BANGOR, Maine — Bangor officials made good on their promise to clear out the homeless encampment on the city’s waterfront Friday.
Campers were notified over the past few days that all tents and property needed to be removed by 10:00 a.m. this morning.
Director of Parks and Rec, Tracy Willette says individuals were told anything left behind would be disposed of. The city had received a number of complaints about the camping including trash, needles and even human waste that was left behind.
Willette says it is illegal to camp on the Cty of Bangor property.
“We wanted to make sure that we balance the waterfront use of everyday folks down here to walk and have lunch, and again trying to address some of the challenges that our unsheltered population has and maintain the waterfront for everybody to enjoy every day,” Willette said. “So, we wanted to make sure that you got a handle on it early and again engage unsheltered folks to get the resources to find alternatives to camping here on the waterfront.”
Willette says the process went pretty smoothly and they were even able to find new shelter situations for some of them.