The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

That designation would create an estimated 327 jobs, with most paying $20 an hour or more.

There is competition for that role, however, coming from Lake City, Fla., where a company has proposed building a prison if it receives a contract from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

Area residents will have a chance Tuesday, Nov. 24 to comment on the issue during a public hearing scheduled for 5 p.m.

Paul Griffith estimated 135 people attended the BOP’s July 7 public scoping hearing on the issue at Baldwin and he expects many people will also attend the public hearing Nov. 24.

“This community of Baldwin realizes what 220 jobs mean and what it means when they are taken away,” Griffith said about the prison, which closed in 2005.

About 22 percent of those employees lived in Lake County with the other 78 percent living in neighboring communities in Mason, Manistee, Oceana, Newaygo, Mecosta, Osceola and Wexford counties.

Baldwin prison history

The Geo Group owns the currently empty prison and is spending about $60 million to expand the facility by 1,225 beds to potentially attract contracts to house prisoners from different states or the federal government. It now has 1,725 beds.

Construction of the facility — which was formerly known as the Michigan Youth Correctional Facility and originally operated by what was then known at Wackenhut Corrections of Florida — began in 1998 and it opened as a “punk prison” for up to 480 13- to 19-year-old boys and young men.

It closed in 2005 and about 220 people had to find new jobs.

The corporation changed its name to The GEO Group and is calls the Lake County prison building the North Lake Correctional Facility. GEO is seeking a contract for housing federal government prisoners.

Baldwin vs. Lake City Fla.

The federal government is now seeking a new, privately owned prison to house 900 to 2,500 low-security male prisoners who are not American citizens.

The BOP will choose between the existing North Lake Correctional Facility near Baldwin, which has the capacity to house 1,889 inmates, according to the BOP’s draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the issue, and an as-yet unbuilt prison near Lake City, Fla., that would house up to 1,268 inmates.

If the contract is awarded to Lake City, the contractor would have one year to construct the facility.

Among the findings listed in the DEIS are:

• locating the prisoners at either site would not result in significant adverse impacts to the environment.

• beneficial economic impacts are expected in the Baldwin area with the creation of 327 permanent jobs; and are expected in Lake City with new permanent jobs there and the short-term gains from construction activities.

• neither alternative is expected to cause significant negative impacts on community services, including emergency services, hospitals and schools.

• roads at both sites would be able to handle traffic increases associated with the prisons.

• neither alternative would cause a significant impact on air quality.

• neither alternative would cause a significant impact on noise levels.

• no historic properties near the Baldwin facility would be impacted by the contract, and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians concurred. The southern half of the Lake City site was identified as a prehistoric site, but it is not eligible for listing on the National Register of Historical Places due to prior extensive disturbances.

• the contract would not cause impact on the geology, topography, soils or vegetation at the Baldwin site because the facility already exists. There would be minor impacts to the topography and soils at the Lake City site as it is cleared for construction of a prison. Wetlands are also present at the Lake City site.

• an excess level of lead was found in a groundwater sample taken about 800 feet north of the Baldwin facility and a potential exists for the contaminated groundwater to migrate. The Lake City site does not have an environmental condition that would indicate the presence of hazardous contaminants or petroleum products.

Next

The BOP is accepting comments on the DEIS and people can make them in person during the 5 p.m. Nov. 24 public hearing at Webber Township Hall or send them in writing to Richard A. Cohn, Chief, Capacity Planning and Site Selection Branch, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First St. NW, Washington, DC, 20534.

Cohn’s telephone number is (202) 514-6470.

The public comment period on the issue began Oct. 30 and is scheduled to end Dec. 14.
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