The city of Chico has renewed its contract with the nonprofit Safe Space to provide emergency sheltering during periods of dangerously hot or cold temperatures — and it’s taken more than two months to finalize.
While the city has been sweltering under extreme heat for most of the summer, a contract that had lapsed in July between the nonprofit and the city sat unsigned.
When NSPR inquired about the status of the contract during a heat wave last month, City Manager Mark Sorensen said it had been extended. That response quickly changed when Public Works Director Erik Gustafson told the station the contract was still being negotiated. At that point he said it was pending minor changes and was expected to be finalized soon…