County Officials Begin To Clear Homeless Camps

Bucks County officials took to the government complex near Five Points in Bristol Township to clean up camps set up by homeless residents.

In the woods behind Bucks County Technical High School and the across from the Bucks County Homeless Shelter, a backhoe and county workers made their way into the woods to clean up abandoned camps located there. While armed Bucks County Rangers and Bucks County Emergency Services Security Department looked on, clothes, tents and makeshift fire pits that were strewn throughout the wooded area were cleared out.

County Public Information Director Chris Edwards said rangers were not actively removing homeless residents but would be working to reduce the population at the county center, including the Vietnam War Memorial by the Levittown Library.

Signs went up earlier this month near the memorial and throughout the complex alerting homeless people that their belongings must be removed from the property. In recent months, several bins and shopping carts began building up near the memorial. The signs stated that items must be removed from the property by Friday morning.

A group of area Vietnam and Korean War veterans worked Friday morning to come to a resolution with a handful of homeless people who live at the Levittown Vietnam War Memorial at the county complex.

The problems with homeless people sleeping on the benches at the memorial overnight have raised complaints from neighbors and veterans. Edwards confirmed the county has received complaints.

Some of the veterans said their peers have approached them and voiced worry about the homeless people living at the camp. One veteran said it wasn’t uncommon to see tents go up at night.

“It hurts our feelings when we see this,” said Dan Fraley, Bucks County’s director of military affairs and also a veteran himself.

Joyce Bloom, a woman without a permanent residence who has stayed at the memorial, said there have been some transients who have come into the memorial at night and have caused problems. She said the local homeless population has worked to police themselves and  force those who break the law to leave.

Bloom said the few people who come to the memorial and cause problems aren’t usually homeless but they are residents of nearby recovery homes who are required to leave their homes during work hours.

While there haven’t been any major problems reported at the memorial, Edwards said the county wanted to clear the area out of concerns with public safety.

“I understand what their (the county) concerns are, but I really don’t think their dealing with it the right way,” said Morris Derry, a Langhorne native who has founded the nonprofit No More Pain Inc. “I called the phone number on the signs and there is no more room in the shelters.”

After about 30 minutes, veterans, the homeless residents and volunteers were able to find common ground and talk about solutions.

Veterans Eddie Speller suggested working to find a building to help house those without permanent homes.

Morris said he wanted to work to resolve the issues.

Many of the homeless people take care of the grounds and even work to help pay their expenses, volunteer Cynthia Bridge said.

After a discussion at the memorial, both the veterans and homeless residents went into the county building and worked to a resolution.

One of the problems boils down to lack of room in area homeless shelters and limited resources.

Rangers have worked with homeless people and volunteers over the years to try to reduce the homeless population at the property. However, Friday’s effort marks the first major play in recent years to clean empty camps from the woods that border Levittown and Fairless Hills.

LevittownNow.com observed one camp that had trash and old clothes strewn around the woods. It appeared the camp had been untouched for several months.

Edwards said the county would continue to work with the homeless population at the property going forward.