MADISON PARK FIVE YEAR PLAN FOR
TEMPORARY HOUSING OF THE HOMELESS
At the Walla Walla City Council work session on homeless
housing on July 13, in response to a request by the newly founded Walla Walla
Alliance for the Homeless that the Council adopt a state-authorized indigent
housing exemption to the building code, the City Council deferred action on the
matter in the hope that the Alliance and others interested in the issue could
adopt a common approach, including the official Council on Homelessness which is
formulating a Five Year Plan to End Homelessness, business interests who are
concerned about the increasing homeless presence downtown, religious
congregations and others of good will who are concerned about the safety and
well-being of unhoused people in the community, and neighbors of the proposed
Madison Park site on Pine Street.
To seek to bring together the various interests, the following Five
Year Plan for Temporary Homeless Housing at Madison Park is adopted by the
Alliance:
1. The Walla Walla
Alliance for the Homeless will seek to become a member of the Walla Walla
County Council on Homelessness and will work with other members of the Council
to realize the Council’s plan to end homelessness in Walla Walla in the next
five years.
2. The Walla Walla
City Council will be asked to approve the proposed ordinance providing for a
five-year exemption from the building code for indigent housing in existing
buildings consistent with the health and safety of all occupants.
3. The Alliance will
accept the offer by a limited liability company to acquire the proposed Madison
Park property on Pine Street and to lease it to the Alliance for five years at
a rental of $1 per year with an option to buy at the same purchase price.
4. A five year
Madison Park capital and operations budget will be adopted by the Alliance, and
the community will be asked to contribute the necessary funds and labor to
operate Madison Park as a homeless village and day center for the five year
period.
5. An operations plan
will be developed by the board and steering committee of the Alliance in
consultation with representatives of the neighborhood, and at least one member
of the West End neighborhood will be appointed to the board of the Alliance.
6. The operation of
Madison Park will be reviewed annually during the five year period, with input
from the community on best practices.
7. At the end of the
five year period, a decision will be made in consultation with all sectors of
the community as to whether to continue operation of Madison Park.
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