East Wenatchee Paying Douglas County to Clear Homeless Camps

East Wenatchee will use taxpayer dollars to clean up homeless camps throughout the city.

The city council Tuesday approved the mayor to sign a new agreement with Douglas County to have its Solid Waste crews clean up the camps and dispose of the garbage.

Community Development Director Lori Barnett said that back in 2020 a grant awarded to Douglas County led to the removal of 73 active camps and 27 inactive camps.

"They spend over $45,000 cleaning up those homeless encampments." explained Barnett, "It was a lot of material that they took out."

Now the city will pay the county a one-time expense of $20,000 to remove an estimated 40 to 50 more camps, with a focus on the shoreline and Loop Trail.

Crews will be required to give camp inhabitants prior notice before clearing a camp.