By VDC staff 

Burlington is not the only Vermont community taking a more aggressive approach toward homeless encampments, as St. Johnsbury officials this week ordered the removal of five camps along a riverside recreation corridor and say they intend to prevent new encampments from becoming established.

According to the Caledonian-Record, the daily newspaper for St. Johnsbury and the rest of the Northeast Kingdom, St. Johnsbury public works employees spent Monday removing multiple truckloads of belongings and debris from encampments near the Three Rivers Path, after police gave campers seven days’ notice to leave.

The property belongs to Green Mountain Power, which has posted signs prohibiting overnight camping. Town Manager Chad Whitehead said the town also has an interest in keeping the area open and safe because the Three Rivers Path connects downtown St. Johnsbury with the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.

Only one person was found at the camps when crews arrived Monday. Whitehead said the man told officials he had not been aware he was required to leave, and began packing his belongings after being informed.

The cleanup took the entire morning and included public works employees, police officers and the fire chief.

“I don’t know exactly how many loads we took to the dump,” Whitehead told the Caledonian-Record.

The town stores property that is not considered trash, Whitehead said, while materials contaminated by needles, feces or other biohazards are mechanically removed and sent to the transfer station rather than handled by employees.

The St. Johnsbury action comes as Burlington continues to debate and enforce its own policies governing homeless encampments in public spaces. Burlington officials have faced growing complaints involving downtown public safety, drug use, disorder and encampments, and the City Council recently adopted procedures calling for quicker action against camps in certain prohibited locations.

St. Johnsbury, meanwhile, has conducted repeated camp removals along the river in recent years. The previous displacement occurred in May.

Whitehead said officials now intend to intervene earlier rather than allow encampments to become established.

“Our plan from here on forward is to work with the property owner, make sure that the no camping signs are up, and then we’ll just be proactive and try to prevent encampments from getting established,” Whitehead said.

He acknowledged that the approach will require additional municipal resources.

“I worry about our capacity to be able to do that,” he said.