domestic violence, including those with minor children.

“It is disappointing,” said Taylor Burton, the city of Moses Lake’s housing and grants coordinator, of the council’s Tuesday decision. “We started the process back in October of last year.”

This effort by the city to take care of unsheltered people actually began in 2018 with the development of the 35-unit sleep center, which opened in December 2020, Burton said.

It is also part of the Washington State Department of Commerce’s five-year plan to end homelessness, he said, with new requirements on counties and cities. On a local level, the Moses Lake City Council pushed for it as well.

“The majority of the homeless population of Grant County does reside within Moses Lake,” Burton said.

In Tuesday’s meeting, the council also voted to extend the lease on the property where the city opened the sleep center, allowing the shelter to remain on East Broadway Avenue until October 2022.

The motel-turned-shelter concept was always part of the city’s ad hoc homeless committee’s plan, Burton said.

Included in the proposal is to have HopeSource, the non-profit organization providing emergency and sustained services to the unsheltered population and managing the city’s sleep center, identify folks at the sleep center to pair them with resources, such as mental health counseling, substance abuse counseling, career services and the new shelter at the El Rancho Motel.

HopeSource did not return a request for comment.

Those services make a difference, said City Manager Allison Williams.

El Rancho Motel already accepts hotel vouchers from the Grant County Housing Authority or The Salvation Army for people otherwise unsheltered. But screening, management and services to help folks permanently shift into homes are not offered at the motel.

Many of the council members’ concerns with the motel purchase came from needing more information, Williams said. They want HopeSource to provide an operational plan and discuss its past successes.

Williams said council members also want to hear from schools, as the motel is near Garden Heights Elementary School, Chief Moses Middle School and Moses Lake High School. The school district on Friday gave its opinion opposing the proposal, but it is unclear how the city will respond.

The city council will readdress the El Rancho Motel funding package at its next regular meeting, on Feb. 23, Williams said, if not sooner.

“We see this as a win-win,” she said earlier last week. “It’s an ability to continue with the programming for the homeless program that’s actually a hand up for folks, connecting them with services and getting them graduated into their living space, and it also solves the public safety problem for the city by having active management on-site at El Rancho.”

Sam Fletcher can be reached via email at [email protected].