Mayor, council members describe encampment closures and outreach; officials say shelter beds and case management were offered

Council members used the May 20 meeting to press the city’s response to a large homeless encampment and to ask how the city will balance public safety, services and shelter capacity.

Councilwoman Buff said recent social‑media posts about a plan for Vance Park prompted questions about who should provide care for adults in need and whether the city should increase funding for nonprofit projects. “The city budget is about $70 million in the general fund,” she said, and noted about 70% of that budget is personnel costs that provide city services. She asked whether the city could or should provide more support to groups such as Life Path and Friends and Neighbors to accelerate work on local shelter options.

Councilman Supers reported that outreach efforts with Life Path and police resulted in about 13 people being connected to Life Path shelter services and that three people were brought into treatment. He disclosed that his employer is Life Path and said outreach teams had visited encampments and identified issues including open drug use and trash pollution.

Mayor Walker described the encampment closure as a public‑safety action and said the city worked with police, fire, Life Path and public works to walk the encampment area and provide compassionate notice and connections to services. “This is the largest encampment the city of York has ever had,” the mayor said, and he added teams had visited encampments twice a week leading up to the action. The mayor said open shelter beds and case management were available and that the city had reached out to neighboring municipalities, including Harrisburg, for advice on handling the closure.

No formal policy or funding change was approved at the meeting; council members urged public engagement and suggested the council would consider proposals that come forward requesting use of city funds or other actions. The mayor said the city will continue coordinated outreach and is looking for additional resources to address hazardous materials and ensure staff and resident safety.