WASCO, Calif. (KERO) — Cooling centers across Kern County are open as temperatures were forecasted to tip 105 degrees, but Wasco's city-run facility is drawing almost no visitors — and that has officials questioning whether to keep operating it.
According to a report filed with Wasco city council, just one person used the Wasco cooling center on three of the seven days it was open this summer. That stretch cost the city about $3,800 in overtime.
Public Works Director Luis Villa said that low turnout has been the trend since the city started operating its own cooling center.
City Manager Scott Hurlbert said the city has used a variety of methods to let residents know when the center is open, but those efforts have not generated much interest.
"It's a little bit disappointing for us to not have folks come, but at the same time, if it's a service that people have figured out other ways to keep cool during the heat waves, then, you know, it's, it's not worth having services that nobody's going to take advantage of," Hurlbert said.
23ABC visited the cooling center Thursday to see the turnout firsthand. During the three hours we were there, just two people who were not affiliated with the city stopped by.
Wasco Mayor Pro Tem Gilberto Reyna was also at the facility. He said he believes the cooling center is an important service for the city to provide.
"When it's closed permanently, the people will not have the opportunity to find a place to find some solace from the extreme heat. And so that's my concern. My concern is that we need to make it available for whenever that individual or individuals that the extreme weather is out there that they need to find a place where they can cool themselves." Reyna said.
With summer nearing its end, council members discussed whether this was the right time to have the conversation or whether it should wait until after the worst of the heat has passed.
"I think we need to be planning months in advance and not, you know, week by week or two weeks or whatnot. So, to me, really, you know, we're going to gather all this information, and then when we're doing that yearly planning, this needs to go in there," said Councilmember Valentin Medina.
For now, the city voted to keep the cooling center open on days that meet the criteria for activation, but expects to revisit the question of whether to continue operating it at a later date.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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