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'Home' for the homeless Mail Tribune photo / Roy Musitelli David Miller turns to the surroundings inside a makeshift tent in a wooded area near Bear Creek and says it's all he has. He and his roommate told a visiting deputy that they have permission from the landowner to live at the site. Police pay frequent visits to transient camps, such as last week's sweep on county land By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Welcome to Tube City. Once the semi-permanent home to more than a dozen homeless people, the vacant lot is nearly abandoned. Glenn Hubbert is one of the only residents left. The owner of the White City property cleaned up the tract in September, forcing many transients who camped in assorted concrete culverts and metal pipes to move on, Hubbert said. The 48-year-old still calls a concrete culvert outfitted with an Army-green sleeping bag home. But of course, Hubbert says, he doesn't really have a home. "We all kind of took care of ourselves and made sure nobody got hurt." Police are a familiar sight to Hubbert and his neighbors. Jackson County sheriff's deputies patrol the area, respond to reported assaults and chat with the homeless about crime suspects. Sometimes the transients are arrested. Hubbert weaves through waist-high weeds to his culvert, saying over his shoulder to Deputy Eric Johnson that he needs to get his identification from his wallet. Johnson tells him not to bother. On patrol for transients camping on county property, Johnson doesn't pester Hubbert. Tube City's residents are on private property and because the lot's owner hasn't complained, the campers can stay. Like Hubbert, many of the homeless move into Medford during the winter, staying at the Gospel Mission or other social service organizations. When the weather starts to turn sunny, they hit the trail. But hikers, bikers and equestrians using those same trails, such as the Bear Creek Greenway, often report transients' campsites to police. Sheriff's deputies ran a sweep of transient camps on county property last week. Deputies warn the campers to leave, and can cite them under a county ordinance for trespassing if the transients don't move on within 48 hours. Campsites along the Greenway, near the county Expo park and other well-traveled public areas were targeted, said sheriff's Lt. Dewey Patten. One camp near the Expo ponds was a particular safety concern because the Crater High School track team was running in the area, Johnson said. When Johnson explored the camp Friday, it appeared deserted. One sagging, aqua-colored tent filled with a melange of trash was the only dwelling at the site. There used to be three tents, Johnson said. A few cold ashes were scattered in a central fire pit. A yellow plastic bottle of mustard and a jar of liquefied mayonnaise lay nearby. "I think they finally figured it out," Johnson said, leaving the wrecked campsite. Trash left behind when transients move out is another problem, Patten said. "They just leave huge piles of garbage." Crews from the county's roads and parks department removed five dump-truck loads of garbage from a homeless campsite near the Greenway equestrian trail a few years ago, Patten said. Workers hauled off wet blankets, old magazines, soggy sleeping bags, shopping carts, food and human waste, he said. Community Justice work crews and volunteers also pick up litter after transients abandon their camps. Garbage doesn't seem to be a problem at Phil Bourdon's camp on private property at the southern edge of Medford. The 43-year-old shares his home with a friend, 47-year-old David Miller. The two say they haul away their garbage to trash containers in town and have a letter from the property owner that authorizes them to stay. Bourdon says police forced him off his last campsite near the Greenway. He found some tarps hanging among the trees sheltering a queen-sized mattress in a metal frame and went to work cleaning the place up about two months ago. In addition to the bed, the camp boasts a futon couch and carpeting. The two cook burgers on a charred metal barbecue rack covering a cinder block fire pit. And the police don't visit this camp too much since no one really complains. "So is everything OK?" Bourdon asks Johnson. "Yeah, it's fine," the deputy says. "We're not trying to make any trouble," Bourdon says. "No, we're hippies," Miller adds. "We've gotten rid of the riffraff." Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.