photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Lawrence police officers and a staff member from the city-supported site, Camp New Beginnings, talk with the driver of a truck carrying wooden pallets near the camp on Oct. 24, 2023.

A load of wooden pallets was seen backed into the road near the city-supported campsite for people experiencing homelessness on Tuesday, but the city said they weren’t for the North Lawrence camp.

Around 12:30 p.m. Lawrence police officers and staff at the city camp were talking to the driver of a truck that was pulling a trailer with over 100 pallets. The truck was parked with its rear end facing the road on the north side of the site where there are numerous campsites outside of the city-sanctioned campsite.

When reached for comment about the pallets at the camp, the city spokesperson, Cori Wallace, said via email that the pallets on the truck did not belong to the city.

“This has nothing to do with the City of Lawrence’s plan to address homelessness. All pallet shelters owned by the city have already been delivered,” Wallace said.

Officers were talking with the driver of the truck after two women told an officer who was patrolling the area that the man seemed suspicious, said Sgt. Drew Fennelly with the Lawrence Police Department. The driver of the truck was issued a minor traffic citation, but no additional enforcement was required. Fennelly said he does not believe that the pallets had anything to do with the camp.