Riverfront clean-up partly addressing Pekin's homeless encampment issues

Mike Kramer, Pekin Daily Times
·3 min read
Plans are in the works to clean up a five-block area of the Pekin riverfront from St. Mary Street in the north to Fayette Street in the south.
Plans are in the works to clean up a five-block area of the Pekin riverfront from St. Mary Street in the north to Fayette Street in the south.

An ongoing removal of debris, trash and trees between Fayette Street and St. Mary Street has also had an impact on homeless encampments along Pekin’s riverfront.

When the clean-up project commenced last month, people camped there voluntarily moved on.

“City staff also posted signs and spoke with these individuals so they were aware of the pending construction project,” Justin Reeise, Pekin’s public works director, said.

The Pekin City Council approved up to $150,000 in spending authority at the June 13 meeting to clear approximately four acres of city-owned property in preparation for a Combined Sewer Overflow project along the riverfront. The city contracted David Burling Excavating to clean up trash and debris, and Homer Tree Service was contracted to remove tree cover.

“We need to clear the area of debris and overgrowth so we can evaluate the removal of the existing concrete foundations and determine the final alignment of the CSO interceptor pipe,” Reeise said. “This is necessary to finalize the construction permit with the railroad, so the CSO project can be completed.”

The removal of homeless encampments on a section of the riverfront appears to be a by-product of the CSO project. But it seems to be a welcome consequence for Pekin residents like Mark McMahon.

The chief executive officer of The T-Shirt House on South Second Street, McMahon was one of several residents who came forward to express concerns about transients on the riverfront.

“I think the whole riverfront needs cleaned up,” he said. “But this is a step in the right direction.”

The handle of a discarded shovel sticks out of the mud on the riverfront along South Front Street in Pekin.
The handle of a discarded shovel sticks out of the mud on the riverfront along South Front Street in Pekin.

Roger Brotherton of Pekin also expressed concerns to the council that garbage, tents, fires and vagrants on the riverfront create serious health, safety and environmental hazards. The problem, he added, has been going on for between a year-and-a-half and two years.

“I had to explain (the homeless situation) to some people… who were here from Springfield, Decatur and Champaign,” Brotherton said. “They actually came (into Pekin) the wrong way and said ‘What’s going on here?’ That’s a hard question to answer when you’re supposed to be proud of your city.”

Pekin Mayor Mark Luft pointed out that federal law places restrictions on a community’s ability to displace vagrants.

Last year, in the case of Jones v. City of Los Angeles, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cities from punishing individuals from sitting, lying, or sleeping in public spaces when it is an unavoidable consequence of homelessness. He added that endeavors like the CSO project will at least help address the problem of homelessness on the riverfront.

“All of those trees (in the project area) are going to be gone.” Luft said. “There’s not going to be any place to camp, or to set up camp, or to camouflage that (homeless people) are there.  So, there are things moving forward.”

The homeless service center Pekin Outreach Initiative (POI) offers vagrants a facility where they can shower, wash their clothes, have a meal or get cold or hot water. Since the clean-up project began, POI board member Brett Bode has noticed neither an increase nor a decrease in clients coming to the facility for services.

A plastic water bottle rests in the mud on the riverfront along South Front Street in Pekin.
A plastic water bottle rests in the mud on the riverfront along South Front Street in Pekin.

“It's a very transient clientele,” Bode said. “There are new people coming and old people leaving. They’re coming and going all the time. We have some that have been with us since we opened last year.”

Bode believes that the transients who had been camping in the project area have merely moved on to other locations. While he is part of an organization that provides services to homeless people, he is also mindful of nearby residents’ concerns.

“The (City of Pekin) hears complaints by neighbors all the time of unsightly messes,” he said. “From what I understand, that (section of the riverfront) was becoming very unsightly. I think if you have a responsible government, they're going to respond to their citizens.”

This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Pekin riverfront clean-up partly addressing vagrancy issues