The Dutchess County Legislature approved funding to explore turning an old jail in Poughkeepsie into a temporary homeless shelter.

This short-term facility will replace the current temporary emergency homeless shelter the county has on North Hamilton Street.

In order to address an increase in homelessness and the rising cost of housing, Dutchess County opened this facility in 2015 known as the “pods” on North Hamilton Street. It was specifically meant for inmates released from jail.

“They didn't fulfill the need at the time, but they are showing their age. They are quite honestly, we toured them yesterday and we need to do some work on them, even in the short term. So we need a longer-term solution. But there's an immediate need,” said Dutchess County Legislature Chairman Gregg Pulver.

Pulver says the county isn’t making long-term plans for using the old jail, which was built in 1995.

“Unfortunately, it's a narrow search because they have to be close to a bus line there, has to be near services,” Pulver said. “So, you know the sphere that we look in is very narrow. So, we think that this buys us the time we need to do that.”

Pulver says that time could be anywhere from one year to five years. About $725,000 will be used for the design and construction of the facility — a price tag which is being met with some skepticism.

Dutchess County Legislature Minority Leader Yvette Valdez-Smith believes other options should be explored.

“Almost a million dollars — over $700,000 — just for some design work on the jail for it to be able to be really looked at in the right way, to be able to become this homeless shelter. I take this deadly seriously because this is a matter of life and death,” said Smith.

Poughkeepsie resident John Scharczuk lives across the street from the jail and says he sees a lot of people come in and out of the pods complaining about the living conditions inside.

“Unfortunately, people in there get sick and up in the hospital. Ambulances are coming there all the time,” said Scharczuk.

Overall Pulver believes having the developers fix a section of the 1995 jail will be a step forward in solving the housing issue in Dutchess County.

“Ultimately what we want to do is we want to we want to create a path to owning a home or at least renting a home and giving them the opportunity to have a permanent residence in Dutchess County,” Pulver said. “So that's the plan. The 95 building gives us that room that we need to have the social workers and the programs that are needed to make that happen.”

A stakeholder group composed of local elected representatives, municipal residents, business owners and clergy is scheduled to meet sometime in the near future to discuss further on the upcoming project.