MELBOURNE, Fla. — There are an estimated 35 homeless camps in the city of Melbourne, and right now there's an effort to remove them from city property.

"I knew something was going on, because they would stage stuff across the street on my property before they would bring it across the street," said Sherry Acanfora-Ruohomaki, who has run K-9 Kampus on U.S. 1 in Melbourne for 11 years.

She's never had issues here, until recently.

"I couldn't believe how big it was and how much material was down there," Acanfora-Ruohomaki said.

She's talking about the homeless camp, really a makeshift home, built on the banks of the Indian River directly across from her business.

"You've got the embankment," she said. "The pollution into the river, there's so many things to be concerned about."

That concern was enough to cause Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey to step in.

"We had a lot of people reaching out to us," Alfrey said. "This encampment could be seen from the water, really huge from the water. Very shocking."

The dwelling had four walls, a roof, multiple rooms and a functional septic system flowing to and from the lagoon.

"It had power from a generator," Alfrey said.

Crews also found a bottle of formaldehyde, and called in a hazmat team to remove it.

Alfrey said homelessness is a tough issue, but it's his mission to clean up city property.

He said the man who was living in the camp refused services offered to him.

Crews will need several more days to dismantle it.

"As other cities struggle with this, I'm going to make sure Melbourne does not," Alfrey said. "I don't want us to become another San Francisco."

Acanfora-Ruohomaki understands the plight of the homeless, but also has to look out for her livelihood.

"I'm trying to have a certain persona and look to my facility," she said. "My heart goes out to them."