‘Trailers’ are being bought for city’s new homeless shelter
Facilities should be installed in advance of shelter's November completion
Four “trailers” are being bought by Woodland that will provide restrooms, showers, a laundry and kitchen at the new homeless shelter being built in the city’s northeast area.
Money to pay for the trailers is coming from the federal CARES Act allocation of $302,041 with an additional $5,160 balance already budget from the city’s general fund. The CARES Act provides funds to local governments which are dealing with the effects of the coronavirus.
The City Council approved the purchases of the manufactured units via a 4-0 teleconference vote (with Councilman Enrique Fernandez unavailable due to technical problems). The trailers should be ready about a month before the scheduled November completion of the 6,500-square-foot, single
story shelter on city property off East Beamer Street at County Road 102.
When up and running, the shelter should be able to house 100 homeless individuals under the management of Friends of the Mission, which operates as Fourth & Hope near downtown.
Eventually, the trailers could be replaced by more permanent structures, but for now, the city is expediting construction because of the coronavirus pandemic, which is putting the homeless population at risk due primarily to their lifestyle.
The trailers housing restrooms, showers and laundry are being bought for $210,000 from AMS Global. The cost of a new mobile kitchen was deemed too expensive, Deputy Community Development Director Steve Coyle told the council, so a refurbished, used kitchen is being bought from U.S. Mobile Kitchens for $97,200.
The purchases are being made after the council declared an emergency on April 21 to go ahead with the Emergency Shelter and two months later awarded a no-bid contract to Broward Construction, which is now at work on the site. The same emergency declaration also exempted the shelter from requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act as a project undertaken to prevent or mitigate an emergency.
The Emergency Shelter will, in order to meet budgetary constraints, contain only separate adult men’s and women’s sleeping areas, a common dining and assembly area, and four offices. A more expensive building addition with men’s and women’s bathrooms (including showers), a self-service washer and dryer laundry, a commercial kitchen and storage will be constructed when funding permits.
The $2.3 million emergency homeless shelter has been under discussion for more than a year and is part of the city’s effort to provide housing for people who otherwise end up sleeping in local parks or private property. Downtown business owners have been complaining for years about having to deal with the homeless, some of who have mental health problems or are addicted to narcotics.
Woodland police created the Homeless Outreach Street Team specifically to
Eventually, the trailers could be replaced by more permanent structures, but for now, the city is expediting construction because of the coronavirus pandemic, which is putting the homeless population at risk due primarily to their lifestyle.
contact the homeless, clean up encampments, and help find them shelter or services if desired; and even provide bus tickets to their hometowns.
Coyle has previously said construction will be in three phases, beginning with a shelter, followed by a community center and then the relocation of Walter’s House, a drug rehabilitation center.
Asked at a June meeting by a councilmember why the city was spending so much money on the project, Coyle indicated he has been asked the same question a number of times as well. He said his answer is “that we spend it one way or the other” with increased costs to police and fire departments or social services, who provide emergency services to the homeless.
Of the $2.3 million to build the facility, $1.25 million is coming from the Affordable Housing In-Lieu Fees Fund, $149,000 from the Spring Lake Off Site Affordable Housing Fund, $500,000 from Yolo County and $400,000 from Friends of the Mission.
By way of comparison, Fourth & Hope now has 48 beds and 17 beds for its family shelter. The new facility will have 100 beds and an additional 44 beds for its family shelter.
The coronavirus pandemic sped-up the process because county health officials have determined the homeless are at risk of contracting or spreading the virus. Under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s March 18 executive order motels and hotels have been used across the state to provide housing. Yolo County reported on Wednesday that there were 133 people being housed in local motels, that’s fewer than the 237 people reported about three weeks ago.