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Mulga council designates town hall and fire department as warming stations; mayor warns storm shelter heating depends on power
Summary
The Mulga Town Council voted Jan. 20 to open Mulga Town Hall and the fire department as warming stations during inclement weather at the mayor's discretion. Mayor W. Keith Varner said the storm shelter has heat "but it doesn't work if the power goes out," and council discussed a possible generator purchase.
The Mulga Town Council voted on Jan. 20 to allow Mulga Town Hall and the town's fire department to operate as warming stations during inclement winter weather, a move councilors said was prompted by recent storm concerns.
Council member Lelan Taylor moved to authorize the facilities to be opened "at the discretion of the mayor," and the motion was seconded by Jeremy Davis. The roll-call vote recorded Seat 1 Yes; Seat 2 Absent; Seat 3 Yes; Seat 4 Yes; Seat 5 Yes; Mayor Yes. The motion passed.
The vote followed questions from council members about the town's emergency facilities. Mayor W. Keith Varner said the town's storm shelter has heat "but it doesn't work if the power goes out." He added that Mulga Town Hall would have power and heat during a storm, and thus could be used to host residents who need a warm place to stay.
Council members also discussed whether the town should purchase a generator that would power the new fire department building and the storm shelter during outages. A council member identified in the record as Seat 5 asked the council to "look into purchasing a generator that would cover the new fire department & the storm shelter," and Mayor Varner said yes when asked if the topic could be explored; no specific procurement motion or funding decision was made during the meeting.
At the meeting's close, visitor Dalton Vildibill — who addressed the council about fire-department operations — said the department would keep doors open to let residents warm up during storms, noting the department had seen an increase of four or five volunteers recently. Vildibill also said engine 3301 "will not be responding to calls" if weather conditions make response unsafe and that the department had misplaced a smoke-detector sign-up list and was asking residents to re-sign.
The council did not set a firm timeline or budget for buying backup power; staff were not recorded as being directed to a specific procurement step in the minutes.
