Windsor
Town officials have set Jan. 12 as the deadline for submission of a three- to five-page overview of specific proposals, which will undergo reviews by the Selectboard, zoning board, regional planning commission and regional development corporation.
Town Manager Tom Marsh said proposals presented at a forum last week for a home for veterans and an agricultural school through the University of Vermont had the most support among those in attendance.
Submissions to the town will be carefully reviews for “regulatory compliance, fiscal practicality and community benefit,” Marsh said.
Before the forum, UVM officials visited the property with Marsh and Selectboard Chairman Rich Thomas. While they told the town they did not have an immediate need for an agricultural extension center in Windsor, Marsh said they were not completely dismissive of the idea. However it was made clear the town and state would have to develop the details, including finding funding.
“It was a realistic assessment,” said Marsh, adding that there is not a lot of money for educational programming available.
“We will continue to put the legwork into that, but we understand it will be a challenge.”
The roughly 100-acre parcel had greenhouses and a large garden tended by inmates before it closed on Oct. 31.
The veterans home concept has been pitched heavily by veteran Bernie Shaban. A lengthy handout at the forum explained details of Shaban’s idea, which he believes could be a model across the United States.
The presentation describes a veteran’s “residential community” that offers the most-used services — including long-term care and short-term rehabilitative care — and a “neighborhood of housing” for veterans and active military, including a rent-controlled apartment complex and starter housing for recently discharged veterans and their families. “All of these services have different grant programs,” which the state, the town or developers could access “to build a financial package to create this specialized community,” the presentation states.
The idea has three main components: A veterans home for those with long-term medical needs; housing for rehabilitation for veterans and active duty recovering from injury; and finally a type of “David’s House” for veterans and their families to stay at for a few nights when they have to travel long distances to the VA for treatment.
Additionally, the main prison building could be converted into an apartment complex that would be low-income and handicap-assessable housing for veterans. Other programs would include job training and vocational rehabilitation.
Funding could come from housing voucher and voc-rehab programs and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Shaban said.
Advantages to Windsor listed by Shaban include grant funding for creating the site, opportunity for federal support, no land purchase, and a more centrally located facility than the one in Bennington with easier access to VA in White River Junction, and veterans services in Randolph and Montpelier
“This project could serve as a pilot program aimed at reducing overall administrative costs, providing more efficient and effective service, and reducing (the population of homeless veterans) to become a reality,” Shaban concluded.
Two other ideas will be under consideration when the Legislature reconvenes in January. A Department of Corrections report, commissioned as part of the legislation that closed the prison, took an in-depth look at using the facility for an inmate re-entry program.
The report estimates it would cost $1.3 million to convert the 10,500-square-foot prison and require an annual operating cost of $6 million for the housing, programs and other services, plus $3 million more in maintenance over the next five years. With 50 to 70 inmates participating in the transitional housing program at any one time, the annual per capita cost would be $58,350, the report states. That figure is far less than the roughly $80,000 per inmate cost when the prison was open.
State Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Springfield, chairwoman of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions, said her committee will begin holding hearings on the report in January.
Finally, on Jan. 15, the secretary of the Agency of Human Services is scheduled to release a report on the agency’s needs for the state’s mental health population, and that could include a recommendation to use the prison property.
Residents at public meetings have opposed both ideas that came from the state and pleaded with officials to allow the town to have the strongest influence on how the property is used.
Chris Cole, commissioner of buildings and general services, which oversees state-owned buildings, told residents at a meeting earlier this month that the town’s ideas will be given fair consideration, but also warned they must have a solid funding piece.
Proposals that clear the first hurdles on funding and regulatory compliance will move to business plan development, with the expectation that a submission to the Legislature will be ready in March, Marsh said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
