Fiscal Court hears problems county has had using civic center as a warming shelter
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 — Nelson County Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins took time du during the court’s meeting Tuesday to address complaints that the county had not opened the Nelson County Civic Center as a warming shelter in a timely manner.
Hutchins and county government in general took quite a verbal beating on social media from locals who felt the county was ignoring the plight of people who needed a warm place to stay.
Hutchins said that miscommunication between he and Brad Metcalf, the assistant judge-executive, led to a delayed in opening the shelter. Another factor was that the county wanted to avoid the problems caused by a lack of personnel to monitor the shelter when it was open.
Nelson County Sheriff Ramon Pineiroa told the court that his officers and the city police could not afford to place an officer fulltime at the shelter to monitor the activities of those who were staying there. Pineiroa said his officers and city police would stop by and check on the shelter from time to time when it was open. Unfortunately a number of shelter users created problems for everyone else.
Some users would defecate in their provided cot and blankets, Pineroa explained, creating mess that they left for others to clean up. Before the center could be opened,
Hutchins said he had attempted to find volunteers who could monitor the warning shelter, but those volunteers were not available when needed. Hutchins said he wanted to have private security in place to avoid the problems from last winter.
Despite the social media complaints, the county opened the Civic Center warming shelter at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. According to Hutchins, as of Tuesday morning Jan. 7th, no one has used the warming shelter.
CANNABIS BUSINESS LICENSE. Nelson Fiscal Court approved first reading on a proposed ordinance that creates a licensing framework for cannabis-related businesses that wish to operate in Nelson County.
So far there have been inquiries regarding licensing requirements in Nelson County. The court plan to adopt a similar licensing framework as other counties have adopted.
The court will give the ordinance final approval at its next meeting this month.
UP NEXT. Nelson Fiscal Court will meet next at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025.
