Baracades at Heritage Crossing. Photo: Terrence McCarthy
By Sydney Fye, UNE Intern
The Sanford City Council met on Oct. 13 for an emergency meeting called to discuss an extension of the Declaration of Emergency that was ordered last week. That action was made due to the public health and safety hazard that continues to occur at Heritage Crossing and the International Woolen Mill, and partial closings that were put in place.
City Manager, Steve Buck, explained the emergency declaration was only active for a five-day period, and it would be in the city’s best interest to extend these partial closings. Buck has found that there are many safety concerns for both the police who frequently patrol the space and the unhoused citizens who seek shelter in the mill.
In reference to the mill interior, Buck said, “That beam was cracked, and the roof has now collapsed, and it hit the floor in the same area. The chief and I have compared photographs between the two-week period.”
Concern is especially high with the number of people seeking shelter within the mill due to it being officially named an abandoned building back in July. The city has the capacity to render it a dangerous building or even remove it entirely but has concerns with both ownership and funding.
“We could implement things to make that building safe but not have to take responsibility to own it. Especially where it would’ve cost between $30 – $50 million to take that building down with all the problems that it has. We did not want to do that to the taxpayers,” said Mayor Becky Brink.
On Monday, the day before the meeting, there was a planned search of the mill, conducted by the Sanford Police Department, which revealed just how many unhoused people were camping in the mill. With the help of Maine State Police, Old Orchard Beach Police, and the York County Sheriff’s Office, the police found five individuals in the mill and one in the pump house. Three of the six individuals received criminal trespass summons and were released, while the other three were arrested and taken to the York County Jail.
With the presence of unhoused people on Heritage Crossing and in the mill, Brink and the Sanford Fire Department are concerned about the possibility of them starting fires to keep themselves warm, especially with dropping temperatures.
“If we could find a place for a warming shelter, we would do that. We can’t have it near a school. We can’t have it near a daycare. That’s not going to fly,” said Brink.
Despite the effort to keep residents and the unhoused away from the temporarily closed locations through street closure, no trespassing signage and emergency response, there are still those who either don’t notice signage or choose to ignore them.
Counselor Cheeny Plante shared her concerns with the lack of around the clock surveillance of Heritage Crossing and the mill. She asked about the possibility of having the National Guard. Since it’s only a relatively small number of people trespassing, with the number sometimes less, and it is the governor’s decision to involve the National Guard, it was not considered to be a likely option.
Unfortunately, according to Police Chief Eric Small, there is no realistic way to keep a constant patrol of the space. Referring to the planned search the previous day, Small said, “Your entire police department was down there working, plus Old Orchard, plus the Sheriff’s Department, plus State police. Frankly, we couldn’t have done it without those other agencies. They have their own issues that they’re dealing with. There are not enough police officers. There’s 21 patrol officers. I think people think we have this large, gigantic number of people working…. we don’t even have enough officers to do it on our own.”
Small expressed concern for his officers working in such an unpredictable and dangerous area. The state of the mill itself is highly hazardous, making every entry a major risk. He told councilors they’re taking a systematic approach right now. He does not want to have officers running through any building in this state of disrepair, chasing people, and potentially getting hurt.
As for the issue of the unhoused, Small believes that the city needs to find someone to connect with these citizens. The entire council understands that they are still residents who deserve to keep their dignity and be treated with respect. He expressed the need for a dedicated professional who could build relationships and trust with the unhoused “to take them someplace positive.”
Ultimately, the council voted unanimously on the motion to renew the Declaration of Emergency pursuant to Chapter 27-6(b) and authorize the continued geographically limited closure of Heritage Crossing until the city manager, with the concurrence of the police chief and fire chief, recommends reopening based on sufficiently mitigated public safety hazards.
The council’s next meeting will be held on Oct. 20 at 6 pm. Tuesday’s full meeting can be found on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOn33aOepR8
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