WATERVILLE — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to create a task force to recommend ways Waterville can support vulnerable residents, including homeless people over the long term, and encourage community-driven solutions, collaboration and continued public input.

The task force is to include three people who work in social services in the community, three business leaders who work closely with social services or are landlords in the city and three residents who receive rental subsidies or are homeless or have experienced homelessness. Three city staff members are also to be part of the panel.

Waterville City Manager Bryan Kaenrath Morning Sentinel file

City Manager Bryan Kaenrath, Mayor Mike Morris and a city councilor are expected to review applications, according to the resolution councilors approved Tuesday. The City Council must approve the panel makeup.

Councilors also voted to narrow the panel’s scope, after lengthy discussion and amendments. The panel is to focus on how to mitigate barriers and risks to accessing and supplying transitional housing. Members are expected to explore a risk-share model to encourage public-private partnerships to remove barriers for newly housed tenants, mitigate risk to landlords and recommend council adoption.

The task force is also expected to explore ways to foster positive interactions among all community members, with an emphasis on ensuring quality of life for all residents and connecting people in need with social services.

The council voted unanimously Dec. 3 to postpone a vote on creating a task force to give officials time to refine language in a document describing what problems the panel would seek to solve.

The idea for a task force arose when 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, using drugs and, in some cases, soliciting for prostitution or engaging in sexual activity in public places.

Bill Mitchell Morning Sentinel file

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

Councilor Tom McCormick, an independent councilor representing Ward 7, asked if the new task force could just become part of the existing one. Finch said that task force is not a strategy-based group, and the new one is to focus on long-term goals and strategies.

The new task force is to report on its work to the City Council by June 1, 2025, and every three months thereafter. A tentative sunset date of Dec. 31, 2026, was set for the panel.