How to resolve AdBlock issue? BALLSTON SPA — At its monthly full-member board meeting July 19, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors approved a lease agreement for the short-term lease of the rear portion of 145 South Broadway in Saratoga Springs - also known as 4 Adelphi St. – to be used as a “Code Blue” emergency homeless shelter for the winter months.
The term of the lease, once signed, is effective immediately and runs through April 30, 2023 at a cost of $8,000 per month. Much of that funding is anticipated to be reimbursed by the state Department of Social Services.
In 2020, Shelters of Saratoga - which oversees the Code Blue shelter program – operated the same temporary venue, a 61-bed facility just west of South Broadway, which it leased through 2021.
Motivated to action in the wake of the death of a city woman exposed to a winter’s elements on a December night in 2013, a temporary homeless emergency shelter was launched in Saratoga Springs that Christmas Eve at St. Peter’s Parish Center.
A series of temporary winter shelters, sited at a variety of venues across town, have followed: the Salvation Army building west of Broadway and Soul Saving Station Church east of Broadway, among them. Presbyterian New England Congregational Church was also open for extended periods to care for any “overflow” of people requiring shelter during cold temperature spells.
In addition to approving the temporary lease of the Adelphi Street building, members of the board expressed a desire to seek a location that could be used on a permanent basis starting in winter 2023.
The Board also approved a rental agreement with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the placement of communications and related equipment on the county’s radio communications shelter located at 99 Radar Road in the town of Stillwater. The FBI sought to rent the space for the placement, operation and maintenance of communications equipment to improve their radio communications, according to the agreement.
The one-year rental agreement, at $250 per month begins Aug. 1, with the option to renew annually for an additional 9 years on the same terms and rental cost.
The Board also authorized a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of the Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center, for the loan of 3 thermal imaging cameras and 12-night vision goggles for one year, at a cost of $4,500. The estimated cost of purchasing the equipment outright is approximately $49,500.
