The Elgin City Council has authorized spending up to $425,000 to house homeless people in hotel rooms through spring, and expects to pay anywhere from $2.2 million to $2.5 million to tear down the tent city where they had been living.
After two fires in two weeks this month damaged portions of the 8-acre encampment along the Fox River and Route 31, village officials said it was too dangerous to allow it to continue.
The Elgin City Council Wednesday signed off on a plan to secure 50 rooms at a Dundee Avenue hotel for four months while the city works on finding permanent housing for those living in the makeshift homes. Elgin police will notify residents there in early January that they will have to find a new place to live if they don’t accept the city’s hotel offer, officials said.
Once the area’s population is cleared, the city plans to hire a company remove the encampment at a cost that could be as much as $2.5 million, City Manager Rick Kozal said.
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“I want to emphasize that this is an evolving plan,” Kozal said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the ability to initiate action without absolute certainty in these circumstances.”
The only certainty is that tent city won’t return.
“It’s the understanding of the city that someone setting up a tent in a public area is not something that’s going to be tolerated going forward given the investment and resources the city is taking in this instance,” Kozal said.
Police Chief Ana Lalley said police will do an assessment to find out who lives there and informing them of the relocation plan.
“I want to stress that the department’s philosophy of a respectful, humane and thoughtful approach will be ever present toward the assessment,” Lalley said. “It’s what the department does and will continue to do.”
However, anyone who remains at the site after the move will be considered to be trespassing, “and appropriate measures will be taken at that time,” she said.
Police officers have established relationships with the residents in the camp, and Lalley said she hopes that will help in the process. Police social service providers and community social service workers will accompancy the officers, she said.
Council members voiced support for the plan and unanimously approved the motel agreement.
“I agree with the zero tolerance,” Councilman Anthony Ortiz said. It’s being done to keep people safe, and it’s also important that the homeless know there are resources out there “and we are willing to help them,” he said.
“I think this is a big, bold undertaking,” Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger said. “I’m proud Elgin is working toward a solution.”
One speaker, however, voiced concerns about moving tent city residents to the motel, which is located across the street from a school. Trout Park and another school are located less than a mile away, Randy Sloat said.
“It means just within this small vicinity there are over 1,000 elementary schoolchildren,” Sloat said. “Tent city has had many issues with violence, drugs, alcohol and fires. I fear that relocation will move these problems to the front yards of two elementary schools.”
Tent city has had an increasing number of service calls in the last year, Lalley said. Between 2022 and 2023, the number of calls nearly doubled from 22 to 42. To date this year, they’ve responded to 83 service calls, she said, with the top reasons being related to battery incidents, fire department assistance, welfare checks and residents causing trouble.
Another speaker at Wednesday’s meeting was a tent city resident named Ruby.
“I kind of want to know what’s going to happen in the next few weeks. Where are we going to go? How long is it going to go? What services are going to be provided?” Ruby said. “I don’t have a clue what’s going on. I want to know what is the process of doing all this, kicking people out. Who do I need to talk to regarding all of this?”
Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain assured her the city is working out the details and will be speaking with them directly.
The task of moving people involves figuring out who lives there, helping them gather their belongings, providing transportation to the hotel and figuring out how to help them get meals, officials said.
“We need to determine the needs of the people who are staying there,” Assistant City Manager Karina Nava said.
Social service agencies and organizations like Elgin Cooperative Ministry have expressed their support for the city initiative and have offered to help the city, she said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.