Norman City Council voted to approve an emergency warming shelter for people without housing to use in the winter during its Tuesday meeting.
Ward 1 Councilmember Brandi Studley said there were “multiple deaths” of people without housing during extreme weather temperatures last year.
Norman Chief of Police Kevin Foster said it would be safer for those people to be housed, which would help decrease the amount of calls NPD responds to regarding unhoused individuals on the streets.
“We can deal with the people who are more cooperative and want to get help, but this is a violent, small group within the homeless community who need to get help before they commit acts of violence,” Foster said of individuals facing substance use and mental illness.
The location of the new warming shelter is at 109 W. Gray St., providing close proximity to the police department.
Ward 6 Councilmember Elizabeth Foreman said she suggested the location on Gray Street as a last resort.
Foreman said the location is not in the midst of multiple commercial businesses, and she wanted to ensure the individuals would have transportation to Food & Shelter.
About 20 Normanites implored the city council to move forward with the warming shelter to prevent unhoused Normanites from freezing to death.
Despite his concerns with the location of the warming shelter, Ward 8 Councilmember Matthew Peacock said he was on board with the plan to house individuals experiencing homelessness before extreme winter temperatures arrive.
Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Holman said churches and nonprofit organizations would be preferred locations for a warming shelter, but with no options available, city funding is the last resort.
“We have an obligation to do something when no one else can or will,” Holman said.
Studley said she has experienced homelessness because Norman could not accommodate at the time.
Ward 5 Councilmember Rarchar Tortorello said housing just 40 people won’t be enough, but that “it’s the right thing to do.”
Ward 2 Councilmember Lauren Schueler said they won’t be helping only 40 people since people will ideally be moving in and out.
“Nobody else is stepping up to the plate,” Schueler said. “Saying no on this is providing an opportunity for members of our community to die, and I won’t have that on my conscience.”
The approval for the warming shelter passed 8 to 1, with Ward 3 Councilmember Kelly Lynn voting no.
The former nursing home at 1210 W. Robinson St. was inspected for affordable housing, but it was found to be way over budget, Studley said. The Council originally decided to inspect the nursing home as they considered using it for a warming shelter, but terminated the idea after discovering the required costs of renovation.
The previous emergency warming shelter on East Comanche Street closed on June 27 after the landlord decided not to renew the monthly lease.
The council also discussed affordable housing, during which Studley said the delay in increasing affordable housing is because of the cost to renovate.
The council also approved a police department grant to better evaluate staff statistics and provide portable fingerprint scanners, which would check fingerprints wirelessly.
Studley expressed concern about checking fingerprints in the field, where officers will have “private information that they shouldn’t have without a warrant.”
