The center, which will be open from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily, will be able to accommodate 25-30 people, according to Bobbie Bagley, director of the Division of Public Health & Community Services.

The cost of operating the center through April 30 would be roughly $97,000, which Mayor Jim Donchess said will come from the Opioid Abatement Trust Fund, which currently maintains a balance of about $326,000.

The funding will cover East Coast’s support services, “to include staffing, payroll, HR, creation of SOPs (standard operating procedures), emergency staffing coverage,” along with “time sensitive cleaning,” according to the contract.

Bagley said the warming center would supplement the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter’s Spring Street facility, which is open 24 hours a day and provides sleeping quarters and meals.

Although officials began noticing a growing number of unhoused individuals last summer, Bagley said they didn’t expect the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter (NSKS) to reach capacity so quickly.

Unlike the NSKS, the warming center won’t have sleeping mats on the floor, but there will be tables and chairs “where people can sit and at least stay warm,” Bagley said.

According to Bagley and Donchess, the fact that the city took steps several years ago to enter as a plaintiff in the nationwide opioid lawsuits against Perdue and other big pharmaceutical companies helped enhance the size of the settlement Nashua received.

“As a result of being one of the main plaintiffs in that litigation, we receive a greater share of the national opioid settlements than we otherwise would if we were simply a receiver community,” Donchess told aldermen.

nashuanews@unionleader.com