Prison officials address
questions, concerns (from the Lake
City Reporter)
Columbia County, FL (posted
Dec 18,
2009)
by Tony Britt
Bil Bryan, the president of Detain Inc. and a prison
consultant, answers questions made by concerned citizens
during the Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday. More
than 70 people attended the meeting where a presentation
clarifying citizens' concerns were made. Also pictured
are Michael Marling (from left), Municipal Capital
Market executive vice president, and Community
Education Centers senior vice president Mike Peletier.
(Jason Mathew Walker-Photo)
More than 70 people attended a Chamber of Commerce
informational meeting Thursday afternoon [Dec. 17] to
get details about a potential privately owned and
operated prison which may come to the area.
The meeting, which lasted more than 90 minutes,
featured prison consultant Bill Bryan, Municipal Capital
Markets executive vice president Michael Harling and
Community Education Centers senior vice president of
administration and operational support Mike Pelletier,
as the panel which fielded questions from citizens.
After initial introductions, residents asked
questions about the proposed facility’s funding, local
infrastructure, inmates, how local or federal tax
dollars would be used in the facility as well as
concerns about the inmates’ families being served or
supported through local services.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is considering
contracting with one or more contractors to build a
privately owned and operated correctional facility in
Columbia County. The facility could house up to 1,250
adult, male low-security inmates until then can be
deported.
Harling, who is hoping to finance the project,
explained how no county tax dollars would be used in the
construction of the facility and also told the audience
that he is uncertain who the specific owners of the
facility would be. According to him, the contract could
be purchased by real estate investment trust.
Community Education Centers plans to operate the
facility and Pelletier gave a timeline of how Columbia
County was chosen as a potential site and how the other
sites were eliminated. According to Pelletier, when the
Federal Bureau of Prisons released a Request For
Proposal listing their needs for additional prison
space, 22 projects were considered as possible
locations.
Columbia County Commission Chairman Ron Williams said
the county commission reserves the right to support or
not support the proposal depending on the information
received from additional research.
Plum Creek representative for the southern region
Todd Powell said the facility’s location could
potentially affect the Catalyst site and Rural Area of
Critical Concern site.
“The only way the property can be accessed is
actually right through the middle of the Plum Creek land
use amendment that was approved by the county commission
in November — that’s the only access to the site,” he
said. “When you look at our initial plan of a mixed use
type community, there is going to be conflict when you
think of work-force housing residential units with
having with a prison border right up to that.”
Lake City-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce board
of directors president Chris Bullard said the meeting
went well and people were pleased to have some of their
questions about the facility answered.
“The purpose of this meeting was informational,” he
said. “The Chamber of Commerce really hasn’t had a forum
for its members to express their opinions and have
questions answered. I doubt we’ll come out with an
opinion from this meeting.”
