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Serving Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue and Carey
February 7, 2023
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A group called Concerned Neighbors and community activist Herbert Romero helped gather members of the clergy and local church congregations together in Hailey on Jan. 13. Ketchum will likely help insure a winter-long shelter soon.
The city of Ketchum set to sign a $0 lease to open a temporary homeless shelter in Hailey that will operate through the winter, likely closing in April or May, according to Mayor Neil Bradshaw.
The agreement, which still needs final approval from the Ketchum City Council, doesn’t come with a funding commitment from the city, Bradshaw said, but does allow the facility to operate under Ketchum’s municipal insurance policy.
“I am happy to help with this,” Councilmember Courtney Hamilton said on Tuesday. “We received a letter from local nonprofits basically begging us as local governments to do something about this issue, and I’m proud that Ketchum is stepping up and making things happen. I’d love to see Hailey and the County be willing to do so, too.”
Hailey and Blaine County had insurance concerns, Ketchum staff told the council. The Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, or ICRMP, which insures all municipalities in the state, said that there is no reason to be concerned, according to the staff report.
City Administrator Jade Riley reassured the council.
Courtney Hamilton
“I have overseen a shelter before, and this is what you do—you add it to your policy,” he said.
Also at question is time spent by Ketchum Housing Strategist Carissa Connelly, who heads the city’s housing efforts. She will be spending time operating logistics for the shelter. The council said that was fine, as long as she is able to maintain her primary duties for the city.
The shelter has begun the process of identifying residents and gathering supplies. On Jan. 13, faith leaders met in Hailey to coordinate. On Monday, representatives from local governments did the same. Area nonprofits are beginning the process of screening individuals to see who needs shelter immediately. And, volunteers are gathering bedding, cookware and more right now.
Thirty Blaine County residents—17 women and children and 13 men—were housed in separate facilities at the Blaine County Community Campus through the holidays, from Dec. 28 to Jan. 2, Blaine County Emergency Manager Chris Corwin said at the time. The residents had access to the Rec District’s gym facilities, including showers and laundry, and access to kitchen facilities at a nearby nonprofit.
The need for the shelter arose after nearly three dozen people were pushed out of their temporary hotel-room accommodations on Dec. 27 as hotel rooms across the Wood River Valley filled for the holiday season, Blaine County Commissioner Angenie McCleary said at the time.
The hotel rooms had been funded in part by the county, the city of Ketchum, the Blaine County Charitable Fund, the Blaine County Housing Authority and The Hunger Coalition, with tenants paying a maximum of 30% of their incomes to cover rent. The effort took on new urgency this winter in response to hundreds of Peruvian families arriving in the Wood River Valley—more than 150 with children—seeking asylum in the United States.
Recently, nonprofits have sounded alarms that temporary answers like hotel rooms are not sustainable through the winter. On Saturady, Jan. 21, 48 individuals that are being temporarily housed in the county’s hotels with lose their accommodations due to preexisting reservations, according to a letter submitted by a consortium of nonprofits to the Blaine County commissioners on Jan 10.
On Jan. 4, the letter states, more than 100 people were being housed by case managers from The Hunger Coalition, Blaine County Charitable Fund and St. Luke’s in temporary locations, like hotel rooms and private homes.
A group called Concerned Neighbors and community activist Herbert Romero helped gather members of the clergy and local church congregations together in Hailey on Jan. 13. Ketchum will likely help insure a winter-long shelter soon.
Express photo by Roland Lane
City’s Meadows plan falls through
On Tuesday, city staff reported back on a plan to place temporary units at The Meadows to shelter unhoused residents. The city had been ready to purchase homes to put at the Meadows during the winter, shifting to a city-owned Lewis Street lot later in the year.
That initiative looks unlikely to come through, Riley said.
“It’s been a Rubik’s cube,” he said.
According to Riley, the structures aren’t compatible with The Meadow’s electrical system.
“It is better for the city [in the long run] to wait to purchase the proper units for the Lewis Street lot,” Mayor Bradshaw said. 
The non-profit community has stepped up to deal with a problem that elected officials shove their heads in the snow to avoid. The powers that be do not seem to want to use their power. Only Ketchum is spending money on this. Why? Why aren't the County and other cities in WRV stepping up to do...anything?
As for Lewis Street, it boggles the mind why Ketchum is reserving it for low density emergency housing, when they are pushing for higher density in the commercial core. Something is deeply wrong with land use planning in Ketchum. That lot is a prime spot for higher density workforce housing. It makes one think that Ketchum Council doesn't have a workforce housing plan--they have some other plan--or no real plan.
@PB-I`m totally confused by this article. Could you perhaps explain in simple English what Ketchum is proposing (in Hailey), how it is to be financed , and where it is to be?
Of course I can’t. And I was at the meeting! There is nothing on it in the packet for the Council meeting. This is typical of the lack of transparency in how Ketchum operates. It is also indicative of the lack of “plan” and accountability in the so called Housing Plan the council adopted. No criteria for how to spend money. They make it up as they go along.
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In Hailey? Large enough? Ellsworth Inn????
The secrecy surrounding the location of this shelter may achieve more harm than good.
The non-profit community has stepped up to deal with a problem that elected officials shove their heads in the snow to avoid. The powers that be do not seem to want to use their power. Only Ketchum is spending money on this. Why? Why aren't the County and other cities in WRV stepping up to do...anything?
As for Lewis Street, it boggles the mind why Ketchum is reserving it for low density emergency housing, when they are pushing for higher density in the commercial core. Something is deeply wrong with land use planning in Ketchum. That lot is a prime spot for higher density workforce housing. It makes one think that Ketchum Council doesn't have a workforce housing plan--they have some other plan--or no real plan.
@PB-I`m totally confused by this article. Could you perhaps explain in simple English what Ketchum is proposing (in Hailey), how it is to be financed , and where it is to be?
Of course I can’t. And I was at the meeting! There is nothing on it in the packet for the Council meeting. This is typical of the lack of transparency in how Ketchum operates. It is also indicative of the lack of “plan” and accountability in the so called Housing Plan the council adopted. No criteria for how to spend money. They make it up as they go along.
Confusion reigns supreme.
Why? "The agreement"...."doesn`t come with a funding commitment from the city of Ketchum."
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