The extent of homelessness in the North Beach area was documented Monday night in a report to the Ocean Shores City Council by North Beach School Board president Doreen Cato, marking the first time such information has been gathered and made public.

The council, however, voted 5-2 not to allow Cato to show a video and photo presentation of a homeless camp in the dune brush in Ocean Shores. Council members Susan Conniry and Holly Plackett were the two members who wanted the video shown, but the others voted against it.

“I looked at and viewed it and I thought it was tastefully done,” Cato said. “I recognize your vote, and I’m not contesting it right now. But I do want to say this (about the video). It’s something that will show what is happening.”

Despite not showing the video, Cato, who has been the chair and driving force behind the board’s joint city-school district Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness and Hunger, presented a report that found a significant number of people and children who could be classified as homeless using several different sources. For example, a total of 72 people are considered to be homeless without housing, including 44 in Ocean Shores, using state social services data.

“When they start coming, they are not going to pass Ocean Shores up … they are coming here,” said Cato, a six-year resident of the city.

Cato has been working on the issue of homelessness for 35 years as a two-time governor’s appointee to the state Council on Homelessness. She also is the former director of the First Place program in Seattle’s Central Area that worked with low-income and homeless families.

Using current state Department of Social and Health Services information listing clients by zip code, the report also found 129 homeless people in the North Beach who were technically homeless with housing, for a total of 201 people considered to be homeless, with 110 in Ocean Shores.

People who are homeless with housing “includes clients commonly referred to as ‘couch surfing,’ which means they do not have a fixed, regular nighttime resident, but they do have a place to stay at the time of the report.” There were 66 people who fit that classification in Ocean Shores, the report said.

In other areas, DSHS statistics show a total of 22 homeless clients from Taholah, 18 from Copalis Beach, 17 from Pacific Beach, 14 from Moclips, 10 from both Copalis Crossing and Humptulips.

The issue is further compounded when looking at school district data, which shows 45 students categorized as homeless, with 24 at Ocean Shores Elementary, representing 10.3 percent of the student population. Overall, 6.7 percent of the North Beach student population is considered to be homeless.

Students are considered homeless if they lack a “fixed regular and adequate nighttime residence.”

One part of the report looks at the lack of low-income affordable housing. According to the report, rental property managers “who manage units in Ocean Shores indicate they have not had a vacancy in over four years.”

The report also uses 2017 data supplied by Sea Mar Medical clinic that showed it had 18 homeless patients 17 years of age or younger, while it had 141 homeless patients 18 years of age and older.

Cato said it took some time to get the information because it was not available at the Grays Harbor Housing Coalition, which she is a member.

“Now they are starting to look at it because it was brought to their attention,” Cato said. The information, including the video, is being shared with the county coalition, she added.

Cato noted that several homeless camps have been encountered in the dunes of Ocean Shores, something not seen when the committee began. She asked: “How many more do we need before we see we are having a situation?”

Cato also encouraged the City Council members to be involved. “How can we help them because they are not going to go away?” Cato said.

In June, the committee plans to come to the city with solutions and recommendations for an action plan.

“One of the recommendations is how can we work together. Because it’s about protecting our families and protecting our kids,” Cato said.

Also, the committee has drafted a resource guide for the North Beach area.

“We started looking at what do we have in this area to help these individuals,” Cato said of the resource guide, which includes information such as meal and food providers, shelters and housing, health care and basic needs providers.

“We need to stay ahead of it, not behind it,” Cato said of the homeless issue.

City surplus discussion

The Ocean Shores City Council on Monday again took up how to spend or use a surplus of revenue saved from closing the books on 2017.

It also moved unanimously to fund and hire a human relations specialist —estimated to cost about $65,000 a year — since City Clerk Rachel Carl, who previously handled those duties for the city, recently left her job and moved.

In wrapping up the December 2017 financial statements, Finance Director Angela Folkers earlier said revenues came in over budget, and expenses came in under budget, leaving the city with an extra $850,000 it had not previously counted on.

“Our recommendation of course is to pay debt,” Mayor Crystal Dingler said. “We still have a lot of debt.”

Resident Jaki Austin said many of the people she has talked to also favor paying off debt. “That seems to be what the consensus has been,” she said, suggesting any excess not be used to put into the Pt. Brown sidewalks project. Austin also recommended starting a fund for tsunami protection projects.

Resident Richard Wills said he was in favor of using about half of the surplus to pay down debt, and then putting the rest in a contingency fund because “stuff happens.”

Council member Holly Plackett pushed for a study session on the surplus funds, while several others were ready to decide the issue on Monday.

“I do not want this in any way to preclude our study session,” Plackett said of the discussion on Monday. She suggested taking part of the budget surplus to reduce ambulance utility rates for the current year.

“I really feel we need to roll back that rate and ease it into people’s budgets,” Plackett said.

Council member Bob Peterson said he would like to keep within the council’s budget principles, with some of the funds set aside for street and road maintenance, followed by paying down debt left over from interfund loans made in several key funds.

Peterson then moved to put $200,000 into the street reserve fund, and the motion passed with five votes, over the objections of Plackett and Susan Conniry, who added that while she agreed with putting funds into street maintenance, she also wanted to have a council study session.

The council ultimately decided 4-3 to take no further action until after the study session, which will be at 6 p.m. on April 30.

Dunes trail application

The council also unanimously approved a resolution to apply for state grant assistance for the proposed high dunes trail for public use and fire fighting access. The application is to the Recreation Conservation Office Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program trails category. The application is due May 1, said the city’s grant writer Sarah Bisson.

“We have high hopes of going out to get grants to help us with the matching funds” the city would be required to contribute, said Mayor Dingler.