Concord will have an emergency homeless shelter this winter after all.
“Probably (today) or Wednesday, we’ll be announcing that we have secured a location for an emergency winter shelter,” Concord Mayor Jim Bouley said Monday night.
Following Bouley’s request for an amendment, city councilors unanimously voted to appropriate $30,000 from the 2016 assigned fund balance reserve for the shelter – the same amount as last year.
Bouley noted that United Way would act as the organization’s fiscal agent and the Friends Program will run the shelter’s operations.
“We are securing cots. Concord Hospital is supplying linens, pillows, etcetera,” he said. “We really lined up all these things.”
Plowing and volunteer coordinating services have also been arranged. Bouley expects to name the location in the next day or two after everyone has been notified, he said.
Looking for words to describe it without giving the location away, Bouley said it would be “probably greatly like last year.”
The last-minute announcement mirrors last year in more ways than one as Concord continues to struggle with finding a permanent solution for its homeless population.
Bouley struck a similar deal with the Friends Program to manage 60 beds in the vacant St. Peter’s Church last winter. The low-barrier, cold-weather shelter averaged 30 guests a night.
Even though homelessness advocates began working in February to secure a location for this winter, the prospects looked bleak a little more than a week ago.
They struggled to find a location willing to donate space seven nights a week for three months to a population that often struggles with substance-abuse disorders.
But Bouley said at the time he was “working on it,” and that work apparently paid off once again.
“It’s a very safe place,” he said.
In addition to the newly secured emergency shelter, Concord has made other additions to its housing for the homeless over the last year.
The Salvation Army’s McKenna House shelter – which does not provide for families with children or people using drugs or alcohol – added 16 beds in October, bringing its total capacity to 42.
The Friends Program and another organization, Family Promise, offer services that accommodate up to 11 families.
The Concord Coalition to End Homelessness recently garnered funding to provide rental assistance for 10 units for people who experience chronic homelessness, too.
A different population of Concord residents could be left out in the cold (or shivering in a suddenly shut-off shower) if their neighbor fails to pay their water bill.
Concord City Manager Tom Aspell told city councilors Monday that more than three dozen property owners in Concord have “piggy back” water systems, meaning their water supply runs through a neighbor’s house.
If access to the city’s water main is shut off to the neighbor’s house following an unpaid bill, the piggy back property, even if paid up, will lose access, too.
These systems were likely set up as a result of older structures connecting the plumbing to accessory buildings, and then those big lots being subdivided.
“It can be very troubling for folks when their water is shut off,” said Carlos Baia, deputy city manager for development.
“This is very real,” Bouley said. “We had a situation on South Main Street where a business shut it off to the houses behind it.”
In an effort to educate property owners and to start addressing the problem, city councilors considered an ordinance. One property owner, Jenny Timbas, came to the city council meeting and learned about this issue for the first time after 20 years in her home.
“This is an incentive program,” Aspell said, for these properties to get a direct connection to the water main.
Under the ordinance, the city of Concord would provide a connection between the water main and the property line for free – worth about $1,500.
For the on-property work, which could be more pricey, the city would allow it to be paid off over 10 years in exchange for a lien on the property.
In the meantime, piggy back properties that opt out of this program will begin paying a $200 fine when the city has to hook up a temporary hose to their house after the neighbor’s water is shut off.
The fee will go into effect after the second such incident.
The ordinance would also record an official notice with the Merrimack County Registry of Deeds for all these properties, so homeowners know about the problem.
City councilors approved this ordinance unanimously.
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)