Gastonia officials confront staff, lead agency after cooling-station plan falters

GASTONIA — Mayor Franks and several Gastonia City Council members on Thursday sharply criticized city staff and the local lead agency for homelessness services after a plan to open a temporary cooling station did not proceed as council members said it had been directed.

The emergency meeting, called by the mayor, followed a series of phone and text exchanges after volunteers and faith groups mobilized to run a cooling site for people experiencing homelessness. Council members said they had reached a consensus earlier in the week to use a city-owned building — identified by council members as a Salvation Army facility — but that the consensus was not implemented by city management or by the lead agency, Health Net Gaston.

Council members said the building had been inspected and cleared by the fire department the previous Friday and that volunteers had already arrived when they were told the site was closed. "The building is safe. We own it," Councilwoman Littlejohn said, citing a fire inspection report and saying she had met with the fire chief.

At the…