Thurston County will spend up to $1 million to manage Olympia homeless encampments
Apr. 11—Thurston County Board of Commissioners have unanimously approved a "scattered-site management" plan that will provide support to three homeless encampments in Olympia for the next year.
Half that money was allocated by the county last October, on the premise that the city would create a legal spot for RVs to park. That plan was shelved after cost estimates rose above $700,000 to set up a chosen site near the intersection of Martin Way and Carpenter Road, as The Olympian reported in March.
More than 200 other sites were identified for RV lots, but county staff said that Carpenter Road was the only viable site because the only jurisdictions willing to host an RV lot were the city of Olympia and the county. (The Carpenter Road site is owned by the city but sits on unincorporated land within Lacey's Urban Growth Area.)
So the city and county pivoted to the "scattered-site" plan, which will fund case managers to work with residents at already-established encampments on Deschutes Parkway, Wheeler Road, and Ensign Road, as well as provide regular garbage collection and RV septic pump out.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/thurston-county-will-spend-up-to-1-million-to-manage-olympia-homeless-encampments/ar-BB1fxppb
