Commission ends local winter-weather emergency and praises staff after sheltering more than 300 people

The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission on Feb. 3 voted to affirm and then end the local declaration of emergency related to recent winter weather. The vote followed the manager’s report praising emergency-management and leisure-services staff for coordinating shelters and interdepartmental response.

Manager highlighted Meredith Barnum, the county emergency management coordinator who ran the emergency operations center, and Alex Bond, interim leisure services director who helped stand up and operate warming centers and shelters. The manager reported that between the two events staff sheltered more than 300 people and that multiple departments — utilities, streets, facilities, public safety and volunteers — coordinated to respond to snow, ice and a concurrent water-main break in Five Points.

Commissioners thanked staff and volunteers and noted community partner involvement. Commissioner Davenport, among others, praised field crews and volunteers; several commissioners described volunteering at shelters themselves. The commission read and adopted an ordinance to affirm the now-ceased local emergency, and then moved into executive session on real-estate acquisition and disposal.

Commissioners also noted three cold-weather deaths of unhoused individuals that occurred during the storm period and framed sheltering as a critical public-service response. Manager and commissioners urged continued coordination of outreach and service delivery to address homelessness and winter vulnerability as part of future planning work.