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 these families that we're putting in temporary housing and have shorter lengths of stay in temporary housing," Nina said. She added the county would initially pay the operator on a per-night basis, "very similar to what we use for other housing providers," and that the operator’s goal is to move families into permanent housing faster.

Committee members pressed for details on costs and contract terms. Nina said exact service costs were "not specified" at the committee meeting; she described the sequence as (1) building assessment by the White House, (2) preparation and submission of a Homeless Housing Assistance Program (HHAP) grant application to the state, and (3) rehabilitation work if the grant is awarded. A staff member explained the 30-year lease term being proposed is intended to satisfy the grant program's site‑security requirement; if the grant is not awarded, the project would not proceed.

Committee discussion also covered oversight and termination. Nina said the Department of Social Services and New York State’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) certification process would provide oversight of shelter operations and require the operator to submit policies and plans for approval. A county staff member said the county will enter multiple contracts with the operator: a contract for grant‑related construction management work and a separate operational agreement that would specify requirements for day‑to‑day shelter operations; violations of the operational agreement could lead to lease termination.

Committee members noted the White House was the only respondent to the RFP. Supervisor Strainer suggested arranging site visits for interested supervisors; those visits were proposed to occur in the coming month. Jason McLaughlin, identified in committee remarks as executive director of the White House, was described as having toured the building with county officials.

The committee moved and approved the request to bring the lease agreement forward. Committee members and staff repeatedly emphasized that final county action on a long-term lease would not occur until the board considers and, if approved, adopts the local law authorizing leases longer than five years and until the White House completes any required grant-funded rehabilitation.

Implementation details remaining at the committee stage included the per-night cost to the county for shelter services ("not specified" at the meeting), the specific scope and timeline of building renovations, and how a successor operator would be identified if the White House were unable to continue operations in the future.

The committee recorded no opposing votes on the motion to forward the request; follow-up steps announced at the meeting include site visits for supervisors, completion of the building assessment, grant application preparation, and a public hearing on the proposed local law at the next board meeting.