The Greensboro City Council approved a motion to spend $535,000 on “Pallet House” units at a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 10 in the Katie Dorsett Council Chamber.
The motion to approve the sole source contract with Pallet PBC Inc. for $535,000 passed on a 7-1 vote with Councilmember Zack Matheny voting no and Councilmember Yvonne Johnson absent.
According to the agenda, the $535,000 is for the contract with Pallet PBC for 40 units with two single beds in each unit, but is not the total cost of the project because it does not include the bathroom facilities or the large community room that several city councilmembers asked to have included. The city has named the program, “The Doorway Project.”
Housing and Neighborhood Development Director Michelle Kennedy said that the units are typically placed 6 to 15 feet apart and that one quarter acre lot would be needed for the 40 units. The units are insulated, heated and air conditioned and, at an additional cost of about $100,000 each, shared bathroom units will be provided for each 40 people.
Councilmember Sharon Hightower said that the Continuum of Care organizations needed to be involved in making this decision and were not.
Councilmember Tammi Thurm said, “Quite frankly, I’ve been waiting five years for the Continuum of Care to do something. If we waited for the Continuum of Care to take action we will be waiting until next year.”
Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter said that the City Council was always accused of not doing anything. She said, “If we do this, at least someone will not die of the city streets of Greensboro because we failed to make a decision today.”
Councilmember Goldie Wells said, “I know it sounds like a lot of money and we don’t have all the answers, but we sit here night after night and move items that are millions of dollars and think nothing of it. I’m totally in favor of going forward with this.”
Matheny who cast the lone no vote, said that he still had a lot of questions about the program and thought that lower cost options for temporarily housing the homeless population had not been explored.
Does this mean that private investors can build neighborhoods of this type and offer them for rent?
a good idea – in the right place – at the right time ? is this a local construction co. ? why can’t gtcc building trades program production build these for < $ ? they're just oversized dog houses ! letz humanely houze the inadequately housed. didn't the ymca offer 'travelers' short term housing at one time?
Again they decide to just throw money at the problem and this may cause more problems, but they will have that warm and fuzzy feeling.
So what does Mr. Grumpy suggest?
For one thing, the vast majority of your long term homeless have extreme mental health issues. Another sect has extreme substance abuse issues. There is a good bit of intermingling among those two sects. How are these huts going to solve the issues of mental health and substance abuse?
There is a dude that wanders downtown screaming all day long. Another talks to himself about things that aren’t there. Another is convinced of a massive government conspiracy involving all aspects of the public and private sector. Another takes dumps in the street whenever and wherever he wants. These are real people that I have had the misfortune of seeing or interacting with myself while downtown. How in the heck is giving them a free house going to stop them from screaming, pooping, shooting up, assaulting each other, or killing each other?
This is just a PR stunt that is going to go horribly wrong within days of the residents taking occupancy. There will be ODs, stabbings, fist fights, etc. I just hope that the police don’t have to end up killing one of them, because that would be an utter shi!t show. I can’t imagine the city willingly taking on the liability of this train wreck. But it will be fun to watch them squirm when it happens.
This is an excellent idea and money well spent. I hope you will move forward with it. Matheny – if you have questions/concerns, please move quickly to get them resolved – winter is on it’s way.
Winter is coming and no bathrooms! It sounds like this was not thought through!
to feed them anywhere without access to a porta-pot means IT ends up close to where they hang out. since most of them seem to have tents & the desire to move around, how about just a porta pot & city garbage can @ their ‘encampments’ ? this alone will > sanitation. consider not thinking they ‘need to be fixed’.
Would they be operational by winter? When I think of things getting done quickly & efficiently, my mind does not normally go to the Greensboro city council. Like, will there be a MWBE requirement that holds it up?
No, not a good idea. We are not address the core of the problem. First you can not truly help the homeless. They chose to live that way.
Another waste of tax payer money,
That will only attract more people.
Would not be taken care of by the people staying in them and then the city would be hiring people to clean and take care of them. If they need mental health help direct th to right place. If they get miserable enough they will make an effort to do better instead of waiting for our help. If you were to check on each of those people I think you will reveal that each of them receives some kind of government subsidies including EBT cards and could do better on their own. If you check all the people wanting help you will find they have cell phones EBT cards and many have automobiles. Maybe just start giving all of them a Dave Ramsey money book. Full of ideas on how to manage .
I think the city should look into Boxable, small houses that come completely loaded, except for certain items that don’t fold. They look like a collapsed box when they arrive. When placed on a cement pad, the box folds open and in no time, you have one solid home of 400sq ft. Appliances are delivered for the kitchen and bathroom. You can add other units and have a much larger home. The city needs to look into these folding, collapsible, tiny houses; more solid than any other homes in the price range and are not trashy. They would make great in-law houses or offices. J. Michae Cranford
And in whos neighborhood will these “door ways” beocated? Maybe one of the members who voted for these huts will locate them next door to themselves so that they can constitute the “continuum”. What a joke this city is.
Don’t come or leave it’s your choice
Flimsy little shacks on pallets … Gee, what happens when we get another tornado or some of the far more common straight-line winds in the big storm months? Those little shacks will be reduced to their parts. Then what? The city ends up being sued by the indigent inhabitants for injury and/or death. Which of course the city will fold over immediately and fork over millions to settle. No thanks.
Councilmember Goldie Wells said, “I know it sounds like a lot of money and we don’t have all the answers, but we sit here night after night and move items that are millions of dollars and think nothing of it. I’m totally in favor of going forward with this.”
Haha, they don’t have any of the answers! This statement sums up perfectly how tax payer money is spent in this city! They spend tax payer money like a drunk train robber!
