State officials installed bird noise devices at the Pavilion Building in Montpelier this summer. David Littlefield/Vermont Public Carly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger.  The issue of unsheltered homelessness has landed on the doorstep of Gov. Phil Scott. The Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services has tallied numerous incidents of individuals sleeping on the porches of the Pavilion Building in downtown Montpelier, the white-columned complex that houses Scott’s offices along with those of the treasurer, attorney general and the Vermont Supreme Court. Earlier this year, the department installed a port-a-let near the Pavilion after its grounds crew repeatedly encountered human waste and debris at the property, according to Deputy Commissioner Emily Kisicki. Yet the problem persisted.  The department then took an additional step. Earlier this summer, officials installed a set of noise deterrent devices that make loud bird calls, according to public records reviewed by Vermont Public. “We are hoping this could reduce the nighttime occupancy of these spaces,” Kisicki wrote in a late-June email as the state ordered the devices.  Responding to encampments has become a perennial issue for municipal leaders across the state as the number of unhoused people living outdoors grows. Over the last several summers, Capital City officials have ordered unhoused people to remove their tents from public areas.  Last month, outreach workers counted 61 people living outdoors in Montpelier, according to Zach Hughes, chair of the city’s homelessness committee. The city’s sole year-round shelter has space for 18 people and is currently about three-quarters full. To Hughes, the state’s use of the noise deterrent devices amounts to pushing people along who have few alternative places to stay. “As a homelessness advocate, this is just disturbing to me,” Hughes said. “Part of the problem is, there’s nowhere for people to go.” Safety and security officers for the Department of Buildings and General Services have reported encounters with individuals sleeping outside of the Pavilion complex four times between June of 2025 and late July of 2026, according to incident reports reviewed by Vermont Public.  In an interview, Kisicki said the noise deterrent devices were not meant to address people sleeping at the property, but to mitigate “associated activity.” The buildings department grounds crew was cleaning up human waste at the site on a daily basis earlier this summer, Kisicki said, and had also encountered debris from a fire on the porch as well as discarded needles. Law enforcement had been called to respond to broken windows and a possible assault at the site in April, she said. Given that the location is heavily utilized by the public — the building’s ground floor houses the Vermont History Museum, and the Statehouse is next door — the department became concerned about risks to public health and safety, Kisicki said. “The noise machine was viewed as a way to sort of reduce some of the activity that was going on in that location without heavier-handed approaches like law enforcement or fencing,” she said. Soon after the devices were installed, they caused a twitter on the local Front Porch Forum, as residents shared concerns that a real, distressed bird was nesting at the building.  Kisicki said the noise deterrent system has reduced the waste issues at the building. It does not, however, appear to have prevented people from sleeping at the site. On July 30, after the devices were installed, a safety and security officer noted encountering several individuals sleeping on a Pavilion Building porch. On Aug. 12, staff responded to an individual experiencing an overdose next to the building, according to Kisicki. Kisicki said buildings department staff offer resource guides to unhoused people they encounter. The noise devices had been operating off of a light sensor, but are now on a timer to run from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., Kisicki said. In a statement, Jason Maulucci, Scott’s director of policy development and legislative affairs, said the governor is aware of the actions taken by the buildings department “after their persistent efforts to help accommodate the situation.” “The Governor believes it is important to maintain safe, clean and healthy public spaces,” Maulucci said.  Unsheltered homelessness has increased in Vermont after state leaders cut back the motel voucher program that provided shelter for the majority of people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic years. Scott has been the motel program’s loudest critic, arguing that it is too costly and ineffective. Julie Bond, director of Good Samaritan Haven, a network of shelters in Washington County, said interventions like the noise devices do little to solve the underlying problems of unsheltered homelessness. “My hope is that this is a time for all of us, whether it’s state, community, local partners to really come together and find solutions rather than deterrents,” Bond said. Read the story on VTDigger here: Scott administration installs bird noise devices at downtown Montpelier building. ...read more read less