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A resolution designating the Washington County Fairgrounds as a primary warming shelter in the event of extreme winter weather receives approval.

Washington County Emergency Management (WCEM) Director Kary Cox says they are training volunteers from local non-profits that will work as shelter managers. Cox says he is very happy with their efforts and their willingness to step up. He says WCEM just needs to get them trained up so they are ready to activate the shelter if it is needed.

American Red Cross had been Washington County's shelter resource. Cox says Red Cross is no longer providing this service in a capacity that is needed locally. He says WCEM learned this last year when they put in a shelter request through Red Cross during February's winter storm. The request was denied.

WCEM scrambled to find a resource from there. Cox says Westside Community Center (WCC) in Bartlesville stepped up and provided a warming shelter location in Washington County. He says they realized that they were going to need to do something different if Red Cross wasn't going to be able to provide warming shelter services as they had in the past.

According to Cox, WCC was not interested in being a permanent location for a warming shelter.  Cox says they used the Washington County Fairgrounds as an alternate warming site in the past if they needed the facility. He says the County now no longer has a warming shelter apart from the fairgrounds to utilize.

In the case of power outages during a winter storm, Cox says WCEM has generators to keep the building up and running.

The Washington County Commissioners unanimously approved this item on Tuesday morning.