BELLOWS FALLS — It was standing room only when Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark presented his plan for the Liberty Mill Justice Center (LMJC) to the public for the first time last week.
At least 50 villagers attended the meeting, many voicing skepticism about the private transitional housing facility for people entering or exiting the justice system, which Clark is proposing for the 57,000-foot former Chemco building at 203 Paper Mill Rd., at the confluence of the Saxtons and Connecticut rivers.
The project would also provide space for the Windham County Sheriff's offices, a regional police/fire/rescue dispatch center, a regional law-enforcement training facility, beds for people detained for public inebriation, and classroom and career center rooms.
In the aftermath of public questions and concerns about the plan, Clark will hold a follow-up meeting on Wednesday, Dec 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the Bellows Falls Opera House, with most of the meeting intended to address questions from the audience.
In a note endorsing the project, Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation Executive Director Francis “Dutch” Walsh, calling it a “welcome addition to the region,” wrote that the project “promises to be a model for criminal justice reform in southern Vermont and possibly throughout the country.”
Though it will not be a long-term holding facility for convicted criminals, opponents cited concerns for the safety of children and the impact of what residents called “those people on our streets” and in their community.
A groundswell of public concern has persisted in the aftermath of last week's meeting, including numerous discussions on the “The Future of Bellows Falls” Facebook group with almost universal opposition to the project, with many commenting that the project was developed out of the public eye and beyond the jurisdiction of voters or municipal boards.
A problem of perception already exists for the Village, one resident told The Commons.
“We're at such a fragile place in the Village right now - attracting people to [live and shop in] the Village has been a problem. Where we've got young business people coming in, buying a house and setting up shop on the Square, being perceived as the place where criminals are housed is not going to attract more [of the same].” He wondered if the tax base would begin to move away if the facility were located here.
When asked, “Why Bellows Falls?” Clark said the access to the Interstate 91 corridor makes it ideal as a hub for transporting detainees throughout the state.
He also said the former paper mill site would be ideal and available for the project. He did note that he had other location options if it did not work out, however.
The private business will, he hopes, eventually be organized as a federal, tax-exempt not-for-profit in seven years or so, Clark said.
Clark said the LMJC will be run like any business, seeking success and intending to be a good neighbor. He said the costs of running the place will come from fees for the beds and other services the facility provides.
Another Village resident thought that the building would have to be demolished, as it was concrete and had been sitting open to the elements for years, very likely degrading its integrity.
“They say they are going to use the current structure, but what if they get in there and discover they have to tear it down and build something completely new?”
A $23 million project
Clark has his work cut out for him. The estimated $23 million project is ambitious and cutting-edge, he said, addressing transitional housing for detainees awaiting trial and sentencing under oversight of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The facility would also provide monitoring, training programs, and support services for those fulfilling the conditions of their release.
Clark told residents that too many people are entering the legal system, many of whom are nonviolent offenders who have simply experienced a downward spiral of behavior with its accompanying social impact.
The negative consequences of that behavior are not successfully addressed with current jail and prison approaches, and incarcerating this population has led to greater economic expenses and societal costs, he said.
He cited the current lack of transitional programming, the limited support for offenders upon finishing their sentences, and a lack of transitional housing options.
All these factors decrease the safety of the region, said Clark, who told residents that, in addition to Walsh, he has enthusiastic support from the former Vermont Department of Corrections (DoC) Commissioner Andrew Pallito, Agency of Human Services Secretary Hal Cohen, Vermont Community Justice Training Council Executive Director Richard Gauthier, and Community Colleges of Vermont (CCV) Academic Coordinator Debra Grant, among others.
Rockingham Selectboard Chair Tom MacPhee, who supports the project, told The Commons that it would be good to get the property back on the tax rolls and employing people. He praised the innovation of the project.
Reaction among Village Trustees was mixed, according to minutes of the Dec. 5 meeting, with Trustee Nancy McAuliffe describing the project as “a pipe dream.”
Sixty-three people would be hired from the local community, Clark said.
Reaction on the streets
In the course of soliciting comments about the LMJC, The Commons was told repeatedly that some residents would seriously consider moving out of Bellows Falls if the facility were built.
Indeed, several petitions addressing a ballot at both the annual town and village meetings, and a third petition to be heard by the zoning board in the matter, are being circulated by former Village Trustee Deborah Wright.
