After nearly a month camped out on Hennepin County Government Plaza, OccupyMN protesters were being told Wednesday that the time is coming to pack up.
According to a memo issued by the county, once snow falls and temperatures fall below 25 degrees, overnight sleeping on the plaza will be prohibited, portable toilets will be removed and a canopy shelter taken down.
County officials announced that winterization of the plaza will begin Friday. That means not only blowing out irrigation system lines but "consolidation" of items left in the plaza, storing sleeping bags during the day and removing all non-county signs.
The policy announced Wednesday would not remove protesters from the plaza, but it would shrink the area they can occupy.
The plaza has been occupied since Oct. 7 by protesters as part of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. Several have lived in the plaza since then, spending their nights in sleeping bags lined up along the Government Center's north side. County officials have turned down their requests for tents, citing security concerns.
Read the memo below:
