Sausalito is closing the camp it created for homeless residents and moving them elsewhere amid findings of fecal contamination at the site.
The camp occupants will move from a grassy area at Marinship Park to the parking lot as the city works to develop a new camp in a fenced-off tennis court area.
The announcement came Thursday following claims by campers that the site was contaminated by sewage after the powerful storm in late October.
The city has declined to comment on whether evidence of fecal contamination was found from soil samples taken from the park last week. Mayor Jill Hoffman said it is moving the camp due to residents’ concerns about the conditions.
“We are in litigation regarding the encampment and, as such, cannot comment on questions regarding the current site,” Hoffman said in an email.
“Once the tennis courts are ready to serve as a transitional overnight sleeping area, it is the city’s intention to close and clear the existing encampment site on the grassy area of Marinship Park and conduct further analysis,” she said.
According to a city email, fecal levels were found to be higher in the camp than outside it, prompting the city to initiate the move and investigate the findings further.
Hoffman said there was no set timeline for the move, but that it would be “soon.”
Hoffman said the city was offering some services to the campers, including overnight shelter for four men and three women at the New Beginnings Center in Novato. She said the city would also provide tents to anyone who requested them.
Robbie Powelson, an activist living with the campers, raised concerns about sewer contamination earlier this week. He and other campers moved to Dunphy Park, the former site of the homeless camp before the city moved it to Marinship Park. The campers said a rancid and pungent fluid bubbled up at the city encampment after the late-October deluge.
Powelson said the campers are requesting consultation about the bacterial data so that they could make their minds up for themselves. On Thursday afternoon, he said none of the campers had moved their set-ups from the grass area at Marinship to the parking lot.
“Everybody is confused right now because the city removed half of our parking without explaining why or sharing what their test results are,” Powelson said. “They haven’t told us anything.”
Powelson said police closed off half of the parking lot with metal fencing on Thursday. At about dusk, a notice from Marin Mobile Care was posted on the showers, closing them at the request of the city. Green burlap covering was added to the tennis court as well, he said.
“Obviously being on this contaminated soil is not acceptable. Being on the tennis court is not acceptable either,” he said. “I don’t think they have the desire to keep things safe, they are just doing the bare minimum.”
On Friday, concrete barriers were brought to the parking lot. City employees and police officers were on scene, Powelson said, and still no campers had migrated from the park.
A few days after the storm, campers obtained tests from Brelje and Race Labs in Santa Rosa, Powelson said. Those results and a followup test showed fecal contamination.
Sausalito reported a sewage overflow of 82,500 gallons during the major storm last month, said Bill Johnson, a regional enforcement official with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Water quality samples are required for sewage overflows of more than 50,000 gallons, Johnson said. He said a new sample now might not be effective in determining contamination.
A corresponding report identified Ebbtide Road and Bridgeway as the location of the overflow. The location is less than a mile from Marinship Park.
Greg Pirie, deputy director of Marin County Environmental Health Services, said there were many sewage and stormwater issues during the storm, and some involved Sausalito. He said no emergency sewage overflow notifications were received by the county regarding the camp, but that a few reports within Sausalito were forwarded to the city for followup.
The city Public Works Department did an inspection of the public lavatories at Marinship and “found them to be fully operable with no leaks, hazards or safety concerns,” Hoffman said on Nov. 5.
About half a dozen campers came down with illnesses after the storm, Powelson said.
One of the homeless campers, Tim Logan, retrieved his possessions from Dunphy Park on Thursday morning and set up in Robin Sweeny Park adjacent to City Hall.
Logan said he plans to stay there for the time being, despite some heckling from the public on Thursday. He said he felt reassured after speaking to a group of middle-school-age children who appeared sympathetic to the cause of the homeless to find permanent housing.
“The kids were really interested. I got to explain to them our side,” Logan said.
Anthony Prince, an attorney representing the homeless, said there is a hearing scheduled for Dec. 9 to hold the city in contempt over its treatment of the camp residents.
A closed settlement conference before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Illman is set for Monday, Hoffman said.
The Marinship move comes as the city announced it had dissolved its partnership with the Marin County Cooperation Team, a nonprofit contracted last month to provide resources and services to the homeless at Marinship for about $85,000 over six months.
The city is now talking with the San Francisco-based group Urban Alchemy, which previously provided services for the city.
“The Marin County Cooperation Team informed the city that it had decided not to proceed with the work,” Hoffman said. “The city is now re-engaged with Urban Alchemy to define a new scope of work.”
Hoffman did not have a reason for the Marin County Cooperation Team’s withdrawal. Jahmeer Reynolds, the organization’s executive director, did not respond to requests for comment.
Source: www.mercurynews.com