STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — The City of Stevens Point has rolled out storage lockers for homeless individuals.
Mayor Mike Wiza says he doesn’t see the service as incentivizing homelessness. Instead, he looks at it as a small solution to a much bigger problem. “The problem [was] people sitting on Main Street had their personal belongings with them, and it looked lousy. If you’re driving by or walking by, you would see people sitting on benches, which in itself isn’t a problem, but the fact that they had everything they owned scattered around them in a pile is a problem.
“Giving them a safe place to put their personal belongings, I think, will go at least a little way to solving that visibility problem,” added Wiza.
Wiza says the idea came from downtown business owners, who had asked if something could be done to clean up that clutter. He says they researched several ideas before settling on the lockers. Local businesses and private donors fundraised the $8,000 for the lockers, which were installed and opened last week.
Those using the lockers sign an agreement with the city before they are issued a unit and a lock. Wiza says violation of that agreement will have consequences up to and including possible legal action.
“If you violate that agreement, that trust, we will take the appropriate action. That may be losing your locker privileges or worse. If it’s something illegal, you are subject to fines or jail time, whatever that particular crime [may be],” said Wiza.
Other topics Wiza covered with WSAU’s Mike Leischner:
Start of video- Community live music and arts events
6:30- Storage lockers for the homeless
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