Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 30, 1995 TAG: 9507310013
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WYTHEVILLE - Several Wythe County supervisors are less than satisfied with state Public Safety Director Jerry Kilgore's answers to some questions about a private prison that could be built near Wytheville.
The Board of Supervisors, which voted 4-3 earlier this year to welcome the 1,500-bed prison if it won a state contract, heard some concerns last month from Chairman Mark Munsey after he reviewed the state's request for bid proposals to build private prisons.
Munsey said the document raised questions about how long the private firm would operate its prison, whether it would be the tax revenue bonanza envisioned by supporters, whether the non-taxpaying state would eventually take it over, or whether a company could give excess land at a prison site to the locality as Corrections Corporation of America has pledged to do in Wythe.
Kilgore's letter said the private operator would have only a five-year contract, because of certain Internal Revenue Service conditions, but he anticipated a new contract when the first one expired. He said the state has the option of taking over the operation of such a prison and running it with state employees after 20 years but, while he could not speak for future administrations, this one has no such plans.
"Well, how long is he in for?" Munsey asked at last week's board meeting. "There are a lot of things that can happen there, gentlemen."
Kilgore said such a takeover would happen only if a private operation was less successful than anticipated or the operator defaulted on its contract.
He said the corrections corporation could do whatever it wanted with excess land at the site, so long as the property involved was not part of its contract with the state. The corporation has said it would sell several hundred acres of the property it has under option to the county for $1 if it wins the prison contract.
The state is expected to choose private prison contractors in August, which means last week's meeting may have been the last in which the county supervisors could change their pro-prison vote. Gov. George Allen has cited that 4-3 vote as the official attitude of Wythe County and the reason why he would not keep the state from considering a private prison bid there.
Allen brings check
WYTHEVILLE - The main purpose of Gov. George Allen's visit to Wytheville earlier this month was to present a $65,000 check from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to help with an expansion at Longwood Elastomers Inc., which will increase the number of employees by more than 100. The Wythe County Board of Supervisors is putting $80,000 toward the expansion.
"We did have a close call to make here," Longwood President Jim Hartnett said of the decision to expand at the Wytheville plant. "One of the factors, if not the factor, is the people," he said, and another is the pro-business support from government.
The company presented Allen with a Case-brand folding knife. "This'll come in handy around budget time," Allen said.
The plant makes custom-molded engineered rubber products for the transportation industry.
Recall hearing
WYTHEVILLE - A Wythe County supervisor who voted in favor of welcoming a private prison is scheduled for a hearing to show cause why he should not be removed from office.
Anti-prison petitioners in the Fort Chiswell District are claiming that their supervisor, Olin Armentrout, misused his position in negotiating with Corrections Corporation of America.
In the negotiations, the corporation agreed to increase the number of jobs as well as some salaries if it wins a state contract to place a prison near Wytheville. The corporation also agreed to give excess land at the proposed prison site to the county.
Opponents say Armentrout violated a state law on public officials accepting gifts by allowing the corrections corporation to pay his air fare from its headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., to Cleveland, Texas, where Armentrout, Supervisor Charles Dix and County Administrator Bill Branson interviewed civic leaders about a CCA operation there.
Residents of the Black Lick District who oppose the prison filed a similar petition earlier this year against Dix. Circuit Judge Willis Woods ruled in favor of Dix.
Tax opinion sought
WYTHEVILLE - Wythe County is seeking an opinion from the state attorney general's office on its merchants capital tax, which some supervisors sought to remove last month.
The motion to table the proposal stalled 3-3, and Chairman Mark Munsey declined to break the tie. Munsey abstained because, he said, his business was affected by the tax.
Donnkenny Apparel Inc. had indicated that the tax might keep it from expanding in Wythe County. County Attorney Frank Slavin has issued an opinion that the tax does not apply to Donnkenny's inventory, anyway.
by CNB