Marshfield Mayor Unhappy with Council Decision on Homless Shelter
Thursday, March 29th, 2018 -- 8:01 AM
(WDLB) -Marshfield’s mayor strongly disapproved a decision by the city council at their meeting on Tuesday.The council denied funding to the Personal Development Center as they were seeking assistance in covering the costs associated with the acquisition of the former home of Marshfield's now-defunct transitional homeless shelter. P-D-C was asking the city Council to cover the 80-thousand dollar purchase price for the shelter property, plus 20-thousand dollars a year for operational expenses. At one point in the meeting, Mayor Chris Meyer removed himself as Chair so he could take part in the debate. And while the Mayor agreed that human services are not something the city is statutorily responsible for, while stray animals are, he argued that finding a way to reuse a shelter built with community resources for something as important as domestic abuse seems like the solution to a problem the Council said it was looking for when the homeless facility shut down last December. And the Mayor was visibly upset when the Council denied the funding--and he wasn't shy about letting the aldermen know it.
Executive Director Renee Schulz said funding requests from Wood and Marathon County officials have fallen on deaf ears over the years as well. She has not approached Clark County for funding, even though it's within P-D-C's service territory. Schulz said P-D-C is closing on the shelter property today nd with P-D-C's current location already leased to its next tenant, Schulz said they have to move into the homeless shelter property by May first. And she said a community funding campaign has already begun, to assist the agency with getting the new location ready with modifications for increased security. She said a federal grant of 175-thousand dollars will cover those renovations. But she said her organization will need another 150-thousand dollars a year in operational expenses, mainly for around-the-clock staff members.
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