Moses Lake homelessness town hall set for June 3

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake residents are being invited to discuss how the city will address homeless issues after the closure of the Open Doors sleep center at 6:30 p.m. June 3 at Moses Lake City Hall, 401 S. Balsam St.  

City Manager Rob Karlinsey said people will be encouraged to listen to what city officials are doing and add their suggestions. 

“People will be at tables and having conversations and reporting out,” Karlinsey said during a workshop with Moses Lake City Council members Tuesday. “It’ll be a very interactive discussion.” 

Council members voted in April to close the sleep center June 30, when the grant that funds the majority of its operation expires. Karlinsey and other city employees updated council members with what he called a “check in,” detailing what city officials have done so far and asking for suggestions from the council. 

The closure vote came during a workshop considering three options for city participation in providing homeless services. Karlinsey said one of the conclusions he drew from the workshop was that council members, while not willing to oversee the sleep center or make the city a coordinator for other organizations, were interested in working with groups offering support services.  

“We talked about the city’s role when it comes to human and social services,” Karlinsey said, and the decision was to reduce but not eliminate the city’s participation. “(Offering on the city) basic city services, but on a limited basis, promoting and partnering with nonprofits that help get individuals to recovery services.”  

Lizabeth Murillo Busby, Moses Lake housing and grants manager, said city officials have been talking with the people who operate those organizations. 

“(City officials want) to make sure that we’re made well aware of the work that’s happening in the community, making sure that we understand the new staffing costs associated with that,” Murillo Busby said. 

City officials have launched a new page on the city website that includes a list of organizations and resources for people asking for help, she said, and are taking suggestions to add to it. 

The city will be required to move the existing facilities at the site and return it to its original condition, Karlinsey said. The lease on the property runs out in September.  

The city will also be updating its ordinances, and Moses Lake Attorney Katheryn Kenison said that covers a number of different ones.  

“We’ve got a few opportunities to amend current ordinances, as well as add some additional tools through the adoption of additional ordinances that can address some of the issues the city has not previously regulated,” she said. 

The city’s camping ordinances could be updated to include people who camp on private property without the permission of the landowner. Time limits could be added for camping with the landowner’s permission.  

State law allows temporary camping on property owned by religious organizations, she said.  

“That would be a permitting process, where the religious organization would have to come and get a permit from the city,” she said.  

Other possible changes include ordinances regulating people sleeping and sitting on the sidewalks and business entrances. That could apply to specific areas or the whole city, Kenison said.  

Doug Coutts, director of parks, recreation and cultural services, said city officials are studying ways to regulate the use of city parks. He said parks exist, in part, as places for people to spend time, but that the city does have some regulations in place.  

Parks are closed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., he said, and those hours could be changed depending on what council members want to do. Parks are places where people who are homeless spend time, and it’s likely that people asked to leave one park would move to another, he said.