Crews clean up transient camp in southern Bend

People living on Bend’s south side are glad a transient camp is gone, but the amount of trash left behind by the unwanted guests is now creating a problem.

“The tents are gone but all the trash remains,” resident Jackson Dunham said Tuesday.

Dunham reached out to NewsChannel 21 back in March after he and several neighbors became tired of seeing transients trash their neighborhood.

The three-parcel property is owned by Deschutes Properties LLC, WinCo and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Dunham said the trash spread out on the properties created a dump site.

“We now have the bio-hazard issues to deal with,” Dunham said. “We don’t know what is growing out there, what kind of needles and drug paraphernalia are going to be found by the kids and everything.”

NewsChannel 21 was out filming on the transient camp Tuesday and noticed workers cleaning up the trash on the WinCo property.

The work crew did not want to be on camera, but said they had been hired to clean up the trash and get the property back to normal.

Deschutes County code enforcement officials said the Deschutes Properties LLC land is not owned by the county.

County officials said Bend’s code enforcement is responsible when it comes to private properties within the city limits.

Code Enforcement Officer Jason Gault told NewsChannel 21 by phone the department was aware when the fire department responded to a medical call at the transient camp.

The city has gotten in contact with the property owners.

Gault said WinCo was not aware of transients camping illegally on their property.

The grocery chain has hired a private security firm to help patrol the area so campers don’t trespass onto their property.