Strafford County commissioners approve minutes, say shelter activation will be covered by $140,000 CFA grant

Strafford County commissioners approved routine minutes and addressed an activated emergency shelter, saying the county will use a Coastal/Federal Assistance (CFA) grant to cover costs rather than seek an immediate taxpayer supplement. Speaker 1 told the board the "shelter has been activated" and that staff are under strain from continuous operations.

"We're gonna use our plan right now is to use that money to offset any additional cost that we may incur with the vendor as a result of them being open forever here," Speaker 1 said, referring to an available CFA award of "about a $140,000." Speaker 1 added the county would try to return a portion of that money in the future if conditions permit.

Commissioners discussed the risk that sustained cold weather could push the shelter beyond its current budget allocation. Speaker 1 warned that if the weather "continues" the shelter might not be able to stay within its budget allocation and noted the county will attempt to avoid asking local taxpayers for new funds.

The meeting record shows the board moved and approved minutes for earlier meetings; the chair said the vote was unanimous and two remaining sets of minutes were postponed to a future meeting. Later in the session, Speaker 1 moved to go into public session and called for a roll call.

Next steps: county staff will draw down the cited CFA grant to offset vendor costs related to the shelter activation and report back as conditions change.