Sanitary services for the Pines a work in progress

Elizabeth Brewer, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·2 min read

May 14—TRAVERSE CITY — City officials said new additions to serve the local homeless encampment in the Pines are coming together.

These improvements include new portable toilets on either side of the encampment off South Division Street, festival sinks and solar-powered benches for charging electronics, according to a news release.

In total, the cost of these amenities is $50,000, which was provided through private donations from the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation.

According to the latest numbers from outreach coordinators, approximately 54 people are currently living in the Pines.

At 10:15 a.m. Monday, two Traverse City Light and Power employees were working together to install a new pole and place a new power line across the two lanes of traffic that separate the Pines from the green GFL dumpster near the intersection of South Division and 11th Streets.

City Manager Liz Vogel said this will allow for a new Arlo security camera that is expected to be installed Tuesday morning. The purpose of the camera is to mitigate any vandalism of the newly added amenities there, she said.

Previously, the city had installed portable toilets near the Pines, but they had to be removed after the vendor refused to continue servicing them because of issues with vandalism.

The new toilets and sinks were delivered and set up on Friday, but placed in the wrong place — by the picnic pavilion at Traverse City Veterans Memorial Park, Vogel said. She chalked up the placement issue to miscommunication.

They're currently working with the vendor to move the set-up closer to the 11th Street dumpster, as originally had been planned.

The two new solar-powered benches are scheduled for delivery next week, she said, noting that it's unclear whether these benches will come with a full charge when they're dropped off.

"As soon as those get delivered to our parks department, we'll get those installed," she said.

These upgrades are being made after community members and organizations working on homelessness told city administrators that the Pines needed sanitary solutions, Vogel previously told the Record-Eagle.

Their goal was to have all of the new items in place by mid-May since the summer population in the Pines is greater than in the winter months when the seasonal emergency overnight shelter, Safe Harbor, is open.