A homeless encampment, photographed Feb. 21, 2024, appears to have been abandoned at Head of Falls, along the Kennebec River, in Waterville. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel file

WATERVILLE — City councilors said Tuesday night they were not ready to decide whether to create a task force to explore how to address the needs of marginalized and homeless people while ensuring businesses are able to safely operate and economic development continues.

The council voted unanimously to postpone a vote on the task force proposal until its next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 17, to give councilors and city officials time to refine language in a written document describing what problems they would seek to solve and what the city can do to help.

Staff graphic by Sharon Wood

The idea for a task force was launched recently because downtown business owners and landlords said they were having problems with people, some of whom are homeless, approaching customers to ask for money, sleeping in buildings, doing drugs and, in some cases, soliciting for prostitution or engaging in sexual activity in public places.

The Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter, photographed Nov. 23, at 19 Colby St. in Waterville. The shelter’s management has received a grant to acquire and rehabilitate an additional space, with the goal of expanding the current 50-bed capacity with 20 additional beds at another location. A group of business and property owners has asked that the City Council approve a six-month pause on expansion of the shelter. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

Business leaders, including Bill Mitchell, Gregg Perkins and Tom Nale Sr., asked that the city work to help balance the needs of everyone, including those who are homeless, businesspeople and residents. They asked that the city institute a six-month pause on expansion to services, including the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter and Waterville Area Soup Kitchen, both of which have talked about expanding.

The City Council on Tuesday considered approving the creation of a task force that would include three people who work in social services, three business leaders who work in close proximity to social service locations and who might also be landlords in the city and three city staff members, excluding the city manager and councilors, to be appointed as needed by the city manager.

The task force would “address the increase in utilization of certain social services and how those services impact downtown and the broader community.”

Councilor Rien Finch, D-Ward 6, issued a memorandum to Mayor Mike Morris and the other city councilors that outlines tasks the panel would address before June 1, 2025, including: Evaluating the ordinance regarding social services to ensure the goals of revitalization and the needs of providing social services are harmonious; exploring ways to reduce by 50% the burden on city services; evaluating solutions around a risk-share model for public-private partnership with landlords to supply transitional housing; evaluating the use of signs to discourage panhandling and list telephone numbers people can call to connect with social services; looking for ways to educate businesspeople and residents; and researching what other municipalities are doing to help their most needy people and propose ideas for regional conversations with actionable goals.

Meeting attendees noted that a task force meets regularly at the homeless shelter and various people attend, including City Manager Bryan Kaenrath; Katie Spencer White, the president and CEO of the homeless shelter; and officials from agencies, such as Kennebec Behavioral Health and the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program.

Finch said a new task force would be separate from the existing one.

Councilor Brandon Gilley, D-Ward 1, said he thought it would make sense to have a new task force work in conjunction with the current one.

Lydia Heck puts her arm around her husband, Timothy Heck, as the couple, who are homeless, shelter Jan. 15 at the warming center at The Lighthouse Waterville Area Soup Kitchen at 38 College Ave. in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Council Chairwoman Rebecca Green, D-Ward 4, and Councilor Thomas Klepach, D-Ward 3, presented additional ideas a task force could explore. Green said having a task force would present an opportunity for the city to do something more holistic and comprehensive than what is being done.

Green and Klepach proposed a task force pursue solutions related to transitional housing and “harmonize social services with revitalization goals,” invite business and school leaders to the table and hold listening sessions for the public. Green said people in the community have asked how they can get involved and help.

“Let’s give them an opportunity to do what they can and work together to solve this problem,” Green said.

Klepach said a task force must take a “coherent, coordinated, collective approach to the problem.”

Councilor Flavia DeBrito, D-Ward 2, said it is imperative that someone be on the panel who is homeless or has faced homelessness, poverty or related issues.

“I don’t see it going anywhere without bringing impacted people to the room,” she said.

The Rev. Maureen Ausbrook, the co-director of Starfish Village, a program that helps people in need, particularly those who need assistance to stay in their homes, said she was not opposed to having a new task force, but the goals being proposed were not specific enough and sought to tackle too many things.

“It’s overly broad,” she said.

Ausbrook said city councilors were talking about finding solutions, but no one had talked about the problem itself.

“I think you should identify what problem you’re trying to solve,” she said.

Mitchell said the idea behind a new task force is to represent the city, look at issues from a resident’s perspective and have it led by the city manager and two or three members of the city’s staff.

“Let the professionals who run the city do their job,” he said.

The concept of a task force, Mitchell said, is to do everything the City Council discussed Tuesday night, including revitalization, while at the same time supporting with compassion and empathy those who need help. He noted that police officers have responded to about 1,700 calls related to homeless people over the past 11 months, straining city services.

“This is not OK,” he said.

White, the shelter CEO, said she has long endorsed the idea of forming a task force.

“It is something that has been missing,” she said, “and it’s most welcome as well.”