County report: warming center helped reduce motel placements, but residents and supervisors raise concerns

The committee heard a detailed report on the county's warming center and its effect on code-blue season sheltering.

Lise (speaker 12), who presented the report, said the warming center served 172 unique individuals and that 37 were connected to a warming center in Corning; she said the county's motel costs for April 2026 were $1,929,204 including the warming center and that overall placements had declined compared with April 2025. "The warming center, we served a 172 unique individuals, and we were able to connect 37 of those individuals to the, the center in Corning," Lise said, summarizing utilization and placement outcomes.

Supervisors and staff asked a range of operational questions: how declines (people who refused the warming center) are counted, whether people can call back under different names, and how transportation and security are handled. Harden (speaker 8) said that if someone refuses the center after it is offered "If you don't want it, too bad," arguing that offering shelter and avoiding additional placements is a net positive. Other members voiced concern about local impacts, police and security calls, and the county's statutory obligation under cold-weather code-blue rules.

The presentation prompted discussion about longer-term strategy: whether to issue an RFP to seek sites that provide 24/7 operations, whether to replicate warming center features elsewhere, and how to account for cross-jurisdictional placements and transportation costs. Lise said staff will consider adjustments and data tracking to better capture declined placements and origin locations for people placed under code-blue rules.