CODE BLUE: $3 Million Shelter Sited

BALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution during its monthly meeting Aug. 20 to purchase a 1.4-acre parcel at 96 -116 Ballston Ave. (Route 50) in Saratoga Springs for $3 million as the future location of a permanent Code Blue homeless shelter. 

A memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, was also unanimously approved in anticipation of entering into a long-term lease with the Shelters of Saratoga organization to build and operate the cold-weather shelter.     

The goal is to have a facility open on-site by the fall of 2025, said Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Phil Barrett.  

Code Blue protocols are activated when the temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit or less, including wind chill. As an emergency wintertime shelter, it presents a different setting than a year-round 24/7 low-barrier shelter that has been discussed in Saratoga Springs in recent years. 

“The county has a responsibility that’s mandated by New York State that we need to fulfill,” Barrett said. “We need a permanent location because we’re in a very difficult position year-to-year trying to find a Code Blue shelter. We found a piece of property that can be purchased at a very attractive price – based on the zoning, based on the fact that there’s a building on the property – to be a solution to the problem.” 

The parcel was appraised at approximately $3.2 million, according to the board resolution. It stands directly opposite a commercial strip mall which features a market and other amenities and is along a public bus transport line. 

“The zoning on the parcel allows for a great deal of density, multi-family projects,” Barrett said.

Plans call for the county to purchase the parcel for about $3 million and as owner of the property enter into a long-term lease with Shelters of Saratoga, or SOS, who will presumably use the one existing building on site as well as raise funds to develop the property where a shelter will be constructed. 

“Ground leases of this type are typically over many years, at least 50 years, and there are provisions in there: if the organization were to go defunct, if there were some other circumstances where they were not able to provide the services any longer or no longer fiscally viable, then that building would revert to the county,” Barrett said. “It’s important that the county have some influence over any programs that occur there – and that’s something we will have through an MOU with Shelters, through our ownership of the property, so the county is protected.”

Basically, the county will purchase the land, and SOS will pay for the construction and operational expenses of the shelter, including staffing, utilities, and maintenance.  

The MOU will outline the basic financial arrangements and the County’s general responsibilities, including acquiring the parcel of land, leasing it to Shelters of Saratoga, and exercising final authority over which programs are conducted on the property.

County leadership and S.O.S. are philosophically aligned, Barrett added. “The county doesn’t want a low-barrier shelter, neither does Shelters. The county doesn’t want a safe injection site, or anything of that sort, neither does Shelters.”  

S.O.S. has operated a Code Blue shelter at a variety of temporary locations in Saratoga Springs during the past several years, efforts to site a permanent shelter rejected at every turn by those living close-by or with nearby interests. 

Supervisor Michele Madigan, who represents the city of Saratoga Springs at the county level, thanked her fellow board members for agreeing to the proposal, adding that the securing of a permanent site was a long time coming and is an important step to address a community need. 

“Our first Code Blue Shelter in Saratoga Springs opened in 2013 and in 2016 this became a government mandate,” Supervisor Madigan said.

The Code Blue Saratoga program was born from the tragic death of Nancy Pitts. The 54-year-old mother of two sought shelter on a Williams Street porch during a frigid December night in 2013. She was discovered by police the next morning. Within days of the homeless woman’s death, a cooperative partnership between then mayor-elect Joanne Yepsen, non-profit organizations, and members of the community was initiated and a plan set in motion to site an emergency shelter in the city. A series of cold-weather shelters have followed, each on a temporary winter-to-spring basis. 

The Code Blue program provides people with winter shelter and safety from the cold. In addition to overnight shelter, the organization offers nightly dinners and resource navigation, supportive housing, and linkage to treatment. The 2023-24 winter season included 299 unduplicated guests and was open for 171 nights, with 11,560 meals served donated by local businesses and organizations, according to S.O.S.