MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The conversation continues in Morgantown about homeless encampments and what the next step should be.
The issue has been at the forefront for business owners for several years and debate is ramping back up following a proposal to expand the organization that governs camping in the city. Third Ward Councilor Louise Michael requested a review of the ordinance earlier this week with the possibility of expanding it with the health and safety of the community in mind.
That proposal has met with a commitment from Mountain State Justice to fight it. Those opposed to increased regulation on camping argue that they don’t work and do nothing to move those who need treatment into care.
Morgantown businessman Todd Stainbrook said there needs to be some commonsense with the issue.
“Everyone wants to be sympathetic with the homeless and the drug addicts and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Stainbrook said. “But it can’t be the cost of 30,000 citizens of Morgantown as well as West Virginia University.”
Stainbrook said businesses downtown have to deal with the effects of the homeless population on their facilities and their businesses. The business owners have to do the cleaning and debris clean-up to maintain a clean atmosphere that the city will not do, according to Stainbrook.
“Picking up needles that Lord only knows what you’re dealing with—feces, paraphernalia, and anything you can think of, including properties being broken into,” Stainbrook said.
Over the last several months, downtown property owners have reported vandalism, burglary, squatting, open drug use, and sales that have cost money that cannot be recovered. The losses are in repairs, replaced facilities, lost business, and losses due to properties not being available to the market.
“They don’t get any recoup of money, it’s just an expense,” Stainbrook said. “It’s an expense they should not have had due to the city’s lack of control over the situation.”
Stainbrook and many others have contended that many of the people receiving services at Milan Puskar Health Right are not from Morgantown and some are not even from West Virginia.
“These are not our neighbors. These people are being bussed in here from all over the country and all over the state,” Stainbrook said. “Nobody is stopping it from happening.”
Stainbrook wants to see people get help, but help comes in the form of accepting recovery. Tolerance has resulted in losses to businesses and the poor image downtown Morgantown is now saddled with.
“There’s nothing wrong with helping people,” Stainbrook said. “I’d love to see every addict out there recover and every homeless person in a home, but there’s only so much we can do.”