Officials discuss interim steps for downtown encampment near Martin Luther King monument

City officials and residents at the Public Safety and Public Works Committee meeting discussed a growing encampment near the Martin Luther King monument and City Center Park and explored short‑term measures to reduce public‑health and downtown impacts.

City Manager (name not specified in transcript) opened the discussion, saying, "We've been watching and trying to figure something out for some time," and described complaints about people urinating on the ground, trash, and confrontations with customers leaving downtown businesses. The manager proposed using the city‑owned area in front of the former Florin Funeral Home — a paved driveway/parking area adjacent to a condemned building — as an interim site for picnic tables, a canopy and porta‑potties, and suggested asking churches that feed people to relocate their efforts there. The manager said the measures would be an interim, lower‑cost response while the city seeks longer‑term solutions.

Mayor Pro Tem Dwayne Seats, who identified himself and said he is a Benton Harbor resident and real‑estate professional, described repeated complaints he receives about illegal dumping and the park encampment. Seats warned that "you cannot force people to go where they don't want to go," emphasizing limits to what officials can do when individuals decline shelter. Multiple public speakers and commissioners described a mix of people at the site — some local residents and some visitors dropped off from other jurisdictions — and raised concerns about public safety, sanitation and impacts on downtown businesses and the MLK monument.

Speakers suggested several interim or complementary responses: more frequent cleanups, sealed and secured abandoned buildings to prevent occupancy, placement of picnic tables and canopies on city property, portable toilets with regular servicing, relocation of feeding programs to a centralized spot, and outreach to churches, Connexus (a local nonprofit mentioned by speakers), and other community partners to offer indoor spaces or services. One speaker noted a nearby property at 1041 Broadway that had been rehabbed as a small supportive‑housing or service site for men; another speaker cautioned that other vacant city properties (for example, 200 Paw Paw) are unsafe because of mold or structural damage and therefore unsuitable for temporary housing.

Several commissioners pressed that City Center Park and the MLK monument are not appropriate long‑term locations for an encampment and said the city must coordinate with county and regional partners because the issue extends beyond Benton Harbor’s four square miles. No formal motions or votes to adopt a specific interim site or policy were taken; the committee chair urged that the issue be kept moving through committees and that staff continue to seek partners and report back quickly before colder weather arrives.

Public commenters and officials also raised operational concerns: sealing condemned buildings so people cannot enter, clarifying which agencies respond when people are released from custody, and whether charges or permits are required to convert private or commercial buildings to shelters or service sites. Several speakers volunteered to provide blankets, funds for picnic tables or other immediate assistance.