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Wasco council to pilot re-opening of cooling center amid heat wave; social-media outreach urged
Summary
After staff reported low past usage and high staffing costs, the council agreed to a short advertised test of the city's cooling center while the heat wave persists; members urged broader outreach including social media, reverse-911 and community messaging.
City staff revisited the cooling-center program and proposed testing a short reactivation while a heat wave continues. The city manager said the program was curtailed previously because of limited attendance despite significant staff time, but council members argued the current extreme temperatures and seasonal homelessness justify a short, advertised trial. "If we do say, hey, we wanna revisit the idea of the cooling center, I think we should probably be thinking more like at the 102, 103 mark as sort of a trigger," Council member Medina said, urging reconsideration of the trigger temperature.
Council members and staff agreed on a short test window beginning immediately to collect data for the next council meeting, with aggressive outreach planned via social media, reverse-911 texts and community partners. Staff confirmed the proposed test center location for the trial (8810 8th Street) and hours of 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.; the council asked staff to report usage numbers at the next meeting to decide whether to continue.
