BROWNSVILLE — More than two years after the Southeast State Correctional Facility in Windsor closed, the property remains vacant with no apparent prospects for repurposing the land and buildings.
On Friday, during a visit to the Brownsville Butcher & Pantry, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said the state still hopes to find a potential occupant for the roughly 100 acres off County Road in Windsor, where several buildings are in varying degrees of condition.
“We haven’t found a viable option at this point,” Scott said in an interview inside the Brownsville store. “We are still waiting to see what transpires, and right now we are listening to any offers. We just want to be sure the town has a say and we are willing to do anything to help the town.”
Around the time officials were preparing to close the prison, Windsor Town Manager Tom Marsh said the one thing he did not want to see is the property falling into disrepair. Marsh reiterated that concern in a Dec. 2 email to Bradley Ferland, deputy secretary with the Vermont Agency of Administration.
Marsh said the town’s priorities for the property were that it not be reopened as a correctional or transitional housing facility and that it receives regular maintenance with the demolition of unsafe buildings.
“We are entering into the third winter in which the property will be dormant with no clear path forward,” he wrote to Ferland. “In addition to the annual cost to maintain the facility, which I have heard to be between $200,000 and $250,000 per year, the questionable structures only get worse and the buildings that may have value denigrate.”
Marsh went on to say that he has conducted tours of the property with developers and the University of Vermont and they all concluded the cost to renovate would exceed market value, something the Department of Building and General Services stated in a 2018 report.
“So, in a nutshell there is not an easy solution, but doing nothing is costing taxpayers $200,000 per year and the property is getting worse, not better,” Marsh said.
He suggested to Ferland that the state issue a request for proposals to solicit potential uses and perhaps bids, noting that similar action was taken when the old prison on State Street in Windsor closed and was slated for demolition. In that case, a developer stepped forward and converted the building into senior housing.
Surrounded by 800 acres of wildlife management area, public sewer and new on-site water system with a solar array and greenhouses, Marsh said the County Road property has several marketable assets.
Ferland said in response Dec. 9 that state officials hope to address the former prison in this year’s capital bill. “The Commissioner of Buildings and General Services is currently working on a few options that we hope to narrow down in the next few weeks,” Ferland said, though he did not elaborate.
Scott said it would not be prudent to demolish any buildings at this point until all options are explored.
“You can save money in the long run, but you may find out that someone wanted to use the buildings,” Scott said.
When asked about the minimum wage in Vermont, which is currently $10.96 per hour, and what sort of increase he would be willing to support from the Legislature, Scott said, “I’m always willing to listen to whatever they (lawmakers) have to offer.”
“I’m just concerned about the mom-and-pop businesses we have in the state and the challenges they face and struggles they have,” Scott said.
The issue becomes even tougher with New Hampshire’s minimum wage stuck at the federal level of $7.25 an hour, Scott said.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu in August vetoed a bill that would have raised that state’s minimum wage to $10 per hour in 2020 and $12 per hour in 2022.
“That makes it even more difficult,” Scott said about the lower minimum across the Connecticut River. “But supply and demand seems to be working. We have more jobs available than people to fill them, and wages are rising.”
Vermont House Speaker House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, has said she would like to see an increase to between $12 and $13 an hour over two years.
Scott visited Brownsville to highlight community revitalization efforts. The Butcher & Pantry opened a year ago after the Brownsville General Store closed in early 2017.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
