Eight arrests had been made this week as of Thursday as part of the City of Gainesville’s clearing of the Flat Creek homeless camp which officials announced several months ago would take place this month.
“You may remember the City of Gainesville began notifying encampment residents in October of the Gainesville Department of Water Resources’ plans to pursue a utility project* on this piece of City-owned property,” city spokeswoman Christina Santee said Thursday. “Unfortunately for a few of these individuals…despite the City’s best efforts over multiple months to educate them about the need for the mandatory evacuation and connect them with local resources (and) services through the Unity Project, the desire to work with local nonprofit organizations – North Georgia Works and Good News at Noon – on their end, simply wasn’t there.”
Santee added that the City was hopeful that by postponing the utility project until the New Year, all residents would vacate the property on their own, but that was not the case and several failed to heed posted warnings and comply with orders to vacate the premises.
“From the time residents were first notified to most recently, City officials made multiple trips to the encampment to answer questions and provide information about available resources,” she said. “Those that were charged with trespassing Tuesday, Dec. 16 – roughly eight men and women total – received formal warnings in late November and early December, but still refused to vacate the premises.
“Taking these individuals into custody of the Gainesville Police Department (GPD), all without incident, was truly a last resort. The City and GPD can report that the several hundred other encampment residents, on their own or through the Unity Project, successfully made alternative arrangements and vacated the property earlier this year.”
About the water department’s plans and reasons for the work planned in that area, Santee wrote:
*The Gainesville Department of Water Resources (DWR) operates and maintains two existing sanitary sewer lines along Flat Creek, which runs across Dorsey Street. These sewer lines collect wastewater from a large portion of Gainesville’s industrial wastewater customers and convey flow to the City’s Flat Creek Water Reclamation Facility for treatment. DWR conducts annual rehabilitation projects of existing sanitary sewer lines and manholes to prevent groundwater from entering the sanitary sewer lines. This project will rehab the existing manholes within the Dorsey Street area. Additionally, DWR conducted a stream restoration project on a section of Flat Creek at Dorsey Street in 2018. Maintenance of this section of Flat Creek must be conducted to maintain the environmental benefits that the project implemented and prevent overgrowth from occurring.
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