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Council hears concerns about Sam’s/Friendship House services, SWAT at school and landfill expansion; committee follow-up requested
Summary
Speakers and council members raised concerns about treatment of people experiencing homelessness, use of SWAT at a Wilmington elementary school, performance of county-funded intervention teams, and Waste Management’s proposed landfill-height increase; council members requested committee follow-up and information from staff.
Speakers and council members raised multiple public-safety and community-service concerns during the meeting, including the county’s support for the Friendship House, the appearance of a SWAT team at an elementary school, the role and effectiveness of county intervention teams, and a landfill height proposal by Waste Management.
Dora Williams, a county resident, described services by Sam’s (a merged church site) and the Friendship House and asked the council to consider "housing first" and low-barrier access. She noted that the council previously provided funding to the Friendship House; Councilman Street reiterated the council had appropriated just over $9,000 recently to the Friendship House and emphasized the county does not operate the program.
Councilman Jay Street raised a public-safety concern after a recent incident in which Wilmington police placed a SWAT team in front of an elementary school. "We had a SWAT team in front of 700 children who were who didn't do anything but go to school that day," Street said, and he asked what the county’s intervention teams did in response. Street pressed for accountability and said he was considering whether continued funding for intervention teams is justified if they do not intervene in events such as the school incident.
Street also raised questions about Waste Management’s proposal to extend landfill height, saying Waste Management sought an "additional 60 feet" and that he wanted clarity on current height and timing of closure; he called the proposed elevation—in his words—unacceptable and urged staff to provide answers.
Council leadership responded that they would gather answers: the council president offered to add an intervention-team update to a future public safety committee meeting and staff said they would provide follow-up on landfill height and closure timing. The meeting record shows council members asking staff to prepare responses and to schedule an update on the intervention teams and their activities.
