The Washington County Board of Supervisors held an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon, and unanimously approved a contract with Skinny Bones Pumpkin Patch to establish a staging area for volunteers and county residents following the April 26 tornado.
Supervisor Jon Stewart was absent from the meeting.
The term for the contract was approved for 60 days at $500 per month.
"Certainly appreciate the Bledsoes [Maria and Jeff] for getting us a landing spot for this important activity for Salvation Army," said Supervisors Chairman Steve Dethlefs.
Dethlefs explained that after the tornado first hit, the main hub for holding supplies and meeting with residents has been the Lakeland subdivision clubhouse.
"They have some planned events coming up," Dethlefs said. "We needed to find somewhere else. The next available (closest) place was Skinny Bones. We wanted to stay out in that area."
"It's kind of central to the zone," added Supervisor Kevin Barnhill. "What's available at the disaster assistance center is, if you want to volunteer to help anyone, you can sign up there. Salvation Army has people up there taking I.D.s and making sure people that are wanting to volunteer are there for the right reasons. In addition, the people that need help also check in there. It's not just Salvation Army — they're the lead. It's a multi-agency center now. They can coordinate volunteers with people who need help, they also have some supplies there — totes, tarps, shovels, water — they've been organizing feedings... and they've been provided through several different donations.
"They need a place to coordinate with Salvation Army (who is leading the operation), Red Cross, Team Rubicon, Operation Blessing, Southern Baptist Convention."
Supervisor Lisa Kramer indicated she received "several calls" concerned about the move to Skinny Bones from Lakeland.
"There's two drivers: that [County Road] 34 Blair High Road is, really, a pretty dangerous intersection to start with for entrance and exits," Barnhill said. "With increased traffic to Lakeland, exponentially I would think compared to what that's used to... Skinny Bones is much more set up for traffic, parking, staging — it's a bigger space."
Barnhill said the Washington County Fairgrounds was also considered as a hub, but felt it was too far away from the area of disaster.
During the public comment period, a few volunteers voiced some points of frustration they had, citing a lack of communication.
Jen Munger, who has been volunteering at Lakeland, said she felt moving the operations to Skinny Bones, which occurred around 2 p.m. Thursday, was too soon.
"I think we have a big disconnect between the people on the ground that I've personally been working with and what's really going on," she said. "We just wish there was more transparency with that... because that move took a lot of resources from your community to do it. I appreciate what we're doing and I do see the need to do it... but the urgency of the move that just happened today disrupted your whole operations up there and your whole system that's been working since Saturday."
Erika Cada, director of Children's and Youth Ministries for First Lutheran Church-ELCA, which has also acted as a destination for supplies people may need, also voiced concerns she had.
""The communication — we don't know who to ask for help," Cada said. "We have to have a command. We have to have one person or one organization who is in charge of all of that."
Barnhill noted the county has a disaster relief information tab on its website: washingtoncountyne.gov, and the number to call is 211 for questions on volunteerism, supplies and more.
"That data is then transferred to Salvation Army and the county emergency management," he said.
A town hall is being held Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Kennard Auditorium, 306 West Second St., to discuss disaster relief efforts in the county.
