More than 100 residents of Dolan Springs squeezed into the Dolan Springs Community Hall Thursday and voiced their opinions on a private prison proposed for the area.
The vast majority of those attending the meeting were opposed to the prison, only a handful voiced support for the project.
Kathy Tackett-Hicks from KTH Consulting, the firm representing Corrections Corporation of America, the developer of the prison, attempted to answer the crowd's many questions.
The proposal calls for a 2,000-bed medium-security private prison located on 320 acres in the center of a 640-acre parcel.
Tackett-Hicks said CCA is working on an agreement with the state, and the prison would most likely hold state prisoners. However, if the agreement did not go through, CCA would look for contracts from other states or municipalities to fill the facility.
Most of the questions revolved around water. Where, citizens asked, would the prison get its water supply and what would happen to the water supply for Dolan Springs?
Tackett-Hicks explained that CCA was working on an agreement with Mount Tipton Water Company to supply water to the facility.
The agreement was not finalized yet, she said. But the idea was to improve the system's infrastructure so it could serve the prison.
That information didn't ease concerns from a number of residents regarding supply of water and if there was enough for both the community and the prison.
Several residents noted the water system had been "black flagged" last summer to conserve water.
Ed Bartlett of Mt. Tipton Water Company explained that the system wasn't black flagged during the summer because of a lack of water in the aquifer. He reminded residents that a number of pipes in the system had burst during the winter, and it had taken a long time to refill the storage tank for the system. He also reminded residents that the current system had trouble drawing water from the aquifer.
Bartlett said, as part of the proposed agreement, CCA has agreed to pay for all the improvements to the system necessary to get water to the proposed prison.
He also said that the water company was working on a number of grants and loans to help repair the system.
One resident pointed out that Mt. Tipton was the only way the prison was going to get water in the area. The water company had tried three times in the past to drill a well in the same area where the prison will be built and came up dry each time.
Tackett-Hicks said CCA was aware of the problems with Mt. Tipton, and CCA would have to prove that water was available before the prison could be approved.
A resident asked that if CCA was aware of the problem then why put in a prison.
Another topic brought up at the meeting was public safety. Residents expressed concern over possible violence in the facility, escapees and an increase in crime in the area.
Tackett-Hicks said if anything, the area would become safer because of the increased awareness because of the prison. There would be more patrols by deputies and people would be more on guard. She also said CCA's escapee rate is 10 times less than any other prison in the United States.
A resident said there are two deputies from the Sheriff's Office that are supposed to be assigned to the area, but they are always off handling something somewhere else.
A resident asked about an increase in crime in the area due to inmates being released there or inmate families moving nearby.
Tackett-Hicks said CCA does not release inmates directly into the local community. The inmates are shipped back to their court of jurisdiction.
Tackett-Hicks also said that violence inside the prison should not affect the outside community. Also, injured inmates would be treated at the prison medical facility.
A resident then asked who would get priority if an inmate and a Dolan Springs resident both had a heart attack at the same time and needed to be transported to a hospital.
Tackett-Hicks said outside medical service to the community would not change because of the prison. It would be the same as if two residents had a heart attack at the same time.
Another resident said she had lived next to a prison in California. When an inmate became ill and was sent to the emergency room at the local hospital, the whole ER was shut down until the inmate was treated and moved.
That same prison had also promised that things in the area wouldn't change, but they did, she said.
Another woman said she too had lived next to a prison in Ohio. The community had had no problems until an inmate escaped and killed one of her neighbors for a car.
Several other residents in favor of the project also said that they had lived next to prisons in California. They saw their communities grow and develop without a dramatic increase in crime or a drop in property values.
Two other concerns were an increase in population growth in the area and how the prison would affect the area economically.
Tackett-Hicks said the prison might actually be a boon to the local economy. It would bring in at least 300 new jobs. At least 85 percent of the jobs would be available for qualified local residents. Around 15 percent would be management positions that will probably be filled by transfers from within the company, she said.
One resident got a laugh from the crowd when he pointed out that it was unlikely that anyone in Dolan Springs or Kingman could pass a background check or a drug test.
The number of restaurants, stores and other commercial development in the area would increase in order to serve the staff of the prison, she said. More homes would be built to house workers at the prison, and property values would increase.
Residents said traffic, property taxes and enrollment at the school would also increase.
A number of residents complained that very little of the property tax that was collected in Dolan Springs ever came back to the community, especially to the schools, which are too small and understaffed as it is.
One woman raised concerns that the prison would lure teachers and law enforcement officers away from the community for better pay at the prison.
Tackett-Hicks said that a new subdivision in the area would cause the same infrastructure and traffic problems that the prison would. She also pointed out that developer Leonard Mardian, who was selling the property to CCA, had a development directly adjacent to the proposed project. Any negative effects from the prison would effect his development, as well as Dolan Springs, and he was fine with the prison being built.
A resident pointed out that Mardian didn't live in the area.
A large number of residents said they had moved to the area to get away from the big city and they didn't want any more growth in the area. They didn't mind driving into Kingman or to Henderson to shop occasionally. They especially didn't want to live next to a prison.
Resident Norty Turchen, who is also running for a supervisor seat in next year's election, stated that the area needed some kind of economic growth in order to get the stores and things the community wanted. Even if the prison went in, there would not be an automatic growth boom in the community. It would happen slowly.
A resident asked if a petition protesting the prison could derail the project if it was presented during the County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Dec. 12.
Tackett-Hicks said it might. It would depend on the commission. She reminded the group that the project would also have to pass the Board of Supervisors as well.
"This is not a done deal," she said.
Another public hearing was held on Saturday. The project will now go before the County Planning and Zoning Commission at 10 a.m. on Dec. 12 at the County Administration Building at 700 W. Beale St.
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, December 02, 2007
Article comment by:
Rick Viduka
Gee that's just great,I spend a great deal of money to by a nice piece of retirement property in Dolan Springs and now my property might be worthless.I own two properties in D.Springs the one I was planning to retire on is 2 ac. on Palomino and canyon rd. The street runs directly to the proposed prison.If they were to pave Canyon Rd. to third street I might say OK build it. Beacuse of the amount of lighting though I will have to travel quite a ways to see the milky way. The land owners in the area should be compensated in some way.Paving many of the roads in the area would be the least they could do. Unfortunately for me I will likely have to sell my property at a loss.
