Blevins Holds Public Meeting On Possible Prison Site

A public meeting was held in Blevins Monday night concerning the proposed prison which the state is looking to locate in southwest Arkansas.  The meeting started at Blevins City Hall but the attendance was standing room only and the meeting moved across the street to the Word of Faith Church.

Representatives from the Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation have proposed two sites in Hempstead County, one of which is near Blevins.  Kathy Woll, a retired teacher spoke about the research which she had done about the potential prison in the community.  She had a statement to be sent the editor of the Hope Prescott News. A petition against the prison was handed around.  Woll stated that she had looked at what was presented in the press from  interviews and Quorum Court.

Woll stated that although it was said to take 2.5 years to build it could be as much as 4.  The statement was also made that the state might take other counties’ bids even though they had passed the deadline as they wanted it so badly.

Woll said that instead of the land being donated the land would be bought by the county and then donated to the state meaning increased taxes.

The site being considered in the Blevins area is on 371, thought to be behind the Sweet Home Church on a very wet site.  The requirements for the location of a prison seemed unclear to Woll.  She said that it needed to be either 1/4 or 1/2 mile from any business or school, have available utilities, be relatively close to a hospital. Woll had the concern that this might require a trauma center with the required cost of $15 to $20 million dollars to upgrade the existing facilities. Another requirement would be an available and employable workforce. Woll stated that the unemployment rate was 3% so the question was asked where the workers would come from and mentioned the idea expressed in Quorum Court of drawing a workforce from Louisiana. The statement was made that there are wonderful churches in the area and what will be the overall impact to the community in different ways whether it is in taxes up-front to environmental issues.

The idea was mentioned about speaking at Quorum Court. Concern was expressed about the statement made by Danny Watson, the state representative, about there being no perfect site.

The original meeting space was not large enough so at this point we moved across the church building.

The statement was made that it was hard to get enough lawyers in the area.  The statement was made that there were lots of issues concerning infrastructure including the impact upon fresh water in the area, supply of electricity and whether or not they would have to widen 371 and to make repairs.

Hannah Humphries spoke up and said that all the statements in favor are contradicted by studies that show otherwise such as those from Marshall University.

The question was asked if it would be a private or state prison and answered state. The experiences in Kentucky, Arizona and California of what happened when prisons went into communities were mentioned.

At this point the Quorum Court member for the district got up to speak.  He said that the state wants to build 5 prisons and that the first one was not funded. He also stated  the governor wants to build a mental health facility.  He said  the project went to the city first and formed a committee which he listed off the members. The first he stated that he heard of the project was when the the first landowner said that he would sell his farm – Redlands Farm in Blevins.  He mentioned land in Guernsey which was being looked at.

As to the concern about how far away the hospital has to be, he said 30 miles and said that the prison would have its own medical facilities.

He stated that the county would not fund the buying of the land as there is no money for that. He also stated that it was not surprising that the prison had come to the southwest part of Arkansas as it was the only remaining area for one to be placed.  The statement was made that the governor’s first priority was education and second was prisons.

The comment was made that senior citizens who were not at the meeting were very concerned about the project. Residents were encouraged to contact their representatives.

The idea was mentioned about a potential meeting in Blevins after the next Quorum Court meeting where the idea could be further discussed with the community.