Homeless encampment cleanup and interventions cost Santa Maria $1 million annually, while intracity encampments are growing in sophistication, with some moving underground, city council members were told Tuesday.

With the most visible encampments in the Santa Maria Riverbed cleared over the last year, Santa Maria Police Sgt. Felix Diaz said Tuesday that new structures in city neighborhoods are getting more sophisticated and less conspicuous.

Diaz shared photos of people climbing out of framed holes in the ground, and shelters built into the side of earthen berms, something he said patrol officers encounter while on patrols or through community reporting. If cleanup efforts are not undertaken for a few days, things start to pile up leading to larger encampments, he said.

"That's kind

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