City promotes preventative measures in wake of homeless camp increase

Over the past four years, the City of Morganton and property owners within the city limits have spent approximately $138,000 in homeless camp cleanup costs.

One of these camps was located underneath the bridge on Fleming Drive. In October, public safety officers found the camp and alerted the city’s code enforcement officer. After further investigation, it was determined that the property belonged to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The cleanup process was delayed until bridge repairs could be made. The bridge was cleaned and cleared in early March by NCDOT.

In the cleanup process, there were 1,351 needles found on site. Twenty-six of those needles were full. Various baggies were found with drugs inside. All of these items were turned over to public safety officers on site. Other items found included, but were not limited to clothing, mattresses, food and fecal matter, which is typical of most encountered encampments.

Unfortunately this is a problem that has increased since 2018. The number of abatement cases has doubled in the past year and if trends prove to be right that number will continue to increase. In 2018, a total of $3,100 was spent on abatement costs. In 2022, that amount increased to $107,300.

The City has stepped up its efforts to prevent this increase by:

• Visiting and providing educational outreach information to neighborhood associations, local businesses, faith communities and landowners. We have provided ban signs and ban letters. The city has reminded and helped businesses and property owners to secure their vacant buildings and/or lots.
• Increasing police and code enforcement patrols and issuing trespassing charges.
• Continuing abatements processes and homeless camp cleanups

City officials want to urge the public not to investigate remnants of what is left behind from homeless camps. We appreciate the want to cleanup parts of town, but exposure to dangerous and life threatening substances is possible. Please report these issues to the non-emergency Morganton Public Safety Department phone number 828-437-1911 or to Tom Warburton, the city’s code enforcement officer, at 828-438-5269.

The City of Morganton is aware that the owners of the Walmart at the Morganton Heights shopping center spent a large amount of money cleaning up a separate homeless camp near their property.

City Manager Sally Sandy, said, “While this issue is not something new we have encountered, it is still a matter that we take very seriously. As a city, we are striving to be a part of the solution.”

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