Several people wondered what benefit the town and village would reap, other than the taxes from the property once the facility was built. And if the building is owned by a tax-exempt entity, those benefits are in question as well.
“It's a short-term solution for a long-term problem [of budgeting],” said one. “We need to be thinking in the long term about what we want this village to be known for. A prison?”
While technically not a prison, the combination of housing and the criminal justice system has added fuel to public concern.
Bellows Falls Police Chief Ron Lake said he will not know whether the project would preclude increased policing until he gets more information. When The Commons spoke with Lake, he said he last spoke with Clark at least four months ago and has not heard anything since, so he has “no opinion.”
He did say that he hoped to hear more from Clark about the project, “sooner than later.”
He added that “oh, yes,” the Bellows Falls Police Department will change how officers patrol the Village if the LMJC goes through.
Securing detainees
U.S. Marshal David Demag, based in Burlington, detailed the secure procedure for detainees who would come into and exit the building while awaiting trial.
“The Federal Marshals's component would not impact the community, other than money going in to the community,” Demag said.
Pre-trial detainees “would go in and get housed, and come out and go to a court,” he said. “When they are finished, they are either found innocent and go back to their community, or go to prison and are then housed out of state.”
Though detainees would be charged with a wide range of crimes, including sex offenses for a small number of them, “most of the people we deal with are drug offenders,” Demag continued. He said his program does not deal with aggravated assaults and robberies.
“You're not going to see federal prisoners walking down the streets of Bellows Falls. They will be under strict security” within the facility, he said.
“We would be using that facility with prisoners in full restraints brought into a secure area and then put in a cell in an isolated, secure area.” He said that when they are taken to trial, the process is reversed, reminding people that “our people are detainees and presumed to be innocent,” he said.
“And once we are finished with that process, they are either convicted and sentenced to the Bureau of Prisons, or found innocent and returned to their community.”
A line of questioning at the public meeting last week speculated about the families of the detainees or former inmates: What happens when “they” start moving in to town? Do we really want to attract “those kinds of people”?
Clark said data does not support that assumption. Families might visit, but they generally go back to their communities, as do the former inmates.
When prisoners have fulfilled the conditions of their release, Clark said, “They go home to where they have connections, family and friends, and a support system.”
For those who do not have family or a community support system, it is possible they might choose to settle locally, he said.
Marshals want to reduce transportation costs
Detainees are the U.S. Marshals Service's bailiwick. The Marshals are already paying to house and feed Vermonters arrested and awaiting trial.
Demag said that many detainees are housed in 10 to 13 facilities in five states. The U.S. Marshals Service has budgeted about $2 million a year in transportation costs, and it would realize savings from not having to bring a prisoner to Vermont from out of state.
“For a lot of reasons we won't be completely in state, based upon our needs,” Demag said.
Clark's plan to provide one central location that can accommodate the scale of their need for beds could save the U.S. Marshals on transportation costs, Demag said.
Demag was not so certain the Liberty Mill Justice Center would save the U.S. Marshals money. But if the facility is built, they will use it, he said.
The numbers of their detainees range from a low of 100 to a high of 150, he said, with 120 detainees now housed in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York.
He said while the court clerks are pretty good about working with the Marshals to get detainees to court from out of state, “oftentimes, it's like running a mini-bus company to produce someone a long ways from here for court.” He said the agency cannot just “go out and bring them back.” But the LMJC housing would allow that, he said.
“We're taking money that is already being spent and leveraging it to a better outcome than we are getting now” as a result of sending detainees to await trial to other states, Clark said. “We're using the same money, but differently.”
“The bulk [of the costs of the LMJC] is being paid for by an amount of money per bed per day,” Clark said, noting that those costs largely cover staff and programming.
A plan for funding
Funding the project is still in the early stages, according to Clark.
He said he has identified funding sources from the U.S. Department of Justice, Community Development Block Grants, tax credits, and loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Clark estimated that once the initial funding is approved and construction begins, the LMJC project will take 22 to 26 months to complete.
He said a USDA Rural Development loan could also provide further funding as well as program grants, including a $250,000 grant for architectural work that would be matched by a private individual.
He is counting on transport contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service, but formal memorandums of understanding will not be in place until the project is further along.
