The mayor of Fruit Heights says residents didn’t need to know about the plan to shelter the homeless

FRUIT HEIGHTS, Utah (KUTV) — A new plan to bring homeless people into a Fruit Heights neighborhood in Davis County has residents shocked — and the city’s mayor saying they didn’t need to know about it.

A church is partnering with the province to become a warming center during nights when temperatures drop to 18 degrees for two hours or more over a 24-hour period, known as Code Blue Alert.

Many people recently found out that Mountain Road Church has agreed to become a Code Blue Shelter for homeless people across the province, and now residents are wondering why.

At a recent city council meeting that revealed the city council was aware of the plan, the mayor said there was no reason to notify residents.

Fruit Heights is described by resident Scott Heusser as a “sleepy community.”

“We don’t have a police department, we don’t have InstaCare, we don’t even have a fire department,” Heusser said. “You can’t find Maverik here.”

According to him, the country therefore does not have the services to support a warming center.

The proposed plan is to bus people from all over Davis County to the church, starting around 7 p.m. on a Code Blue Alert evening.

At 7 a.m. they get back on the bus and are taken back to the place where they were picked up. A deputy will sit on the bus and provide security in the area.

The rules say that people are not allowed to leave unless it is an emergency, and that they must leave in the morning.

KUTV asked Heusser how confident he is in everything that’s happening.

“That doesn’t give me much confidence,” he says.

This plan is an agreement between the church and the county, so under state law the city cannot do anything.

“We didn’t take the initiative, we can’t stop it, but I fully support it,” Mayor John Pohlman said at an October council meeting.

Although the meeting took place last month, Heusser and other residents did not know what happened until early November.

“I had no idea this was going on,” Heusser said.

MORE about sheltering the homeless in Utah:

At that same Oct. 15 meeting, a council member asked Pohlman if the city should warn residents.

“Transparency with residents and the city, are we going to try to roll this out or are we going to let people know in advance? Or will they just see a bus show up and people will panic?” the councilor asked.

“There is no transparency,” Pohlman said.

Pohlman went on to say that the city had nothing to do with it, so they didn’t have to tell residents and 99% of the city wouldn’t even know it happened.

He also said the church didn’t have to tell anyone either.

“They won’t do that,” the mayor said. “It’s not their responsibility that the community knows this is going on.”

KUTV contacted the city and was told that both the mayor and city manager were unavailable.

They provided a contact person for the province, but we didn’t hear from them either.

Mountain Road Church sent 2News a statement:

“We at Mountain Road Church understand that this is a complex and emotional issue. We have been contacted and are working with Davis County, the Sheriff’s Department and the Mayor of Fruit Heights to both ensure the safety of those living in Fruit Heights, and to help some of the most vulnerable in our community during our coldest nights with a warm place to sleep during regulated nighttime hours.”

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