Megan Goguen is looking for answers to who is responsible for cleaning up an encampment site she says lies on part of her property in Saint John, N.B. In a lengthy Facebook post Sunday, Goguen detailed the scene behind her home and questioned who is responsible for cleaning up the area that is littered with garbage, clothes, and a variety of other items. She said she first noticed the area last week after a neighbour had noticed someone walking through the woods on their camera. She calls the grounds a “fire hazard waiting to happen.” She says in her 35 years living in the area, she has never seen anything like it. “I actually lose sleep because I’m terrified because my house is going to catch on fire,” Goguen told CTV Atlantic. “Or somebody’s going to break in, or my kids are going to be out and get hurt. It’s really scary actually.” The site of the encampment falls partially on residents’ private property and also on city property though Rockwood Park, according to Goguen. As someone who has experience with homelessness through friends and families, she said she wouldn’t have an issue with someone camping behind her home if it was clean and tidy, but the mess has run its course. She says she has reached out to the City of Saint John, and Fresh Start Services for direction on getting the encampment cleaned up. She says she has not heard back from the city, while Fresh Start has visited the site a few times, but the interactions haven’t been pleasant. “I need them to go sadly, or clean up the mess,” she says of the encampment. “I don’t know, I need answers, like what’s going to happen?” Goguen has done a rough pricing of what it would cost to clean up the encampment if the bill falls to her, which she says will be upwards of $50,000 due to the hard-to-reach location and the biohazards typically found in some encampment sites like needles. Fresh Start executive director Melanie Vautour says they have been to the site multiple times before, and since the Facebook post was made. She says she understands the frustration expressed by residents when it comes to learning what to do next when it comes to getting an encampment removed. She says this time of year they get many calls about possible encampments, which often turns out to be teens or tourists setting up an area for a break or brief hangout. In terms of cleaning up the encampment, she says it usually involves multiple site visits first to properly determine what is needed for a proper cleanup. “That site is now abandoned, it’s actually been abandoned for a long time,” says Vautour. “We can’t say for certain if it’s actually a site or if it started as maybe a bit of garbage dumping that ended up spreading out.” “Now it’s working with the city on what are the next steps and what is the plan.” The City of Saint John did not acknowledge CTV’s request for an interview but in a lengthy statement as a general rule they do not clean encampments on private properties. But according to them, this isn’t one of those cases. “With respect to the location that prompted this inquiry, staff have confirmed that the encampment and associated debris are located on City-owned property, rather than the resident’s private property,” the statement reads. “The city will therefore be responsible for cleaning the affected area, and staff are taking steps to have the site addressed.” The city did not provide a timeline on when the site will be cleaned. Derrick May’s elderly parents property backs onto the encampment site, which he says does fall on part of residents private properties. He says despite there being less visible encampments uptown thanks to the city’s Housing for all Strategy, the issue isn’t getting any better. “Over the last couple of years in this particular area, we’ve seen things like guns brought to neighbour’s house,” says May. “We saw an 83-year-old lady get pepper sprayed, we saw another neighbour with a bow and arrow stuck in the side of their house. So yeah, (my parents) are concerned.” “The real question is these places that we establish for people that are experiencing homelessness, why do they have a 25 per cent vacancy rate right now,” he claims. “We’re funneling money to agencies that aren’t doing their job. We need to support agencies that are actually helping people move beyond just homelessness, but have wraparound services for mental health and drug addiction.” For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