Clark said that for nonviolent offenders leaving prison, “The transitional housing costs will be paid through the state of Vermont,” and would be cheaper than housing them in the state's prison system.
Currently, Clark said, it costs the state “$40k to house a male inmate, and $70k to house a female inmate.” He estimated that, while acknowledging there might be occasional exceptions, few would stay in the LMJC facility longer than two to three months.
“It is not a long-term facility,” he said.
While at the facility, transitional housing inmates would have access to training programs provided by CCV, Clark said. Detainees will also have access to services from Health Care & Rehabilitation Services (HCRS) and medical services, and a case manager will assure they receive the individual help to make a successful transition to their communities.
Another private prison?
Some residents expressed distaste for a facility that profits from incarcerating people. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders purports to want to stop funding private prisons, although he signed a letter of support to Clark on U.S. Congressional letterhead along with Senator Patrick Leahy and Representative Peter Welch.
But will this really be a private prison?
No one will be sentenced to the facility to serve time, Clark said. The project is intended for short-term holding for those awaiting trial in Vermont, or former inmates leaving prison who need support services or skills or job training.
Clark clarified there are no mega-corporations (Corrections Corporation of America, for instance) involved, no out-of-state investors, and “no one I have to be beholden to.”
Clark, whose term as sheriff runs through 2017, said that if he gets voted out of office, another sheriff from another county would take over running the facility, guided by a board, and an already established operation, with policies and protocols in place by that time.
Would detainees threaten the community?
At the informational meeting, Clark told residents that no violent or sex offenders would be wandering the streets in proximity with their children.
Christopher Kibbe, superintendent of Windham Northeast Supervisory Union Schools and a board member of Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation, heard about the project last spring when Clark presented the project to that board to gain support.
“Now, if there were sexual offenders there, there might be a concern,” said Kibbe. But, he added, “If someone is involved in justice and working on improving their lot, they are not necessarily dangerous people.”
Clark said that no sex offenders would be housed at the facility.
However, Demag disagreed, noting that the U.S. Marshals do have a small percentage of detainees who are sex offenders. The high-security protocol and housing of their detainees at the facility would preclude them from roaming the community, however, he said.
Clark said those coming out of the justice system must meet conditions of release, and will be given both the supervision and oversight they need, as well as support and services to make a successful transition back into their home communities. Anyone who meets the conditions to be allowed out in the community would be under electronic monitoring, Clark said.
Will voters have a say?
Several Bellows Falls-related Facebook pages have been reflecting - and exaggerating - the fears that are taking hold of the community.
Some say they would not move back to Bellows Falls if the facility goes in, though they have been considering it.
Some say they want to be able to vote on the new business but new businesses that require renovations are governed by the zoning application and permitting process, not by public opinion.
Development Director and Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation (BFADC) Executive Director Francis “Dutch” Walsh said, “Zoning permits are necessary to open or expand a business or to change all or part of a business location to another use. The type of review for a project depends upon the zoning district in which the property is located.”
“As you can see, there are variables in the process,” he added. “However, most projects involving renovations, changes of use, and parking requirement changes would necessitate a zoning permit.”
Asked if the petitions circulating at present would bring the project to a vote, Municipal manager Willis “Chip” Stearns II said, “Until there is a petition presented and signatures validated, a determination of what it means cannot be made.”
Noting that a follow-up public meeting is scheduled [see sidebar], Stearns added that “the governing boards and [I] are aware of the public's concern and are sharing them with Sheriff Clark.”
Walsh added, “I have never heard of any project requiring a town vote for approval, unless that project involved bonding, or was a project directly involving a town/village owned property where taxes would need to be increased.”
Clark told The Commons that he did not think the proposed project would ever come to a town vote. And state statute does not require individual projects by individual county sheriffs to be approved by any entity other than those directly involved.
Some citizens are also deeply concerned about oversight.
“We do not really seek approval from one another [on sheriff projects or programs],” said Lamoille County Sheriff Roger Marcoux Jr., the president of the Vermont Sheriff's Association. He said individual sheriffs are responsible for their respective budgets, projects, and programming.
With no external auditing or oversight - other than, of course, by any investors, and the binding clauses of loans or grants - accountability for the sheriff's stewardship of the project would be put in the hands of voters at the ballot box.