Contamination from drug manufacturing to delay transfer of more homeless to former Days Inn

Posted

Due to contamination from drug manufacturing, plans to convert the rest of the former Days Inn motel into a shelter for the homeless might be postponed until May this year, said Planning Commissioner Manager Ryan Andrews.

During the Lacey Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, Andrews discussed that the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) is facing a "much worse" contamination problem at this property compared to its previous project in Tacoma.

"They (LIHI) were removing everybody from the building so that they can do remediation associated with the contamination that's in the building from drug manufacturing," said Andrews.

LIHI staff already operate the former Days Inn as a shelter and several individuals already reside there, based on a visit to the site today. The staff directed a JOLT reporter to contact staff at the Seattle-based nonprofit and provided a Seattle telephone number. No additional information about the program there was available at press time today.

Andrews brought up the update following a commissioner's inquiry on which jurisdiction is responsible for the growing number of homeless people staying on Sleater-Kinney Road.

Andrews said that the City of Olympia and the Department of Transportation are aware of the situation and that Lacey has no direct control. He added that homeless people staying in that area might be prioritized after more rooms at the former Days Inn are available.

Sleater-Kinney Road brought up in recent council clash

Talks on the growing homeless encampment along Sleater-Kinney Road were also brought up during the heated debate of council members during last week's Lacey Council meeting.

Councilmember Lenny Greenstein argued that the jurisdictional representation on the Regional Housing Council (RHC) charter was unfair, adding that Lacey is doing better in handling the homeless issue than other jurisdictions.

"We're doing really good work… I think far better work than what our neighboring jurisdictions are doing," argued Greenstein.

"Have you driven by Sleater-Kinney? It looks like someone dumped the dump on the Olympia side of Sleater-Kinney. They're not willing to do what needs to be done that we have been doing."

Andrews explained that the charter could only be approved by RHC rather than by the Lacey City Council and the Thurston County Board of Commissioners.

Comments

9 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • JulesJames

    The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) will become a political powerhouse in municipal governance around here. It would be prudent to require LIHI to be very transparent with its finances and operations now before it has the political power to deflect such inquiries later. Loose with the truth and the dollars is the natural nature of social services for transient populations, but LIHI has raised it to a shadowing business model.

    Thursday, February 23, 2023 Report this

  • AugieH

    After the drug contamination in this Days Inn is cleaned up and the homeless are moved in, what, the place isn't going to become drug-contaminated all over again? Oh, puhleeze!

    See the KomoNews story for an almost identical situation: "Snohomish County motels bought for homeless housing found contaminated by meth"

    Thursday, February 23, 2023 Report this

  • danwdurham

    The specific drug being manufactured isn't named so we have to assume that someone was cooking meth. That would be consistent with having to remove others from the building.

    Friday, February 24, 2023 Report this

  • Southsoundguy

    Kick LIHI out of here.

    Friday, February 24, 2023 Report this

  • WA_Mojo

    This was so predictable.

    Friday, February 24, 2023 Report this

  • JW

    Until the politicians come to grips with the fact that our local "homeless" aren't people that just lost their jobs but are a permanent criminal, transient, drug-abusing subset of society requiring forced incarceration and/or treatment these stories will continue and the money will flow on and on.

    Friday, February 24, 2023 Report this

  • BradPax

    We need to offer treatment to the addicted. If refused, then incarcerate for breaking multiple laws that the rest of us abide by. Why oh why should this tiny group of people be allowed to foul our environment? I knew a couple of homeless guys before they were homeless. Neither finished high school, hated authority, just wanted to party and not work. They made their choices. So the rest of us must pay for their choices? Why?

    Friday, February 24, 2023 Report this

  • AugieH

    The authors of this story failed to be specific about the location of this former Days Inn. If you don't know, it's located in the SW quadrant of the Marvin Rd/I-5 junction. It's adjacent to a Burger King, Taco Time, and Chevron station and very close to the RAM restaurant. I'm sure those businesses are just thrilled. And I suspect the nearby Walmart is steeling itself for an increased incidence of shoplifting.

    And yes, the homeless presence on the Olympia side of the Sleater Kinney/ I-5 junction is an absolutely appalling garbage dump. At least Lacey was able to work with WSDOT to eliminate the encampment on the former's side of the junction.

    When we moved here six years ago, there were no obvious encampments along I-5. Now, a visitor driving through can't help but exclaim "WTH!".

    Friday, February 24, 2023 Report this

  • FordPrefect

    There has to be a REAL safety net at the bottom. Jail provides food, shelter, clean water, and most importantly, isolation from drugs. Free housing or a soup kitchen might be the right answer for a handful, but for most the graveyard spiral continues downward with continued access to narcotics.

    Stop the cycle of addiction FIRST. Enforce the law and uphold sentences. Jail is the first step. It doesn’t sound nice, but it’s vastly preferable to the systemic neglect that allows these folks to overdose and die in the cold.

    Our leaders are soft on crime and it’s destroying our city. Homelessness is exacerbated by half-measures. Who is winning right now? Perhaps those charged with mitigating the crisis stand to gain from perpetuating it.

    Saturday, February 25, 2023 Report this