Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 25, 1993                   TAG: 9306250147
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium

HALFWAY HOUSE IN WYTHE CO. DEFINITELY AXED

Bureau Director Kathleen M. Hawk said it is clear that the bureau will not be able to pursue a corrections facility for the Grahams Forge area.

The bureau had signed a contract with Secor Inc. to operate an eight-bed facility for nonviolent felons about to complete prison sentences. It was to have been located at the former Trail Motel at Grahams Forge.

But Secor had not complied with federal requirements to let surrounding residents know of the project and obtain community support. Instead, there was near-unanimous opposition when plans for the project leaked out.

Acting on community concerns, Boucher obtained a letter from Hawk this month saying the project could not go forward in Wythe County.

But in a recent letter to County Administrator Billy Branson, Hawk seemed not to have closed the door completely. She said there were now serious doubts about Secor operating such a facility and that the matter should be settled by the end of July.

When a newspaper article on the issue was published Thursday, Boucher sought clarification from Hawk.

Hawk sent him a new letter stating that "it is apparent that Secor Inc. will not be able to obtain the necessary community support to locate a halfway house in the Grahams Forge community. In light of the strong community opposition and the prospect that Secor will not be able to obtain proper building and zoning approvals in the county, it is clear the bureau will not be able to pursue a [corrections center] in that local vicinity."

"They say in unmistakable terms that it is not going to Wythe County," Boucher said from his Washington, D.C., office.

Hawk said Secor would get a chance to propose an alternate site somewhere else in Southwest Virginia.

Secor would have to notify the public, police and local government of the new site, Hawk said.

"If these efforts prove unsuccessful, the existing contract with Secor would have to be terminated and a new solicitation issued to meet the bureau's need for community-based services in the greater Roanoke/Western Virginia area," she said.