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Editor's Note: The following is the first in a series of articles investigating the homelessness issue in Randolph County.
ELKINS -- "We do have a homeless population here, that's a given," Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco said about a local issue that has long been kept mostly out of the public's eye - homelessness.
Now, as the City of Morgantown's recently passed camping ban, along with other similar ordinances, are making headlines across the state, The Inter-Mountain is putting the spotlight on the local homelessness problem in Randolph County.
"I think you are seeing more and more of homelessness in the area every day," Randolph County Commissioner David Kesling told The Inter-Mountain. "I see it around some of the businesses on the Beverly Five-Lane and other places around town. I know there have been people staying overnight behind several businesses and stores. You see them sleeping under truck trailers and things like that."
"If people would look and truly open their eyes, they would see it," Kesling said. "I see it all over the county. You see people sleeping at different locations and in front of businesses with signs saying they are homeless and need help. There is a problem and it seems to be getting worse all the time."
Marco agreed homelessness is an issue in Elkins and Randolph County, but added, "I don't think our numbers are as prevalent as it is in other areas of the state, and the other counties that are close to us.
"We definitely see it, but we can't get an exact read on how many people are legitimately homeless," Marco told The Inter-Mountain. "There is a calculation the state has come up with to determine who is actually homeless and who is not, so it's hard for us to get an exact grasp on the number of people we have here that are homeless.
"We do see some folks who appear to be homeless, but I've been told that some of them are not and they just wander around in the streets throughout the day and have a place to go to at night. I know the (Randolph County) Homeless Shelter is typically at capacity and they do a good job, so the homeless definitely have an impact on us."
On Sept. 3, Morgantown City Council narrowly approved a new urban camping ban in the city by a 4 to 3 vote. The ordinance will only allow camping in designated areas that have access to water, sewer and garbage collection, and is expected to be used in helping the city deal with homelessness issues.
In January, Wheeling City Council passed an ordinance that banned homeless encampments. The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia filed a lawsuit against the City of Wheeling over the ordinance in January, and then dropped it after reaching an agreement with the city over the enforcement of the public camping ban.
Asked if Elkins officials had ever considered creating a similar ordinance to deal with homelessness, Marco said, "The city actually has a 'no camping' ordinance. It covers camping inside city limits, so that would fall under that category."
In February 2018, Elkins City Council approved an ordinance outlawing "unauthorized camping" and making it illegal on both public and private property within city limits.
The ordinance was approved just as an influx of workers for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline was expected to descend on Randolph County.
Then-Elkins mayor Van Broughton wrote in a 2018 letter to the editor printed in The Inter-Mountain that as many as 1,200 workers were projected to be moving to Randolph County, and city officials felt "a need to take steps to prevent camper or tent cities from popping up around town."
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced on July 5, 2020 that they were scrapping plans for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
The Elkins camping ban ordinance outlaws camping on public or private property within city limits for more than 14 days. Continued non-compliance would constitute an additional offense for each successive 48-hour period. Upon conviction of the second and each successive offense, the offender would be fined no less than $100 or more than $500 for each offense, with the cost of removing and disposing of items charged to the offender.
The Inter-Mountain asked Marco this week if the "no camping" ordinance had ever been used to deal with homelessness issues.
"Not that I'm aware of, nothing has been brought to my attention," he said. "Most of the people are pretty respectful when we have a homelessness situation, and we try to find people who can help them.
"(Elkins Police Chief) Travis Bennett had the foresight to have all of his officers go through the de-escalation training, to make sure they know how to deal with people. So I give him all the credit for that. It makes the officers more empathetic. It's been tremendous. We are very proud of how the officers handle those situations.
"We have a good network in place now to try to get the services to those individuals who are struggling."
Both Kesling and Marco agree that funding has been a major drawback to alleviating homelessness locally.
"We have to admit there is a problem, and as a county and as a city, work together to try and find solutions," Kesling said.
"(The county) received close to $500,000 from the state as part of the opioid settlement and we are looking at several different things that we can fund. So we are thinking that maybe we can use some of that money to help with the homelessness issues, because a lot of times being homeless is tied to drug problems."
"To be honest, everything comes down to funding," Marco said. "Funding is the biggest challenge that we have and until the federal and state governments step up and say, 'Here are some programs to help you address this issue,' it's going to continue to be a problem.
"And there's definitely a housing issue, and quite frankly contractors are a challenge right now. They are spread so thin due to us having a lot of people that are demanding new buildings and stuff like that, which is a good thing because we have new infrastructure coming in, along with businesses, and residential developments. But there needs to be a target area for some of these homeless folks, and we need programs that will not only help them find a place to live, but will teach them skill sets so they will have something that will help them be able to sustain the residence.
"It's more than just having a place to live, they need help being able to find a job so they can sustain a home and transportation back and forth to work," Marco said. "We need things in place that will help them learn to open a checking account, pay their bills, and things of that nature. There are a lot of factors in play and fortunately we have a lot of groups in the city who are willing to help.
"One of the challenges we have is that we have a lot of church groups and others in the area who are wanting to help folks, but they're having trouble trying to find the best way to do that. For me, the question is how do we get to the root of the problem and help individuals get in touch with folks who can possibly find them a place to live."
In upcoming articles, this series will look into the local roots of homelessness, the effect it has on the community, how law enforcement has dealt with it, and what programs are in place to help homeless individuals and families.
– Editor Brad Johnson and Staff Writers Edgar Kelley and Taylor McKinnie contributed to this article.