More than six months after a regulation limiting long-term motel stays went into effect, families are still residing in motels across town, and officials are trying to do everything but kick them out.

During Wednesday afternoon's Board of Health meeting, two motel owners appeared before the board having received notices to comply with the regulation or be fined after 10 days.

In October of 2015, the board imposed a 21-day limit on how long a guest can remain in a motel or hotel room following a year’s worth of discussions. There is a 90-day limit on stays in efficiency units. The regulations went into effect May 1 of this year.

Unsure of how to enforce the regulation (there was talk of taking away licenses, fining motel owners, and enforcement), lengthy discussions of what needs to be done came to a soft conclusion. The Board of Health asked the owners of Silver Lake Motel to document steps taken by long-term motel residents in finding alternate housing while the members looked into changing the wording of the bylaw.

“How long do they have to be gone before they can come back,” asked Jeyesh Patel, manager of the Silver Lake Motel.

“It's not specifically in the bylaws, but it needs to be in there,” said Chair Dr. Amy Wiegandt. “The goal is that they stay away.”

Executive Director of the Wareham Housing Authority, Jacqui Hickey, was present to explain some of the problems residents face when looking for affordable housing.

“There are over 800 people on the waiting list, and not all of them are from Wareham,” said Hickey.

Alternatively, gathering enough money to pay for an apartment in a town with few affordable vacancies will take more than the 21 days allowed for residents to stay in motels.

“Until they are self-sufficient, until they can find first, last and security and get an apartment, they'll live paycheck to paycheck and it'll be a long time until they get on their feet,” said Bharat Patel, owner of Atlantic Motel.

Hickey agreed.

“They are the working poor. They are the paycheck-to-paycheck people,” she said. “Getting help takes time out of work.”

Health Agent Bob Ethier admitted that the board “didn't know that this was such a housing issue" when it first took action, but also said that “nobody goes on the street right now, nobody.”