Your council and tax dollars at work! Money down another rat hole.
Waste of $500,000, put that $500,000 in a tiny house that has a bathrm, place to cook or eat & sleep, if not then the churches, organizations, & working class people will have to continue to feed them.. Time for them if they want to be homeless, help themselves by taking care of themselves besides expecting city/county & tax paying working class
Another Boondoggle. Throwing money at an issue does nothing except spend money. Tiny houses with no land. Tiny houses with no restrooms. Where will the resettlement camp be located? What a joke. Follow the money all the way thru this and watch the money just evaporate before one single soul spend a single night in a city run homeless relocation camp. A simple step would be to keep public restrooms open 24 seven and not making ordinances that criminalize extreme poverty.
several of our prominent downtown churches have that 1/4 acre lot for these things & close to all the public services they OFTEN need. each unit gets an electric meter for the heat n air n light n frig n stove n hair dryer n tv n microwave? satellite dish? cable? parking ?
I agree with Mr. Matheny. This sounds like an awfully large amount of money and I’m afraid this is simply another case of enabling people who have no desire to do better.
Given the cost to build even a modest building or home these days, this seems rather inexpensive.
Sure, the shanties are cheap, but this does not include the land purchase/lease, nor does it include the restroom facilities, nor does it include whatever the oversight and massive maintenance costs are going to be. Who will watch over the people sleeping here? Will there be a screening process or can anyone take occupancy? That’s why a lot of these folks cannot stay in the night shelter. They cannot pass the screening due to violent tendencies, being drunk, being high, etc.
If there is a screening process, and a minder, and a maintenance man, and a security guard, and (hopefully) some kind of counselor or someone that can actually help address underlying issues, well, you better start adding some zeroes. These will also be recurring costs, so keep those zeroes coming for perpetuity. Otherwise, you just have a pre-made shanty town that will quickly become the Skid Row of the east coast.
We haven’t even addressed the costs of the inevitable lawsuits and liability that will emerge when Cocaine Corey or Heroin Harry bites the big one while under the city’s care and protection. When Dementia Joe (not that one), wanders into the wrong shanty and gets knifed, who’s going to pay that bill? Who will pay all the hospital bills of these people living under the city’s watchful eye? When someone gets hurt while in police custody, the city has to pay the bill. I imagine this will end up being much the same, since they are basically going to be in assisted living here.
Thanks, Chris, for helping to bring the true costs of this endeavor to light.
This has never worked. They will become crime-ridden slums PDQ.
Of course, it’s not their money, it’s ours.
You base that off of studies or just your internal hate of others less fortunate than yourself?
Well Chris how many are you and your family willing to take in. We’re still waiting on the tiny houses you’re so fond of. When will your construction begin.
Maybe today will be better than yesterday. Each day is a gift.
So, who is paying for these electric bills once they move in? I pay mine. I bought my house, no one set me up for free. Y’all can pay roughly $13,375.00 per unit for the homeless to have free shelter and electricity. Same old story, those who have nothing, get everything. You really think there will be two to a unit living there? Please don’t build this little pallet town in Southern Guilford County. We have enough riff raff in this area as it is. Please build it near Irving Park or Starmount. These people will welcome them with open arms I’m sure.
they could put them on the edge of the railroad bed easements.
Well why not? It’s our money the councilmembers are spending, not their own.
They will instantly be full of feces and used needles.
Building codes don’t exist when waving magic wands and throwing taxpayer money in the air and repeating”we must do something”!!!
AN actual internment camp! The class war is coming!
Let’s see if I got this. Each 20 2 person unit will have a bathroom with 2 sinks 2 toilets and a shower for 40 people I really can’t see a problem with this idea. Please note high level of sarcasm here. Curious as to how the electricity and plumbing will be connected and who will be responsible for cleaning the bathroom’s and maintenance of the units.
Please enlighten us peasants ole grand wizard before we head to Kansas
Not the government’s place. This will be a nasty crime infested cesspool within months if not weeks.
So what dept is going to oversee the behavior and condition of these 80 or so bums residing there? The majority of them will trash the whole thing. It sounds like it will be a drug den.
Where do they plan to put this future slum? I say put one in front of each council members house along with a port-a let and lets see how long they last.
Since when do you decide to spend so MUCH MONEY for so little just so you can say…We made a decision. This is ridiculous and quite frankly this council gets to be more ridiculous everyday. $100,000/for bathrooms for 40 people?? Seriously? This is beyond reasonable. Matheny has got it right and what is happening with the hotel to house homeless that city owned.
Let us call them what they are, shanties. In the past shanties were built by the people who intended to live in the shanty. Now they are being built by government. I guess shantytown residents of the past were more industrious than today. Now everyone is looking for a handout even for a shanty.
I am stuck on 40 units on a quarter acre of land. Sharing bathrooms. Oh yeah. What can go wrong there?
This is a sure failure. You can just throw that $500 in the trash.
Give them 100.00, put them on a bus, send them to one of those Blue sanctuary cities.
The homeless will be better served (and the city) by providing one institution (You have one) to lock them into until the drug habit or mental illness is cured-or not. I know someone who is one of the mentally ill. All of the above (housing, job, etc. had been given to him, but have been unsuccessful. He is best provided directions, medicine, and care of simple things like making his bed, doing chores to maintain a feeling of earning a peaceful home in a controlled situation. Perhaps one day he will make it on his own.
Face reality and spend our money on a successful program, if you really want to help them.
Thanks to the one person who said no to an extraordinarily expensive bandage.
Folks some of us spend a lot of time with our comments on these various topics appearing in the Rhino Times. I encourage all us to spend the same amount of time contacting the City Council and City leaders (Oops forgot there are no city leaders!)