City Council wrestles with homeless issue

It was during the Jackson City Council work session on Thursday, May 30, that a conversation came up among council members about the planned men’s homeless shelter on McCorry Street.

Nothing pertaining to the shelter is on the agenda for this month’s council meeting on June 4, and the council approved unanimously at last month’s meeting the guaranteed maximum price of a little more than $3.4 million for the facility that will be run by Tennessee Homeless Solutions and is planned to house 25 men with the capacity for up to nearly 90 in times of inclement weather when shelter or warming centers are needed.

There was a meeting among concerned business owners in Downtown near the site, where City leadership held a ceremonial groundbreaking in April of 2023, in late May where they could ask questions from those within City Hall who could answer those questions – mainly Chief Innovation Officer Lauren Kirk, who’s overseeing the project.

At the work session, Mayor Scott Conger gave the floor to Councilman Larry Lowrance, who wanted to ask a few more questions about the project after having been the one to ask questions about the price before voting at the May meeting.

“We’re spending $3.4 million with roughly half of that coming from local taxes and the other half coming from [Department of Housing and Urban Development] and COVID grants,” Lowrance said. “That’s $3.4 million for 25 people, and I’m wondering if we can appoint an ad hoc committee to review all of this and to see what if anything is possible to do at this late moment to make any significant changes.

“Because I’ve had a few hot phone calls about this issue.”

Councilman Russ McKelvey asked why Lowrance is looking at this now as the project has been in discussion and planning phases for three years and the Council had the issue come up in its previous meeting.

“We all, including you, voted yes when this thing was in our lap then to ask these questions,” McKelvey said. “This ship has sailed, and this is more than a homeless shelter, it’s a center that’s designed to have a complete program to help each resident of this place turn their lives around and become tax-paying citizens of this city.

“I don’t get what the issue is here.”

Councilmember Candace Busby was concerned that not all business owners in Downtown have had proper opportunity to have their voices heard on the issue.

Conger and Kirk pointed out there have been multiple meeting with businesses – formally involving Jackson Downtown Development and otherwise – in which business owners have had that opportunity.

In addition to the price of the building, Lowrance expressed concern that the shelter could attract homeless men from other cities to come to Jackson.

“So what’s the solution?” McKelvey asked Lowrance.

“One possible solution is to not have the building,” Lowrance answered.

McKelvey said he felt like that would be the wrong decision because the homeless population of Jackson are going to be Downtown already because many of the resources already available to them are located Downtown – RIFA, Community Café, Area Relief Ministries and First United Methodist Church were among those listed.

Busby asked McKelvey why he’s so passionate about the issue.

“I’m glad you asked,” McKelvey said. “Because I’ve been around the homeless population and Downtown for 35 years, and it comes in waves.

“We get it under control for a few years and then it grows again and we fight to get it under control. We have all these resources available to get food and meals to the people, but we finally have something available to get them out of this cycle. And we’re on the 5-yard line ready to cross into the end zone, and suddenly a few business owners want to raise a stink over this when it’s been discussed for the past three years.”

“Well you’re not a business owner Downtown,” Busby said to McKelvey.

McKelvey is actually one of the owners of Mac’s Pest Control, which is on East Lafayette Street across the road from the Jackson-Madison County Public Library.

Busby then clarified she meant that his business wasn’t on the same side of Downtown as the shelter’s proposed location. She also said she’s not against the shelter, but she wants to ensure that Downtown can grow but could be hindered by the homeless population, which she said has caused the Downtown Starbuck’s to require a coded unlocking to use the restrooms because of problems with homeless coming in and staying in there.

Council member Marda Wallace asked Teresa Luna, one of the City’s attorneys, about possible legal ramifications if they delayed or looked at changes at this point in the process. She said the City has entered into a number of legal contracts that would be affected by making possible changes.

“I wouldn’t even be for that unless there’s a Plan B, and no one has proposed a possible solution for that,” said Councilman J.P. Stovall.

McKelvey said he’d taken phone calls from some of the same people who’d called Lowrance, and the one Plan B offered up was to locate the shelter 10 miles outside of town.

Kirk then explained that time and taxpayer dollars would be wasted if this got delayed even further at this juncture and later this month, they will do a check with individuals in the homeless community about their needs and desires.

“We’re a city on a highway and interstate, so we’re going to attract people here,” Kirk said, that it’s nearly impossible to convince all the available resources in that direction.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news