Windsor
State officials have broached the idea of using the shuttered Southeast State Correctional Facility site either as a re-entry facility for former inmates that would provide them with transitional housing, or for mental health services.
But the town hopes to force a delay of any legislative decision on the 100-acre property off County Road by seeking the establishment of a state commission that would come up with recommendations for the property’s use.
As part of the legislative action last year to close the facility, the state Department of Corrections was required to issue a report on turning the prison into a transitional housing facility for former inmates.
The estimated cost to convert the facility came in at $1.3 million, with another $6 million in estimated annual operating costs for a program with 50 to 70 inmates participating at any one time. The facility would provide housing and also would offer a variety of services, including counseling and job training.
On Monday, the Vermont Agency of Human Services is expected to release a report that will address the state’s lack of adequate mental health facilities. It is possible that use of the prison will be among the report’s recommendations, agency Secretary Al Gobeille told residents at a forum in early December.
Gobeille did not give residents an indication as to whether his agency would recommend use of the Windsor property, but he said psychiatric facilities for juveniles and the elderly were two of the areas where the state desperately needs improvements. Many of the current facilities are housed in old buildings in need of repairs.
On Tuesday, the Selectboard voted, 5-0, in support of a request by several residents to form a state commission that would develop recommendations for repurposing the facility.
The idea was presented at the Selectboard meeting by resident John MacGovern, who read a statement he and other residents had crafted. He reiterated to the board that the Oct. 31 closing of the prison presented Windsor, its surrounding towns and the state with a “historic opportunity” to consider alternative productive uses of the facility.
“It is with this in mind that we ask the Windsor Selectboard to request the state Legislature, through its state representatives, to form a state commission on repurposing of the Southeast State Correctional Facility,” MacGovern said, reading from the group’s statement. “Windsor’s request is that such a commission would have strong local and regional representation, in addition to that of key state government stakeholders.”
The board changed the words “local and regional” to “Windsor,” but otherwise opted to support the request as written.
MacGovern, who lives near the prison site, said the he and the residents who wrote the request are hopeful that with the establishment of a state commission under consideration, any movement by the Legislature toward other proposals for the property would be halted.
“As long as the process is moving forward (for a commission), it would put any final determination on hold,” he said.
MacGovern said on Wednesday he drafted the request for a commission into a letter for the Selectboard to sign and give to the town’s state lawmakers, Rep. John Bartholomew, D-Hartland, and Rep. Paul Belaski, D-Windsor, asking them to submit a bill to create the state commission. The deadline for House bill draft requests is on Monday.
“It is a little bit of a long shot, but completely worth the effort,” Selectboard Chairman Rich Thomas said at the meeting.
Town Manager Tom Marsh agreed that a commission could further strengthen Windsor’s desire to be an influential part of any decision on the property.
“It is better than fighting the battle on our own,” Marsh said.
The town’s effort comes as the Legislature’s House Corrections and Institutions Committee, chaired by state Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Springfield, prepares to begin holding hearings on a Department of Corrections report on using the prison for a re-entry program for former inmates. A number of residents have steadfastly opposed the idea.
MacGovern told the board a state commission offers two benefits to Windsor.
“We don’t own (the prison property), but we want a significant role,” MacGovern said. “We want to be in the engine room, not in the caboose getting dragged along. If this doesn’t happen, that will likely be the result.”
The other benefit, he said, is that the state likely would end up with a proposal that Windsor supports. “They want community support,” he said.
Before MacGovern spoke, Bob Flint, executive director of the Springfield Regional Development Corporation, gave the board a brief update on some of the ideas that were presented last month at a public forum on the prison’s use, such as a facility for veterans. Other ideas include senior housing and private development.
Flint said he believes grants and federal funding could provide the money needed to convert the property and its building into a veterans home, but he is uncertain about the sustainability.
“My biggest concern is operational,” Flint said. “I am not sure it is sustainable without an infusion of cash.”
He also mentioned “conceptual” interest from a private developer and another person out of the area who may wish to do something that is “agriculturally” related.
Flint said it is hard to advance any idea beyond the discussion phase because the state has not made clear exactly what will be available for repurposing.
“We don’t know the hand we are being dealt,” he said, referring to the land, buildings and possible constraints on what can be developed.
Marsh, the town manager, also wants to know whether activities on the hundreds of acres of land managed by Vermont Fish and Wildlife that are outside the fenced-in prison property can be incorporated into proposed uses. He said he has contacted the Fish and Wildlife commissioner to further discuss that possibility.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
