By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Parsons Ministerial Association requested use of a FEMA lot to place a tiny house on wheels for transient housing from the City of Parsons. The request was part of ongoing negotiations with the City as part of the Association’s tiny house project. Kevin Hosteletler spoke on behalf of the Association at the meeting.
“It gives us a chance that we can help them relate with their families or doctors or whatever we are going to do…make sure they had what they needed and get them moved on because that is the main thing, we just need to get them moved on,” Metzner said.
Hostetler and Suzie Metzner said that over the years, the Association and its members have placed many people in area hotels and B&B’s. Due to nonavailability of rooms in the past, some have had to be turned away. Metzner said that she had even invited some into her own home in the past. The project, they said was an attempt to give the community a place to house those people temporarily and feed them while they are placed in contact with family or other resources.
“Last year we had quite a few kids struggling with problems,” Metzner said. “I think if they had a place that we could set them rest, give them food and get with their families to help them and encourage them to make decisions to move forward, that we could do a lot for people in the community like that as a Ministerial Association.”
The project’s goal is to set a tiny house on skids on the lot with the purpose of offering a brief, up to three days, stay for transients. The Association lists those in need as “those who have been displaced and need immediate accommodation, or those in crisis needing immediate shelter (i.e. weather damage, domestic violence, fire damage).”
“People that are driving through and break down, people get displaced from whether its fires, weather incidents, different things like that,” Hostetler said. “Over the years, Paul and I have taken many ladies that are in domestic situations. Give them just a place to get out to relocate until they can move on.”
The tiny house has been donated, according to the Association, by Paul Wamsley of St. George Medical Clinic. It was the structure used for Covid testing during 2020, the Association reported. Wamsley has offered to assist with the construction to bring the structure to code for a residential dwelling, the Association stated. The structure is approximately 12 foot by 24 foot and would remain on the site on skids and not be a permanent structure.
“He (Paul Wamsley) feels like its a really important thing for the community as well,” Metzner said.
The structure, however would require access to utility hookups. The Association asked the City for access to water, sewer and electrical hook ups for the house. The cost of the utilities, the Association said would be covered by the Association.
The Association said they are currently drawing up a set of rules for the tiny house to cover such concerns as: not to be a homeless shelter, there will be a limited time of stay whereby exceptions may be granted in exceptional cases and The Parsons Ministerial Association assumes responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the tiny house.
City Administrator Michael Simmons said he has been in contact with FEMA on and off over the past two weeks on the matter. He said he has been seeking input on the specifics of restrictions surrounding the use of the FEMA lots. Simmons said he was told that in the past year, that regulations have softened a bit, but the agency would give him specific directions regarding the project and whether it would be allowed on Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week following review of the request by a supervisor and group meeting.
“We specifically wanted to know if we could obtain permission at all for a water tap and a sewer tap and a movable structure on it,” Simmons said. “She told me in the last year, the FEMA guidelines have gotten more friendly. She said its not out of the realm of possibility.”
The City has some empty FEMA lots in Pulp Mill Bottom that are being eyed for the project. There is a lot behind McDonald’s that the Association feels would work well for the project due to its central location.
Most of the Council voiced support for the project. Council Member Kathy DiBacco voiced concern that the tiny house would become a homeless shelter. Hostetler said that the Association was drawing up guidelines and restructions to see that does not happen. The Association’s aim is to adhere to a strict three day stay rule with rare exceptions given.
“The Ministerial Association we’re in the process of drawing up guidelines, restrictions, basically this is how long you can stay because we know there is an issue with that,” Hostetler said. “There’s a problem with that is surrounding areas, as well and that’s not what the purpose of this is. Its not a place where we just open up and say come on in and stay.”
No vote was taken and the matter was tabled until the next meeting when more information from FEMA would be available. The information from FEMA would inform the Council as to whether the project could go forward based on the department’s regulations on the lots.
