Post by bergsteiger on Jul 3, 2008 6:07:59 GMT -5
I thought this was a green concern considering these illegal aliens were most likely using our water supply for a toilet.
Homeless to be told to vacate tent areas
Will be given week to leave
By ZACH PATBERG
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
Sheriff's officers will visit two tent communities Thursday to give some 20 homeless dwellers a week to vacate the land before ejecting them through court orders, Ocean Administrator Alan W. Avery Jr. said.
The decision came after reports of drug activity and assaults at the grounds and, most recently, the death of a woman in her shanty, Avery said.
"We'll try to get them to participate in our programs," he said. "If they don't leave voluntarily, we will follow the Monmouth County route."
In February, Monmouth officials, armed with court orders, cleared out about a dozen homeless people who had been living near the Henry Hudson Trail for several years. By the time they arrived, the inhabitants had left with their belongings.
The Lakewood sites are between Route 88 and Cedar Bridge Avenue just off the railroad tracks and within the Metedeconk River County Conservation Area. They are the only tent camps of the seven in the township on county land.
"The living conditions have caused environmental degradation of the park property and subsequent surrounding land and waterways resulting in threats to public health and safety," Avery said in a prepared statement, referring to the camps' proximity to the river, which provides drinking water to more than 100,000 Monmouth and Ocean county residents.
On Monday evening, a homeless man, having heard of the county's visit, was raking clean the packed dirt that created a clearing for one camp surrounded by heavy overgrowth. Evidence of squalor and self-preservation encompassed the commune.
At one end, grocery carts sat upturned and hundreds of beer and whiskey bottles were secured in trash bags and piled into garbage cans. At the other, behind a series of large tents, were tidy gardens yielding tomatoes, peppers and cilantro leaves. A basketball hoop with a plywood backboard was nailed to a tree.
As Steve Brigham — by far the local homeless population's staunchest advocate — toured the camp, 10 Mexican day laborers sat silent in a row on egg carts, roosters and chickens pecking around their feet.
"Minister Steven, look: Tomorrow everything clean — no garbage, nothing," said Juardo Limon, 24.
Brigham said the single men have lived there for 2 1/2 years. Many of them had come from a nearby junkyard. Because they are undocumented immigrants, the county's programs and housing options are beyond their reach, Brigham said.
"Don't create a problem without creating a solution," the local minister said. "There's no government money that's going to help the Mexican population."
The other site was farther down the tracks, in a denser portion of woods thick with insects and a stagnant heat. About seven to 10 people live there, and had included the 50-year-old woman who died from natural causes two weeks ago. Her shanty of plywood and plastic tarp is now empty. Her companion, Leo, was admitted to St. Barnabas Behavioral Health Center in Toms River after her death. His father had died two weeks earlier, Brigham said.
The latest casualty, however, was a homeless man named Izzy, a chronic alcoholic living near the bus stop who died Sunday of unknown causes, according to police.
Township Mayor Raymond Coles said helping the tent dwellers was often impossible because of a refusal to cooperate.
Meanwhile, the conditions of the camps continue to bring in complaints.
"The only pictures and word I get out of these areas are how filthy and how dangerous they are," Coles said. "They have to start self-policing and cleaning up. If it's going to be a dump, I support what the county's doing."
Homeless to be told to vacate tent areas
Will be given week to leave
By ZACH PATBERG
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
Sheriff's officers will visit two tent communities Thursday to give some 20 homeless dwellers a week to vacate the land before ejecting them through court orders, Ocean Administrator Alan W. Avery Jr. said.
The decision came after reports of drug activity and assaults at the grounds and, most recently, the death of a woman in her shanty, Avery said.
"We'll try to get them to participate in our programs," he said. "If they don't leave voluntarily, we will follow the Monmouth County route."
In February, Monmouth officials, armed with court orders, cleared out about a dozen homeless people who had been living near the Henry Hudson Trail for several years. By the time they arrived, the inhabitants had left with their belongings.
The Lakewood sites are between Route 88 and Cedar Bridge Avenue just off the railroad tracks and within the Metedeconk River County Conservation Area. They are the only tent camps of the seven in the township on county land.
"The living conditions have caused environmental degradation of the park property and subsequent surrounding land and waterways resulting in threats to public health and safety," Avery said in a prepared statement, referring to the camps' proximity to the river, which provides drinking water to more than 100,000 Monmouth and Ocean county residents.
On Monday evening, a homeless man, having heard of the county's visit, was raking clean the packed dirt that created a clearing for one camp surrounded by heavy overgrowth. Evidence of squalor and self-preservation encompassed the commune.
At one end, grocery carts sat upturned and hundreds of beer and whiskey bottles were secured in trash bags and piled into garbage cans. At the other, behind a series of large tents, were tidy gardens yielding tomatoes, peppers and cilantro leaves. A basketball hoop with a plywood backboard was nailed to a tree.
As Steve Brigham — by far the local homeless population's staunchest advocate — toured the camp, 10 Mexican day laborers sat silent in a row on egg carts, roosters and chickens pecking around their feet.
"Minister Steven, look: Tomorrow everything clean — no garbage, nothing," said Juardo Limon, 24.
Brigham said the single men have lived there for 2 1/2 years. Many of them had come from a nearby junkyard. Because they are undocumented immigrants, the county's programs and housing options are beyond their reach, Brigham said.
"Don't create a problem without creating a solution," the local minister said. "There's no government money that's going to help the Mexican population."
The other site was farther down the tracks, in a denser portion of woods thick with insects and a stagnant heat. About seven to 10 people live there, and had included the 50-year-old woman who died from natural causes two weeks ago. Her shanty of plywood and plastic tarp is now empty. Her companion, Leo, was admitted to St. Barnabas Behavioral Health Center in Toms River after her death. His father had died two weeks earlier, Brigham said.
The latest casualty, however, was a homeless man named Izzy, a chronic alcoholic living near the bus stop who died Sunday of unknown causes, according to police.
Township Mayor Raymond Coles said helping the tent dwellers was often impossible because of a refusal to cooperate.
Meanwhile, the conditions of the camps continue to bring in complaints.
"The only pictures and word I get out of these areas are how filthy and how dangerous they are," Coles said. "They have to start self-policing and cleaning up. If it's going to be a dump, I support what the county's doing."
