Urbana City Council approves $37,000 to Cunningham Township for winter shelter after debate

The Urbana City Council voted Jan. 12 to provide $37,000 to Cunningham Township to support staffing for the Winter Public Emergency Shelter at the Armory, approving a recipient agreement and a related budget amendment after a period of amendments and debate.

Council members debated whether to increase Urbana’s initial ask from $37,000 to $50,000. Council member Grace moved to raise the contribution to $50,000; the amendment failed on roll call (Wu: no; Evans: yes; Colasetti: no; Wilkin: yes; Quisenberry: no). Council then voted on the original request; the roll call recorded affirmative votes from the present members and the resolution passed.

Earlier in the meeting, the Committee of the Whole moved—and the council adopted—an amendment to the recipient agreement language to permit funds to be used for both daytime and nighttime staffing, and to correct the shelter’s facility name and address in the packet (the Armory, 109 E. Park St., Champaign). City staff noted the packet originally listed an incorrect facility name and address and recommended the edits to align the resolution and budget ordinance language with the corrected agreement.

Supervisor Danielle Chenoweth had presented detailed operational and financial information to the township board before the council vote, describing the shelter as a low-barrier congregate site (up to 100 cots for men and male-identified residents), open 8 p.m.–8 a.m. or during severe weather, and reporting that the township was roughly $14,000 short of nighttime funding and had options for limited daytime expansion through May 23. Chenoweth told elected officials the total minimum cost to run a congregate low-barrier shelter for 156 days for an estimated 75 people would be about $257,000 (roughly $22 per person per day) and contrasted that with higher hotel costs.

Council members who supported immediate approval said they wanted the city’s timely commitment to encourage other jurisdictions and partners to contribute; council members urging a larger Urbana contribution said the city’s surplus made a larger pledge feasible. Several members recommended the council continue discussions with the township, county and neighboring municipalities to secure multi-jurisdictional funding for shelter continuity beyond spring.

What’s next: the city ordinance amendment and recipient agreement will be finalized with corrected language and address; township and city staff will continue to seek additional contributions from the county and neighboring jurisdictions to fund expanded daytime services through May 23 if needed.