Prison dispute grows

Nov. 10, 2006

By Michael Rovito

Frontiersman

PALMER - A new Web site with the title &#8220No Palmer Prison” is lighting up the Internet as the latest opposition to a proposed prison in the Mat-Su Borough.

About 45 Palmer-area residents assembled Monday to coordinate efforts in opposition to the medium security, multimillion-dollar prison. The group already has raised $3,123 toward postage for mailers, which have been mailed out. Along with that, the URL, www.nopalmerprison.com, has made the Palmer group the first to use the Web as an organizational tool.

Palmer resident Bill Quantick has emerged as one of the most vocal leaders against the prison in his town. Quantic said he was surprised Monday by the number of uninformed people who had no idea of the magnitude of the project.

The prison is a state endeavor that officials say would alleviate overcrowded Alaska prisons. The new building would hold a maximum 2,251 inmates on a site of up to 400 acres.

Alaska now sends nearly 1,000 inmates to Arizona for incarceration, shipping them back and forth as needed.

Proponents of the project point to the job opportunities - as many as 1,800 construction jobs are estimated, along with 600 full-time positions after the prison is built - and development possibilities for areas of the borough.

Officials from the Department of Corrections, speaking at a recent informational meeting, said the medium security prison would house all ranges of offenders, depending on individual prisoner behavior.

Further clarifying that statement in a teleconference with reporters Wednesday, DOC Commissioner Marc Antrim said only 2 percent of inmates would be maximum security prisoners, and would be housed in what he called a prison inside a prison.

The not-in-my-back-yard mentality among some residents of the borough began as soon as the prison project was announced, with petitions circulating early around towns where the prison remains a possibility.

As of this month, the borough is looking at sites in Palmer, Houston, Point MacKenzie and Sutton.

Palmer's anti-prison Web site warns of effects such as increased traffic, destruction of Osprey nesting sites and the risk for a reduction in tourism.

&#8220We're really pushing to keep it out of the Palmer area,” Quantic said.

Corrections officials counter some of the Palmer group's worries by pointing to the Kenai medium security prison. Antrim said even with the knowledge of a prison, tourism in the Kenai area has not

suffered.

That claim was verified by Shanon Hamrick, executive director of the Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council. Hamrick said Thursday that the prison near Kenai, and even the maximum-security prison in Seward, have had no affect on tourism.

&#8220We don't even pay too much attention to it,” Hamrick said, adding that Seward is their top tourist destination.

Even so, Palmer Rep. Carl Gatto said Tuesday that, although he is not against a new prison in the borough, Palmer is not the place to do it.

Gatto cited the elimination of a possible elementary school site if the prison were built in Palmer, saying the site and everything within a mile - the closest a prison can be to a school - would be gone.

Borough public affairs manager Patty Sullivan said the proposed school site Gatto is talking about has been eliminated for reasons other than the proposed prison. There are two other possible school locations, but Sullivan said she cannot yet release their names.

Gatto said his choice for the prison's location is Sutton. That location, he said - which already has a smaller prison - would centralize operations.

As towns mobilize to stop prison construction in their areas, the borough is eyeing opposition as a part of the public process.

&#8220We want feedback, and certainly how the public thinks about each project in one of the categories,” Sullivan said.

The recent Palmer opposition group meeting reflects concerns of other residents across the borough. Public comment meetings are scheduled to begin next week, and if the first informational meeting in October dealing with the prison's details is any clue - more than one resident raised their voice to show their discontent with the plan - emotions will be running high.

But state and borough officials say they are doing what they can to quell fears of area residents.

Antrim said his organization, along with others, has been exploring every aspect and impact of a prison in the four proposed areas. Addressing one of the major concerns voiced by opponents, Antrum said the number of breakouts from facilities like the Mat-Su prison has been minimal, calling them &#8220walk aways,” as opposed to an organized breakout.

Furthermore, Antrim said, studies show neighborhoods near a prison are statistically safer.

&#8220No one wants to commit a crime near a prison,” he said.

And for residents worried about its size, DOC recently retracted a claim that the prison would be the 10th largest city in Alaska when its inmate population was at capacity. Official say, while still large, the population would not be quite that big.

But Palmer residents in opposition, and other groups, aren't budging, even as organizations developing the prison do everything to sell the idea.

&#8220We're willing to stand up and take a stand,” said Nicole Smith, a Palmer resident and webmaster of the No Palmer Prison Web site. &#8220There are so many better locations than right in the gateway of Palmer.”

Contact Michael Rovito at 352-2252 or michael.rovito@

frontiersman.com.