LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A $15 million construction project at a wash near Flamingo and Maryland Parkway is raising concerns among nearby residents who fear it could worsen the homeless crisis in their neighborhoods.
Jhovani Carrillo spoke to residents to hear their thoughts.
Starting Tuesday, construction crews will begin work at the flood channel, which will include installing a security fence around the site.
Before work begins, crews will clear out the area, potentially displacing homeless individuals living there.
"I have a beautiful view out my front window, and then I have third world on my right side," said Sandy Tranfaglia, who lives at the Las Vegas National Golf Course.
Tranfaglia has watched the homeless crisis unfold right outside her front door for years.
"I have been broken into four times this month alone. I just spent $25,000 on a new fence, and I have had three people die in my backyard since 2008 with just the rapid water that comes through there," she said.
Tranfaglia told me she's spent nearly $30,000 on a new security system and repairs for damage she says was caused by homeless individuals. Despite calling police or code enforcement, she says help often takes too long to arrive.
"Dealing with this every day, who can't sleep who have people defecating on our sidewalks. The trash that's next to my home-- I am besides myself as a new widow," she said.
With the construction project beginning Tuesday, Tranfaglia fears the situation could worsen, pushing more unhoused individuals into her neighborhood.
"And I am really concerned about what is going to happen when they go and clean up that wash because when they clean up behind Target, they all migrate to my backyard," she said.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom said while they don't know how many people could be inside the wash, he acknowledged people could be emerging from the channel.
"We are going to be evicting them to redo this channel," he said.
Segerblom believes the security fence that will be installed could help prevent homeless individuals from making their way back into the wash.
As crews clear the area, Segerblom had a message for those living in the tunnels: "You [homeless] are gonna have to either accept services or face the consequences."
Carrillo attended one of Segerblom's previous town halls to hear residents' concerns on the homeless in the area.
County officials and local organizations will be on-site offering social services and support to the unhoused during the clearing operation.
"Maybe we can get away from your community into an actual job, faculty, rehab program," said Eric Percket, administrative lieutenant in the South Central Area Command.
For those who don't leave, residents would like to police to enforce local ordinances.
"We still have to provide an element of education, we still have to provide resources. We still have to provide them the ability to accept those resources and go into shelter, go into these facilities that will accept them," Percket said. "If they don't, then we will go along the lines of enforcement. The enforcement does start with a citation and moves along to an arrest."
Officials plan to hold another town hall before July.
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