(Update: Added video, comments from ODOT stakeholders and neighbors)
BEND, Oregon (KTVZ) — Homeless camps that violate public rights have become a high-profile and source of concern around central Oregon’s cities. ODOT has contracts to clean the camps and remove them from right-of-way every few months, at a cost he spends an estimated $10,000 a day in taxpayer dollars.
This cost includes equipment, ODOT staff and hazardous waste team. An excavator is used if the camp has large loads.
NewsChannel 21 reached out to the hazardous waste company, which declined to comment.
In many camps, when people return to the place, ODOT goes back to cleaning and scavenging multiple times each time they respawn, citing safety and health concerns.
Removed personal items will be kept on the premises for 30 days before being picked up by the owner. However, many of these items are never picked up and are expensive to dispose of.
ODOT Region 4 public affairs officer Casey Davey said, “We judge anything we encounter within the right-of-way at camp whether it’s trash or personal property.” “If it’s personal, we’ll take inventory of all items and store them on the premises for 30 days.”
Residents who recently moved across from the camp on Colorado Avenue said they were warned about the camp.
“I was told to make sure I had renter insurance,” he said. “I was told to lock everything up for camping.”
Cleanups are primarily concentrated in five areas off Highway 97. Residents of these camps are required to receive advance notice of cleaning.
