CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – For the last couple of weeks, citizens and officials have debated the proposed location for a homeless outreach center in downtown Clarksville. At Thursday’s City Council meeting, to continue the conversation, the council voted to defer the proposal for 60 days.
Going into Thursday’s meeting, citizens reached out to Clarksville Now regarding previous comments made by City Neighborhood and Community Services Director Michelle Austin.
At a Dec. 8 Neighborhood and Community Services Committee meeting, Austin said one long-term vision for the city is to partner with a large nonprofit in Clarksville to develop a homeless shelter with 100-150 beds. She said this while discussing The Well property, as well as three city-owned parcels located near the site.
When Clarksville Now asked for clarification, Austin said Thursday that she’s had several exploratory conversations regarding a future 24/7 shelter with multiple groups. However, while that work is continuing, that long-range vision does not include The Well property and is not the subject of the ordinance, she said.
What’s planned for homeless outreach services
According to previous reports, what this site will have, if approved, is an emergency weather shelter. It will operate just like the Clarksville Urban Ministries’ current emergency warming shelter; however, it will also be open during extreme heat, tornado conditions and flooding events.
The plan is also for the addition of laundry facilities, showers and ADA-accessible bathrooms to the building at 224 Union St. on the south side of downtown, while also expanding services already offered, including meals and community support.
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The Well property was appraised at $1.28 million, but the proposition is for the city, using Community Block Grant funds, to purchase it for $750,000.
When discussing how many temporary beds would be at the site, Austin previously said that would have to be determined when they do the walk-through with the fire marshal and Codes Department. Urban Ministries Executive Director Jodi McBryant previously said she estimates the shelter would operate with 50 temporary cots, with the ability to possibly house 60 if conditions worsen.
‘I just feel like we should continue the conversation’
Councilperson Deanna McLaughlin said Thursday that while she voted in favor of the proposal as a member of the Neighborhood and Community Services Committee, she believes it would be best for the proposal to be postponed, to continue the conversation over the next couple of months.
McLaughlin said she wants to give people more opportunity to be heard. “That’s the reason for postponement, I discussed this with my town hall attendees last night, and they agreed,” she said.
“In the end, nobody wants a homeless shelter where they are, but what are we going to do? We need to give people the opportunity to try and better themselves,” McLaughlin said. “I know that’s a mixed message, but I just feel like we should continue the conversation. Give it 60 days so that people can bring up their concerns, maybe someone has an alternative location that they would like to donate.”
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Councilperson Stacey Streetman advocated approval of the property acquisition, but not the 60-day postponement.
“The conversation can still continue, this is an ordinance that requires two readings. So, that means for the next month, this will still be ongoing, and we’ll have another vote on this at this time (next month). The longer we wait to do anything, the longer it’s going to take to be able to offer these services,” Streetman said.
‘This has opened the floodgates to actually do something permanent here’
Councilperson Ambar Marquis said she agrees with the postponement because of the amount of conversation happening now. “This has opened the floodgates to actually do something permanent here in the future. There’s a lot of people who have resources who seem to be coming to the table,” Marquis said.
Marquis also said there should also be more back and forth input between the project leaders and community members.
Councilperson Wanda Smith agreed with the postponement, saying she and her constituents are not against addressing homelessness in Clarksville, but rather, the location that is proposed.
Councilperson Joe Shakeenab said he believes the City Council should proceed with the vote. “Those who oppose it today are going to oppose it tomorrow. Those who support it today are going to support it tomorrow,” Shakeenab said. “You either think it is a good thing for the city or it’s not a good thing for the city.
“We get a lot of emails every day, a lot of phone calls every day, from both sides. It’s up to us to make a decision, and I don’t think anything will change in a month or two months.”
When the discussion ceased, the council voted 8-4-1 to postpone. Keri Lovato abstained since she is on the board of Urban Ministries. Voting for postponement were McLaughlin, Brian Zacharias, Carlos Peters, Tim Chandler, Marquis, Smith, Jerry Haywood and Jimmy Brown.
Voting against were Travis Holleman, Streetman, Shakeenab and Mayor Joe Pitts.
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