PERMANENT HOMELESS SHELTER: PROBLEM SOLVED, PROBLEMS ARISE

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The current lease for the temporary Code Blue shelter on Adelphi Street runs through April 30 at a cost of $8,000 per month.

The city resolution approved in October calls for the development of “a state-mandated Code Blue Shelter, a navigation center, and a full-time low-threshold shelter on the property.”

The specific definition of a “low barrier shelter” and of a “navigation center” vary from state-to-state. Recent legislation in California details “navigation centers” as providing temporary room and board while case managers work to connect homeless individuals and families to income, public benefits, health services and permanent housing or other shelter.

Meanwhile, having a “low barrier” points to things such as eliminating curfews and not requiring background checks, sobriety or mandatory treatment.

It is not clear at this time whether any of these points would be put in effect in Saratoga Springs.

The Dilemma

Some members of the nearby Saratoga Central Catholic School have expressed concern regarding the siting of a “low barrier” shelter in close proximity to children. The topic “caused an uproar” when it came up for discussion during a general meeting last week staged by the Saratoga Central Catholic Security Committee.

“As a committee, we have been talking about the homeless shelter on-and-off for a little while,” said committee member Kevin Zacharewicz. “We’re religious people, we’re Catholic people, so we’re not against the homeless shelter; we’re just against the location of the homeless shelter. We don’t feel that it should be basically touching the property, or be near our kids, our school,” he said.

The group met with Shelters of Saratoga Executive Director Duane J. Vaughn on Dec. 20, Zacharewicz said. “We talked about that it would be between basically 40 people on the average a night in the summertime, and 60 people an average a night in the wintertime. … We talked about if he does any background checks on his clients, the homeless. He kind of said no.

“We have to help these people out. We get that,” Zacharewicz said. “We understand all this, but again, the location is just not the right mix, and it caused an uproar, obviously, at the school meeting.”

A meeting regarding the matter is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30 in the school gymnasium.

City Mayor Ron Kim said this week that discussions with local school and church officials are ongoing and that the city is cognizant of mitigating any impact the center may have on them, and how that materializes is a matter to be decided with future conversations.

“Code Blue” shelter and shelter services are provided to the homeless community whenever inclement winter weather temperatures are at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, inclusive of National Weather Service calculations for windchill. 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 have followed.

In addition to becoming a permanently sited 24/7 “Code Blue” shelter, the city had expressed some interest in also pursuing the possibility of adding about 40 affordable housing apartments in an adjacent space on the parcel that would assist residents in their transitioning process - a continuum of care with the ultimate goal of helping people move from homelessness to sustained housing on their own.

(Reporter Dylan McGlynn contributed to this report.)

Ballston

Briarwood Brooks Development LLC sold property at 14 America Way to Hootman LLC for $70,000

Briarwood Brooks Development LLC sold property at 12 America Way to Hootman LLC for $70,000

Barbera Homes Kelley Farms LLC sold property at 4 Stablegate Dr to William Venezio for $700,000

Brookview Court Inc sold property at 70 Arcadia Way to Timothy Wright for $330,607

MALTA

Robert Bissonette sold property at 440 Maple Ave to Maureen Fitch for $470,000

Keith Cieslionski sold property at 140 Squashville Rd to Mary Donnellan for $225,000

MOREAU

Michaels Group Homes LLC sold property at 36 Winterberry Lane to Tasheim Stratton for $705,010

SARATOGA SPRINGS

Tradewind Holdings LLC sold property at 56 Birch St to Peerless Building LLC for $162,500

Kerry Brennan sold property at 17 Pinewood Ave to Brian Cook for $675,000

East Ave properties LLC sold property at 268 Broadway Unit 201 to 4 Pillar Real Estate Holding LLC for $1,175,000

Donald Beyer sold property at 201 West Circular St to Glonnie LLC for $865,000

Frank Robens sold property at 23 Jaipur Lane to Ryan Robens for $250,000

Rory Moran sold property at 37 First St to Brendon McCarthy for $592,000

Wilton

Laurence Zeitlin sold property at 4394 Rt 50 to Route 50 Holdings LLC for $182,000

North Manor Development LLC sold property at 2 Campbell Dr to Bonacio Construction Inc. for $100,000

Bonacio Construction Inc. sold property at 2 Campbell Dr to Joseph Mullen for $646,311

Amanda Wildy sold property at 1 Maya Dr to Kevin Callahan for $462,000

SDI Matto DL Saratoga Springs Inc sold property at 15 Old Gick Rd to Koto Hibachi Sushi Restaurant Inc for $2,125,000

Erica Thorndquist sold property at 1 Ushu Court to Michael Capadona for $610,000

Annette Selig sold property at 71 Damascus Dr to Gregory Kies for $405,000