ATHOL – With Police Chief Craig Lundgren in attendance, last Tuesday’s meeting of the Downtown Vitality Committee turned to concerns about the municipal parking garage being trespassed in.

The garage was closed several years ago amid safety concerns and is now slated to become a 43-unit housing project.

Committee member Ann Willhite said people are under there all day long and at night. She said more people have been gathering at the garage since the long-vacant Marone’s building, which is adjacent to the parking deck, was boarded up to deter trespassers and squatters.

“I thought they were living under there,” said Willhite. “I don’t know where they come from, but they are there all day, and the place is a mess.”

Lundgren told the committee that he had been to the parking garage last Tuesday in response to a call. Lundgren added that he has spoken with Town Manager Shaun Suhoski about the issue.

“There was a complaint from one of the Selectboard members that there are homeless people sleeping under there and they have tents and everything,” said the chief.

Kala Fisher, the Selectboard representative on the DVC, interjected, “I’ve been there at night; I’ve driven through there purposely to see them under there and haven’t been able to catch them at night.”

“If it’s not homeless people, I have no problem posting it ‘no trespassing,’” Lundgren said. “The other side of it, though, is they said they just sit there because it’s shaded – it’s so hot. Maybe their apartment doesn’t have air conditioning. So, they’re not homeless, and if the structure is unsafe and it has Jersey barriers, maybe we could consider posting ‘no trespassing’ signs.”

Assistant Public Works Director Paul Raskevitz said ‘no trespassing’ signs were posted last year, and had all been taken town.

“Some of them are homeless,” Suhoski added, “but some of them are not. Some of them do live around there. So, we should maybe replace the signs and the police can enforce that.”

Lundgren expressed some concern that folks made to leave the garage might end up in Veterans Park at the corner of Main and Exchange streets.

“If we do put up ‘no trespassing’ signs,” said Tintagels Gate/Flowerland owner Diane DiPietro, “we need to put them up higher so that people can’t just take them down again.”

DVC Vice Chair Paula Robinson suggested it might be advisable to post signs that the structure is unsafe.

“There must be some way we can convey the message ‘we don’t want you to die or get hurt but please don’t hang out here,’” she said.

Lundgren picked up on Robinson’s idea, noting that the fire department could do something, such as the large red Xs on some buildings, which warn firefighters not to enter a building in the event of a fire, because it is unsafe.

“People do a have a right to be in public places, whether we like the look of it or not,” said Robinson. “That should be how we make our decisions; we make our decisions on what is the best course for the town, for our liability, and for the public’s safety. If we’re looking at it from that perspective, we can defend it morally. I think that would go a lot further than just declaring ‘no trespassing,’ because you’re going to get people who just don’t care about that.”

No definitive decision was made on how best to address the issue. Lundgren said he would continue to work with Suhoski on the best strategy for addressing the committee’s concerns.

“Even if there’s no sign there, if the town manager says he doesn’t want them in there, it’s unsafe, it’s dangerous, we can issue a verbal no trespass order,” Lundgren explained. “It’s the same people there every day. And if they return, they can be arrested for trespassing. It doesn’t matter if there’s a sign there or not.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@aol.com.