Commission meeting gets heated over temporary homeless shelter
Jun 06, 2024 10:23AM ● By Becky Ginos
The Davis County Commission listens to a Kaysville resident during a public hearing at Tuesday’s meeting. They had concerns about a possible temporary homeless shelter being located in the Kaysville senior center. Video still Davis County Commission
FARMINGTON—Things got a bit tense at the Davis County Commission meeting on Tuesday as residents expressed their concern over where a temporary homeless shelter should be located. Most of those who gave public comments were from Kaysville.
In the 2023 Legislative Session lawmakers passed HB499 requiring counties to have beds for a certain number of people in the winter between October and April. The bill was an unfunded mandate. A Winter Flow Task Force was created to consider locations for the “Code Blue” temporary shelter and submit a proposal by Aug. 1. The county is also looking at options for a permanent shelter in the next two years.
The task force is made up of Commission Chair Bob Stevenson and the seven mayors from Bountiful, Farmington, Kaysville, Layton, Clearfield, Syracuse, Sunset and stakeholders in this space.
Although the task force meetings are closed to the public and no decision on location has been made, rumors have surfaced that the Kaysville senior center is being considered.
Those residents who spoke during the public meeting were adamantly against the possible use of the senior center in Kaysville, citing the fact that it is near Kaysville Elementary School.
“I appreciate that it is a complicated issue,” said one woman, whose children attend the school. “No one is arguing that it is not necessary or good. It should just not be in an area that could endanger our most vulnerable population.”
“I’ve lived in Kaysville for 40 years,” said another man. “I have a very vested interest in what goes on. Most people are worried about where the temporary program is placed. They need a warm place to sleep and a bathroom. That’s not the senior center across from an elementary school. The expectation of what is temporary becomes permanent. I think the senior center should be moved off the list.”
“There is no list,” said Stevenson. “The good people of Kaysville who have their concerns have really put pressure on this task force that we really do have to come up with a solution.” There is nothing set in stone on any of these things, he said. “One thing we are looking at is to have a rotational basis and we’ve asked all of the cities to come back with a location that would work in their town on a temporary basis.”
There isn’t going to be a location that works for everybody, he said. “That’s a given. But we’re trying to come up with locations that we’re able to say ‘this probably can work.’”
As the crowd started shouting out their comments and clapping and cheering after residents came to the podium to give their comments, Stevenson had to call the meeting to order.
“Listen up or we’ll close the meeting right now,” he said. “We’re trying to explain this and we’re trying to keep peace in here. We don’t need people shouting, we don’t need people clapping. This is a very hard decision that we have to come up with and do and we need your input but we don’t need to get into the cheers and all that stuff.”
A couple more residents gave their comments and then Stevenson moved on with the regular business. He offered to stay after the meeting and listen to anyone who wanted to share their concerns.
The task force will continue to meet and try to find solutions before submitting their proposal Aug. 1.