MELBOURNE, Fla. — Some residents who attended a Melbourne City Council special workshop on Tuesday evening to talk about the city's homelessness issue said they are afraid when they leave their homes or business in and around the downtown area because of the problem, while others called for compassion from city leaders to continue to work to ensure affordable housing is available.

The Melbourne City Council recently proclaimed a state of emergency to secure resources to address the homeless crisis and move unhoused individuals to places they can get help outside the city. The state of emergency allows city officials to secure resources from county, state and federal agencies to enforce existing laws.

Mayor Paul Alfrey said he agrees on both sides of the issue but wants to ensure the city is not being taken advantage of.

“If a regular person is accountable, so should everybody else," Alfrey said. "That’s just my take because I just don’t want to hear, 'Well, we’ll arrest our way out.' That doesn’t mean you can’t arrest homeless people. If they’re violating the law or they’re urinating in public or something, then they need to go to jail.”

Before the meeting, Bill Miller, who lives in downtown Melbourne, said he is concerned about homeless camps on vacant properties nearby, and down by Crane Creek, where locals enjoy fishing.

“Stepping over needles, feces, and trash that these people bring with them, unfortunately,” Miller said.

The state of emergency provides resources to address the homeless crisis and move homeless individuals to places they can get help outside the city.

“The City Council has to figure out how to deal with that,” Miller said.

Residents have made numerous complaints about trespassing, threats of violence and feeling unsafe outside their homes, especially along Fee Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood.

“It’s not that I hate homeless or hate anybody. We all need to have a quality of life, a safe environment, property values protected, and the people who need help should get it,” Miller said.

The nonprofit Daily Bread on Fee Avenue is shutting down but will break ground on a new affordable housing project called Providence Place this fall, with an opening slated for 2027.

The 3-acre site with 119 units on Apollo Boulevard would help bring down the homeless population on Fee Avenue and in the downtown area.

But questions remain where the 100-150 people who come to the current facility each day will go in the meantime.

The City Council agreed to reassess in two months to decide whether it needs another major meeting on the homeless issue, and each council member was assigned to work on proposals to address the concerns.