Regional Housing Council approves $5.5 million plan to preserve right-of-way and encampment beds, leaving gaps for some programs
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Summary
The Regional Housing Council approved a staff plan to allocate roughly $5.5 million in Encampment Resolution Program funds to preserve operations at state-funded sites and to backfill critical shelter and tiny-home programs while acknowledging remaining funding gaps.
The Regional Housing Council approved staff recommendations for allocating roughly $5.5 million in Encampment Resolution Program (ERP, sometimes referred to in discussion as right-of-way or ROW) funding received by Thurston County and the City of Olympia.
Tom (county staff) said the combined available funding beginning July 1 was about $5,500,000. He said the Department of Commerce prioritized preserving operations at three projects where the state invested capital: Sandy’s Flats, Maple Court (a motel-acquisition project currently operated by Lehigh), and the Franz Andersen Tiny Home Village. Olympia staff emphasized that a $500,000 allocation for Quint Street Village was critical to preserve operations for that 100-unit tiny-home village, including the 30 ROW-designated beds.
Tom also described staff attempts to address a shortfall elsewhere: Unity Commons had requested about $2.7 million and the county planned to fund it from its regular homeless services pot at roughly $1.9 million, leaving a one-year gap of about $500,000. Staff proposed using the ERP allocation to provide partial support to Unity Commons but noted the total funds available would not cover every request. The recommended allocation included modest inflationary increases for projects that had state capital investment.
Council members extensively discussed Maple Court operations: Carolyn Cox (City of Lacey) raised safety and supervision concerns at Maple Court and asked whether additional funding or oversight could improve outcomes; Tom and other staff said Lehigh owns the building and state funding originally went to Lehigh to acquire it, which limits direct county control. Casper, who previously worked at Maple Court, urged that the facility be reset as an emergency shelter in the short term and discussed operational concerns he observed while working there.
After discussion, a motion to approve the staff-recommended ERP allocation passed by voice vote. Staff said the RHC’s approval would be forwarded to Olympia City Council and the Board of County Commissioners for final contracting and that staff will seek contracts from the state to implement allocations by July 1.
Council members asked staff to continue oversight, monitor provider spending, and consider further conversations about improving shelter operations at Maple Court and outreach strategies across the county.