ML Council looks at sleep center options, honors Anderson for homeless work
Home Electrical Services owner James Anderson speaks at Tuesday’s Moses Lake City Council meeting. The council honored Anderson and his family for their support of the city’s sleep center, which provides area homeless with a place to sleep.
MOSES LAKE — The City of Moses Lake will likely be given three future options for the location of the homeless sleep center, including an expansion of the current site.
In a presentation to council members during a study session prior to the council’s regular Tuesday meeting, consultants with Portland-based ECONorthwest said they had looked at a number of sites around the city but finally settled on three possibilities — the current sleep center at the corner of East Broadway Avenue and SR 17, the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District’s building at 932 E. Wheeler Road, and the proposed site of the future Moses Lake Police Department building on North Central Drive.
“We initially considered 12 sites, and narrowed it down to three,” said Lee Ann Ryan, a project manager for ECONorthwest. “It’s crazy to see how many sites we looked at.”
ECONorthwest Associate Mackenzie Visser said in their evaluation of Moses Lake, the consultants looked at whether or not a site was easily accessible by foot, larger than one acre, nowhere near a school or park, on land zoned commercial, and preferably owned by the city.
“A rezone is not ideal, and city-owned sites are ideal,” she said.
Each site has advantages and disadvantages, Visser said. The current site is up and running and has vacant land around it, but is close to a state highway and is noisy. The Central Drive location would have space for a shelter and would be owned by the city but is far from important services and the city’s public library and would need to be developed, she said. The MLIRD building, which is currently listed for sale, has an existing structure that could be used for homeless services, but the parcel itself is small and the purchase price would probably top out at $1.2 million.
ECONorthwest has yet to make any final recommendations to the city, and is currently preparing a final report, Ryan said.
“We are looking forward to getting the final report to provide options to the council as to the direction forward,” said City Manager Allison Williams.
The council did not take any action in regard to the homeless sleep center on Tuesday.
The city also honored James Anderson, owner of Home Electrical Services, for his work in providing water, hot meals and backpacks full of essentials to the city’s sleep center over the last two years – work Anderson said he began when he saw a homeless man sitting in the cold and wondered when he got a hot meal.
As a result, Anderson said he started working with local restaurants — Tacos El Rey and Papa John’s — to help provide weekly hot meals to the people who stay at the sleep center.
“It’s not really about money or anything. It’s just treating them …,” Anderson said as he grew quiet and emotional. “ … Treat them like they’re human. They’re already marginalized in society.”
Mayor Don Myers said both Anderson and his wife Christine have done important work in the city supporting the sleep center since it opened in 2020.
“Whether it’s helping put together a holiday party, purchasing cold weather clothing, supplying bottled water or providing meals, they have always been willing to meet the need,” Myers said. “Thank you for your service to the community. We definitely appreciate it.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.