(Photo by Brett Dunlap) Wood County Commissioners Robert Tebay, Jimmy Colombo and Blair Couch discussed how to best utilize and coordinate heating stations around the area during times of extreme cold with a representative from the United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley during Monday’s meeting.

PARKERSBURG — The United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley will be the primary contact for organizations looking at setting up warming stations and other kinds of temporary shelters during extreme weather events as well as the people looking for these places.

Wood County Commission President Blair Couch said he and Wood County Sheriff Rick Woodyard were approached by the United Way about a process on how a warming station or cooling station would be set up.

United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley Executive Director Stacy DeCicco appeared before the commission to discuss how this agreement would work and the protocols put in place to help organizations establish these stations in times of extreme weather, including cold periods during the winter and hot periods during the summer and how they are set up and how people would be able to find them.

“We want to see some basic things,” DeCicco said. “Do they have a volunteer procedure in place? How are they going to handle pets?”

The point is to get people thinking more critically about the things they are doing, she added.

“It is also about getting them on the radar and we feel like we can work with both the city and the county to make everyone aware of where the shelters are,” DeCicco said.

Officials handed out a “Warming Station Listing Policy” to those in attendance.

“The purpose of this policy is to establish the minimum criteria and operating standards required for warming stations to be listed as resources within the WV 211 database,” the document said. “This policy ensures that individuals seeking warming services are referred to safe, compliant, and consistently managed locations.”

It included such things as eligibility for listing; administrative requirements; health, safety and compliance standards; participant policies and protections; staffing requirements; service delivery requirements; insurance requirements; compliance and removal; and review and updates.

“It won’t stop any of the side-hustle shelters going on,” DeCicco said. “I think it protects everyone if we are all making an effort.

“We always want to build capacity with other organizations so if they haven’t thought about how they can develop volunteer policies, pet policies and how they need to have insurance. This can be a chance to move some of them along in that direction.”

The policies would also help organizations make sure they are being safe in setting up these places, DeCicco said.

“It is some solid first steps we could take,” she said.

Woodyard said there are rules that organizations have to abide by where they could be liable if they don’t, including health department regulations, fire codes and more.

The county said during cold weather events last year there wasn’t a central organization tracking where warming stations were nor referring people or guiding people to where they could go.

“The Wood County Commission is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all residents, especially during periods of extreme weather,” said the agreement signed by all three commissioners. “To provide a clear, consistent, and effective process for individuals and families seeking emergency warming shelter placement, the Commission is designating United Way as the primary point of contact for all homelessness-related referrals during cold-weather events.”

Last year, several organizations established pop-up shelters in the area, the agreement stated. The commission was approached regarding funding and the operation of these shelters. These concerns were referred to the Wood County Health Department and the County Emergency Management Division.

“During this event, it became evident that there was little to no coordination or communication among shelters,” the agreement stated. “The Commission believes that a streamlined and organized point of contact is necessary to address these issues.

Working with United Way, the commission aims to ensure that shelters requesting assistance meet required guidelines to ensure the legal compliance and safety of both occupants and staff in pop-up or established emergency shelters, the agreement said.

“This partnership will help ensure timely responses, reduce confusion, and improve coordination across the community,” it said. “The Wood County Commission appreciates the continued collaboration of United Way and our local service organizations as we work together to protect vulnerable individuals during the winter season.”

In other business, the commission decided to seek out additional candidates for two available positions on the Lubeck Public Service District Board.

The commission interviewed Tim Goosman and Rick Olcott last week for the positions. However, commissioners on Monday said they wanted to consider additional people and are continuing to seek interested candidates.

They are looking at some local organizations for recommendations, including the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley and the Wood County Development Authority among others.

The commission also received a bid from Atlantic Tactical Inc. of New Cumberland, Pa., for 70 Shadow System XR290 9mm handguns with Aimpoint ACRO red dot sights for a total cost of $69,943.30. The bid was sent to Woodyard to review.