So many people have used Cortland County’s Code Blue Warming Shelter at the Salvation Army so far this season that the county will consider spending more money next week to keep it open through the season.
The county Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee will discuss a resolution Thursday to add another $15,000 to the $300,000 the county has already allocated to keep the center open to provide overnight quarters for homeless people.
“The Salvation Army has already served over 150 unique individuals through Jan. 1,” the resolution states. Cortland County has several hundred people without homes, 18% of them children, federal data show. On any given night, 50 to 70 people lack any shelter at all, besides the dozen or so beds at the Code Blue shelter.
Homeless in Cortland County and across the nation had been rising steadily between 2004 and 2019. It has since increased more than 50% in Cortland County.
The state requires the county to maintain the warming center when the temperature is below freezing. The county has already agreed to spend an extra $25,000 to keep the facility open when the temperature rises about 32 degrees, which the state does not require.
Legislators will consider the expense even as they consider another resolution asking the state to increase funding for the Code Blue program and to reform the program to involve other state agencies.
“New York State has capped the amount of funding allocated to counties for the operation of Code Blue programs, with Cortland County receiving funding equal to the expenditures of the previous year, which does not account for the annual increase in operational costs or the growing demand for services,” the resolution states. “The current level of funding is inadequate to cover the increased staffing and resources necessary to safely operate warming centers, and Cortland County seeks to avoid placing the burden of these rising costs on local taxpayers.”
The Code Blue program operates under the direction of the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, but the resolution seeks to include other agencies to deal with the rising number of participants, behavioral challenges from people with untreated mental health issues, substance use disorders and developmental disabilities. It hopes to involve the state Office of Mental Health, the Office of Addiction and Substance Abuse Services and the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities.
The committee meets at 11 a.m. Thursday in room 302 of the Cortland County Office Building at 60 Central Ave., Cortland.
Also this week, the Building and Grounds Committee will consider a resolution to seek proposals to buy or lease the county’s linear park. Lime Hollow Nature Center in Cortlandville maintains the 2.7-mile-long, 60-foot-wide park, part of its Lehigh Valley trail.
“The Clerk of the Legislature and the County Attorney are directed to prepare and issue a request for proposals for the sale or lease of linear park, with a focus on soliciting proposals that not only respect the park’s current use but also enhance its value to the community,” the resolution states. “It is the intent of the legislature that linear park shall remain open to the public following any sale or lease, with specific protections in place to guarantee access to all residents.”
The county has owned the space since 1977, when the Lehigh Valley rail line – built in 1872 by Ezra Cornell to connect Cortland to Ithaca – was abandoned.
Ownership of the former line could affect how much state grant money might be available to the nature center, if it retained ownership of the railway bed, Lime Hollow Executive Director Ilya Shmulenson told the committee in December.
The committee meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday in room 302.
