Committee approves lease process to place family homeless shelter at county-owned building pending state grant and local law

Warren County’s Human Services Committee voted to advance a proposed long-term lease arrangement with the White House to operate a family homeless shelter at Building Number 11 on Gurnee Lane, while staff and the prospective operator complete a building assessment and pursue state grant funding.

The measure, moved by Supervisor Runyon and seconded by Supervisor Turner, passed in committee after discussion; committee members said the lease and any operational agreement remain conditional on a successful grant application and the board’s passage of a local law that would authorize leases longer than five years.

Nina, commissioner, Warren County Department of Social Services, told the committee the county awarded the RFP to the White House and that the immediate next step is for the White House to complete a building assessment and develop plans for rehabilitation. "The financial benefit would be that the goal is to have families in... reduce motel placements for…