Former Councilor Sprague told Bangor City Council members at a Jan. 6 workshop that his short briefing paper — prepared as he left office — was intended as a discussion prompt rather than a finalized plan, and urged the city to develop coordinated, multiagency strategies for homelessness.

"Tents or encampments along the waterfront or in any small tent cities are inhumane, unsightly, unhealthy, and unsafe for the homeless and others in the community," Sprague said, describing visible encampments as the "tip of the iceberg" and urging the council to adopt common definitions to match services to needs. He told the council his briefing estimated about 11 encampments and "over 200 individuals" at the time the paper was written and said the city was spending large sums without a unified plan; he cited a study he attributed to Courtney that put the city's annual investment at about $10,000,000 (figures were presented in Sprague's memo and described to the council as estimates).

Staff summarized a one-page memo on city ordinances that generally prohibit camping on city-owned property, and noted that sanctioning a legal encampment would require the council to reconcile that approach with existing code and building-code sanitation requirements. "Camping is generally not going to be permissible on city-owned property absent some really specific exceptions," staff said in the memo overview.

Councilors discussed models used elsewhere for sanctioned encampments, many of which rely on third-party nonprofits to operate and provide services. One councilor cited a video of a university-linked model (referred to in discussion as the Colorado Village collaborative) and staff noted examples such as Preble Street as a third-party provider model; participants cautioned that small cities sometimes lack a sufficiently experienced nonprofit partner and that some partnerships elsewhere had failed when local capacity was overwhelmed.

A sequence of councilors debated whether to charter a short-term advisory group to draft a strategic plan or to establish a permanent standing committee to sustain momentum and oversight. Councilor Beck advocated for a permanent body, saying a standing committee would "constantly be pushing that boulder up the hill" and produce ongoing data and recommendations. Jen, a staff member leading the planning effort, said the initial task could be framed as a strategic-plan development charge with a suggested 6–9 month phase for the first deliverable and clarified that the advisory group recommended in the memo would not itself be a service hub but could recommend a hub model as part of the strategic plan.

Councilors also raised questions about a nonprofit "hub" (Heart of Maine/Hub 7) that earlier received municipal ARPA-related interest funds. One councilor said about $400,000 had been provided and questioned whether the city had received the expected benefit; staff recommended legal review of the contract and said if there are concerns about breach of contract that would be appropriate for executive session.

Staff announced that the city has offered the homeless coordinator/housing stabilization position to Bruce Hughes and described him as someone who has helped keep dozens of people housed in the past year.

After discussion, Councilor Beck moved that the committee established to develop the strategic plan be created without an expiration date (a permanent standing committee); the motion was seconded and council members requested staff prepare a council order that spells out the committee's charge, membership categories, and term structure. The council agreed to place the draft council order on the agenda for the next council meeting for formal consideration.

The workshop did not include public comment; staff said further information on the existing service network and a summary of prior nonprofit convenings will be presented at the council's next scheduled meeting to inform the committee's work.