The City of Mount Vernon being able to purchase a needed generator for the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center adds to the ability to shelter individuals in numerous areas of the community of Mount Vernon.

The city now has generators at the Mount Vernon Lisbon Police Department, Mount Vernon City Hall and the LBC moving forward.

As city administrator Chris Nosbisch said, those generators allow the different buildings in the community to be utilized as shelters. While all are utilized as cooling and warming shelters for citizens during office hours, the city has also determined which buildings are best set up for things like allowing for monitored sleep for people who have C-PAP or oxygen administered during their sleeping in case of power outages.

As winter weather approaches, it’s also important to remember that bad weather can happen at any times. Like Nosbisch said, his concern was not as much a cooling station during the summer, as plenty of locations can provide that relief, but more concerns about ice storms and providing a safe respite for people who may be stuck in the community of Mount Vernon during one of those occurrences.

As Nosbisch noted, there will never be a way for all citizens in a community to be protected at a shelter. Indeed, during the derecho, Nosbisch said the community was lucky Cornell was not in class at that moment, as that would have increased the number of people needing electricity or cooling during the heat waves that followed.

It may have taken a couple bids for the project of adding a generator, but the safety that provides in the coming years and having another shelter in town is going to be worth it.