Durango City Council will meet Tuesday behind closed doors to discuss “the potential purchase, acquisition, lease, transfer, or sale of real property” that could be used as a camp for unhoused residents.
The executive session is scheduled for noon.
“Basically, this is an opportunity for the City Council to consider a property that we haven’t looked at before and that we haven’t considered before,” said Mayor Barbara Noseworthy.
Under state law, local governments are permitted to meet in secret to discuss possible real estate transactions, but they are not allowed to take formal action.
The city is working to identify a location where homeless residents can camp ahead of La Plata County’s planned closure of the Purple Cliffs campsite before the end of September.
City Council met with county commissioners June 29 during a joint meeting to try to work out an agreement for finding a new site for a managed homeless camp.
County commissioners and Sheriff Sean Smith announced the pending closure of Purple Cliffs in a letter published June 18 in The Durango Herald. City Council and staff members were caught by surprise by the county’s decision and quickly organized a meeting with commissioners.
The county says Purple Cliffs was a temporary solution after the 416 Fire displaced homeless residents from a campsite near the Durango Tech Center in 2018.
The county is also concerned about fire danger, graywater, trash and violence at Purple Cliffs. The campsite had several small fires during spring and summer this year.
Commissioners said they are willing to put $1 million of American Rescue Plan Act money toward finding a new, managed campsite with the city of Durango’s participation.
City councilors said it is possible that multiple campsites may be needed to keep homeless families separate from substance abusers.
City councilors were explicit about their concerns that closing Purple Cliffs without a new location or locations identified would cause the population to disperse across the city.
The governing bodies formed a joint group, including city and county staff members, the Durango/La Plata Coordinating Council on Homelessness, as well as a city councilor and a county commission member as liaisons for the city and county at each meeting.
The group planned to meet weekly to identify a managed campsite and then to breakdown logistics of managing camp services, such as trash pickup and the probable need for multiple campsites.
Noseworthy said the city-county weekly meetings are going well so far.
“We’re working through issues that need to be addressed with regard to closure of Purple Cliffs and what is needed for the best interest of the entire community as well as, particularly, the families that are homeless,” she said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
