Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/301152
social services. The commission ordered that halted because the city and county's homeless- ness issues consultant told a daily newspaper the city should wait until a shelter was built to take such action. The city asked the con- sultant, Robert Marbut, for clarification, but Barwin said, "He has not responded to our request that the outreach teams continue." City and county staffs continue to meet, coor- dinate and share information, Barwin noted. The following day, the City and County com- missions were scheduled for a joint session to discuss vagrancy, homelessness and a pos- sible site for the shelter (see the related story in this issue). Construction begins at one of the proposed shelter sites on April 28, but not for a cen- ter for the homeless. The property is home to a city utility facility now being prepared for injection of brine from the city's reverse-os- mosis drinking water treatment plant. The effort will require more than 1,000 feet of pipe that was to be stored on-site. The area is one of two under study for a come-as-you-are shelter for the homeless and vagrants. Should the utility site across 12th Street from the sewer treatment plant be chosen for the shelter, all of the construction materials for the injection facility would need to be moved — tons of it. On Monday, the city deferred the decision to lease a new area to "stage" the construction material. But at the end of its joint meeting Tuesday — with still no decision on a site — the City Commission voted 3-2 to spend $1,075 a month to lease property for the pipe and other gear. Vice Mayor Willie Shaw and Commissioner Susan Chapman voted in the minority. Another homeless-driven issue settled Monday will ban people from loitering in roundabouts. The vote was triggered by a man who has been spending his days on the inner curb of the roundabout at Ringling and Pineapple. "The purpose is to promote traffic safety for motorists and pedestrians on the roadways," explained City Attorney Bob Fournier of the action. "I can think of about five other things in this community that are more important than Ian sunning himself in the roundabout," said Snyder of the man at the focus of the initia- tive. "I think it is targeting one person, and I cannot support this." The vote to approve the ban was 4-1, with Snyder in the minority. Then the commission amended three provi- sions of its outdoor-lodging ordinance so the law would be more congruent with the new county ordinance. Until a shelter is built, how- ever, there will be little or no enforcement of the changes, a cautionary action because of a federal court decision in Miami called the Pottinger case. That decision made it clear homeless people cannot be held legally accountable for acts of nature, for example, if a city does not provide facilities for them as alternatives. Those changes to the ordinance were approved unanimously. % SarasotaNewsLeader.com Sarasota News Leader April 25, 2014 Page 64