Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

Committee discusses new MRHS building as emergency shelter

Date: 12/14/2011

Dec. 12, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

WILBRAHAM — Whether or not the new Minnechaug Regional High School will act as an emergency shelter in the event of future severe weather is a subject that continues to be debated.

At the Dec. 8 School Building Committee meeting, Chair John Lovejoy said many members of the committee, including himself, have been questioned by members of the community as to why the existing high school was not used as a shelter and if the new building would be able to serve as an Emergency Operation Center.

During the week following the Dec. 29 snowstorm, Wilbraham residents in need of shelter had to go to the Hampden Senior Center.

Project Manager Raymond Kinghorn explained that physically, the new building would fall somewhere between the category of being a warming station and an emergency shelter, but would not qualify as an Emergency Operation Center.

“There are three categories. The first is a warming station, which means the building has heat and that’s it,” he said. “The second is an emergency shelter, which, among other things, has a generator, a place to prepare food and cots for people to spend the night. The third is an Emergency Operation Center, which is only really needed in the case of an earthquake or a major hurricane. That needs to have the capabilities to act as a dispatch center for police, fire and other emergency agencies. There are very few in Massachusetts.”

Kinghorn went on to explain that right now, the building could not qualify as a shelter without the cots.

Wilbraham Board of Selectmen Chair Patrick Brady interjected, stating that it is not the responsibility of the School Building Committee to decide whether or not the school would be used as a shelter in emergency situations.

“That is a decision for the [Wilbraham and Hampden] Boards of Selectmen and the School Committee,” he said. “We will decide what will be a warming station and what will be a shelter.”

Brady said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a lengthy document outlining the requirements and regulations surrounding emergency shelters.

“I doubt anyone in this room has read it,” he said.

Brady also asserted that he believed there was a strong movement within the School Building Committee to ensure that the new school building does not become an emergency shelter, an accusation that was challenged by some on the committee.

“I think you have more supporters in [creating a shelter at the school] than you think you do,” committee member John Logan said.

Lovejoy explained that the purpose of the conversation was not to decide whether or not the school was going to be a shelter, but rather to inform members of the committee so they can answer questions that may be posed to them.

The committee agreed that any operational decisions involving emergency shelters would be in the hands of the respective towns and the School Committee.



Bookmark and Share