Meth Contamination Confirmed At Everett Days Inn – Timeline Unclear For Conversion To Bridge Housing

On August 8th, Snohomish County announced it had purchased the Days Inn on Everett Mall Way in Everett, Washington and planned to convert the property to time-limited, bridge housing coupled with wraparound services.

The County says the Days Inn facility in Everett will provide 74 new units of time-limited, bridge housing for individuals living without shelter.

Now known as New Start Center, the property sits empty, vacant and fenced.

MyEverettNews.com reached out to Snohomish County to find out the status of the property and if the project is delayed and received the following response via email from Kelsey Nyland with Snohomish County.

In terms of the New Start Center at the Days Inn, no, the project is not delayed. It’s difficult to estimate a timeline for opening given the number of factors at play, including needed health and safety upgrades, finding a contractor for renovations, and releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify at least one on-site service provider. Our goal continues to be to open the New Start Center as quickly as possible – while making all necessary changes to the facility to maximize success. By purchasing a facility – instead of building from scratch – we can move much, much quicker and meet this crisis with the urgency it requires.

Here are the upcoming project milestones:
• Q1 2023: Address any public health and public safety needs, including hiring 24/7 security to prevent any unauthorized activities.
• Q2 & Q3, 2023: Permitting, design, and facility improvements. Please note that this timeline is subject to change because it’s highly dependent on contractor and product availability, as well as broader market conditions.

We asked the County to confirm if methamphetamine contamination had been found at the Days Inn. They told us it had.

We also wondered given Snohomish County’s own estimates of as many as 120 individuals receiving vouchers for emergency shelter at this location over the last year if Snohomish is County considering an inspection program for motels and hotels where vouchers are being given to people experiencing homelessness to make sure they (especially children) aren’t being placed in hazardous conditions? What steps are being taken to ensure the safety of the people being referred? Here is the County’s response:

Yes, we have found methamphetamine contamination at the Days Inn. Since finding the contamination, we have begun the process of selecting a contractor to complete the necessary remediation. While the cleaning is taking place, we’re continuing to make progress in opening the New Start Center in Everett: Security is now on-site, temporary fencing is in place, and the surrounding area has been cleaned. We are also making progress in evaluating permitting, design, and facility improvements and developing competitive processes to find on-site service provider(s) and on-site property managers.

In terms of an inspection program for the motels where individuals, couples, and families are currently being placed, all of those properties are still open for business and serving the general public. It is the responsibility of the owners of those properties to maintain them as healthy and safe facilities. We are in regular contact with the individuals placed in these motels to ensure their needs are being met and that there are no obvious health and safety concerns. Now that we are the owners of the Days Inn, we’re making a variety of health and safety upgrades to the property and plan to identify an entity to serve as the on-site operator to ensure the safe operation of the facility. We also plan to have additional County staff to support the on-site operator and address any concerns as they arise in a timely fashion.

Checking for hazardous contamination at each of the facilities where individuals are being placed with vouchers would require each facility to be completely vacated for at least one month. If hazardous materials were found and needed to be remediated, it would require each facility to be vacated for at least three months, which would push the vast majority of those individuals back into street homelessness, as well as others who are likely staying in those facilities as housing. We put the highest possible priority on the safety of our residents, and any facility that is owned by Snohomish County will maintain high standards for cleanliness, safety, and security.

Editor’s Note: The City of Everett also uses a voucher program to place people in motels throughout the city. We’re asking them what steps the city may take to protect those experiencing homelessness into a place that may be contaminated with dangerous chemicals.