Council hears criticism and staff clarifies Westminster’s cold-weather shelter thresholds

During public comment on Dec. 8, several speakers urged the council to raise the city’s warming-center activation threshold. Alan Farb told council he was told warming centers open only at a 0°F trigger and asked, "what's the cost of an unhoused human's life?" He said the lack of shelter during recent cold weather left unhoused residents exposed.

Deputy City Manager Barbara Oppie and emergency-preparedness staff clarified that Westminster uses two trigger categories: a cold-weather activation (criteria described to council as 32°F with precipitation, or 20°F when dry) and an extreme-weather activation, which the staff said is the threshold that activates the MAC as an extreme cold-weather shelter at 0°F. Staff said the cold-weather activation had been triggered in the recent event cycle while extreme activation was not. They also said a newly executed intergovernmental agreement with Jefferson County provides additional access to hotel vouchers and coordinated county-level severe-weather alerts and outreach.

Councilors pressed staff on outreach to people without phones and who might fall through service cracks; staff said navigators, rangers, police and fire personnel coordinate to reach those individuals and that staff will resend and post the written information on the city website for clarity. Councilors asked staff to provide clearer public-facing guidance on when and how activations happen and to provide comparative cost information if the council wishes to evaluate raising the extreme-activation threshold.