City to hold meeting on Bishop Dudley fence after public outcry
Mayor, police department proposed $70,000 barriers to prevent nuisance and emergency calls in area
The City of Sioux Falls will host a public informational meeting Monday night on a proposed fence at the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House following an outcry from residents who oppose the construction.
The meeting will be held from 6-7 p.m. at the downtown library and will feature city leaders from the Planning and Development Services and the Sioux Falls Police Department as well as homelessness services coordinator Michelle Treasure, according to a city news release.
City councilors Rich Merkouris and Richard Thomason both said the city should take its time and listen to constituents’ concerns during a City Council meeting Tuesday. Several citizens spoke in opposition to the plan, and councilors say they are being inundated with emails.
The mayor’s office proposed a $70,000 fence at the corner of Eighth Street and Indiana Avenue next to the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House with the goal of cutting back on nuisance and emergency services calls to the area each year. Mayor Paul TenHaken, the Sioux Falls Police Department and the Catholic Diocese, which operates the Hospitality House and owns the lot, want the fence to prevent homeless and loiterers congregating in the area.
Opponents say the fence is a “symbol of oppression” which gentrifies the eastern edge of downtown.
Monday’s informational meeting will cover the lease agreement between the City of Sioux Falls and the Catholic Diocese and the lot’s necessary enclosure, according to a city news release. The public will have an opportunity to ask questions following the presentation.
If I read the previous story on this topic correctly, the city wants to deal with the homeless who occupy the subject lot (for want of somewhere else to be) by fencing them out because the city wants to keep them off the lot inferring they are a public nuisance when they are on the lot. The neighbors are opposed to the fence because it will force the homeless off the lot and out into the neighborhood where they would be... you guessed it....a nuisance. I wonder what Bishop Dudley would say to both the city and the neighbors about what to do for and how to treat the homeless if he could appear at the scheduled meeting.
A fence is a joke!!! They need to work with these people to get jobs and become self supportive! Now they roam around all day loitering and stealing from businesses in the area and also driving prospective customers away from the neighboring businesses! That is ridiculous!