Trash piled up on busy street part of suspected unhoused enclave

ALBANY – The amount of trash is stunning … shopping carts, some full, some partially loaded with debris; mounds of garbage piled up on a well-worn path.

That’s something one might expect to see in one of the remote, rural areas of Dougherty County … certainly not on one of Albany’s busiest streets in the middle of the city’s primary shopping district.

But that’s what city officials were pondering Thursday morning after being alerted to the garbage heap that Albany Police Department Chief Michael Persley and Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful Director Jwana Washington said could be an encampment for some of the area’s unhoused.

“Thank you for alerting us; this is the first I’ve heard of this,” Washington said after receiving a phone call from The Albany Herald. “We certainly plan to look into this as soon as we get off the phone. It sounds like a homeless encampment, and if it is we have to be careful. Many times in such circumstances, there is drug paraphernalia present.”

That no one has reported the trash heap to city officials is somewhat remarkable, given that it is located on Stuart Avenue, one black west of Deerfield-Windsor’s Upper School and directly behind the Northwest Library branch.

In addition to the significant trash collection that is clearly visible from Stuart, the back driveway to the Northwest Library is littered with remnants of the trash, and the woods adjacent to the driveway is scattered with garbage as well.

Josh Foster, who is a city of Albany Public Works official, said during an initial phone call Thursday that his litter crew would most likely be assigned to clean up the garbage. But in a later call, he noted that Public Works officials already were investigating.

“That usually falls under my duties,” Foster said. “But after your call we found out that Public Works is already out there investigating.”

When informed of the trash heap Wednesday, Persley said he would alert Public Works and also would investigate ownership of the property and notify the owner.

“If it’s public property, that’s easy; we make sure it’s taken care of,” the APD chief said. “If it’s private property, we’ll contact the owner and have them clean it up. This issue is not exactly in my wheelhouse, but we certainly will make sure it’s properly and promptly addressed.”