Mayor voices opposition of new prisoners

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LEWISTOWN - A day after two Mifflin County Commissioners said they would not be in favor of a proposal to possibly house up to 30 out-of-town inmates in the Mifflin County Correctional Facility, Lewistown's mayor has made her feelings on the subject be known.

Speaking during the public comment portion of Thursday's business meeting of the commissioners, Mayor Debra Bargo told the board she has grave concerns about the public's safety if the proposal is adopted.

Bargo said she has seen firsthand the kinds of problems that come to towns that house out-of-town inmates.

"Whenever these inmates come into a town, their friends and families follow," she said. "I've witnessed the kinds of activities that take place."

Bargo said she believes the county and the borough do not have the proper manpower to handle additional problems that may arise should additional inmates be housed locally.

"Also," she said, "entering into this contract will cause additional problems for local law enforcement."

Bargo expressed a concern that in order to enter into the agreement, the county would most likely have to put up the initial investment and "then we would have to wait for the state to reimburse it."

She said she has seen a lot of positives in the downtown Lewistown area, and she believes adding out-of-county inmates is not the way to go for continued improvement.

"There are a lot of people in this community who have been working hard to make it a better place," she noted. "To do this (house out-of-town inmates), I'm afraid it will push us backward. I speak for myself and a lot of other residents who have expressed their concerns to me about this matter."

The idea of entering into an agreement with the state first came to public light on June 25, when it was reported that Commissioner Otis Riden confirmed the commissioners were negotiating with the state to locally house 30 inmates from state prisons. By charging the state $50 per inmate per day, the windfall to the county could have been $250,000, it was reported.

However, on Wednesday, Commissioners Mark Sunderland and Robert Reck said they would vote down any proposal that comes before them to house the out-of-town prisoners, stating the costs to re-open the county's annex building would eliminate any profit.

"We had our financial manager check all the figures and it would actually cost us money to clothe and feed them, and re-open the annex," Reck said. "Basically it is a lose situation."

Riden said on Wednesday that he did not know that Sunderland and Reck had decided not to support entering into the contract, adding that he still hasn't made up his mind about the issue.

After Bargo's remarks on Thursday, the commissioners offered no comment on the matter and no action was taken.

In other business, after a lengthy discussion on the matter at last week's workshop meeting, the commissioners voted to enter into an agreement with Global Insight Inc. to complete a county-wide Commodity Flow Study as recommended by the United States Department of Transportation at a cost of $5,500.

During the June 25 workshop, Phil Lucas, the county's public safety director, said the purpose of the study is to monitor the amount of hazardous materials that pass through the area's highways, and the time to do it is now.

"The department recommends this be done every five years," Lucas said. "Due to the Narrows construction project, it had been postponed for several years. We're now getting back into doing these studies."

Lucas said the study will be paid for as part of the Mifflin County Local Emergency Planning Committee emergency management performance grant.

"We receive federal funds through the department of transportation. It's part of the planning and preparedness process," Lucas explained. "It's a study of shipments being generated, shipped through or delivered to Mifflin County."

Lucas said the county had two options on how to have the study done, the first being placing observers along the highways using binoculars to read the placards on the backs of passing trucks. The second was to contract the services of Global Insight, which Lucas said would provide a much more accurate account of the hazardous materials coming through the area.

"By using the contractor, they'll research all shippers. This will give us a much more accurate account of what's being delivered," he added.

In other action Thursday, the commissioners adopted a proclamation honoring Clintin Drew Knouse of McVeytown for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest designation in the Boy Scouts of America. The proclamation stated that Knouse, who was on hand at Thursday's meeting to receive the proclamation, constructed a playground as his Eagle Scout project.

After the proclamation signing, Riden said to Knouse, "You are to be commended for this. The Boy Scouts is all about building better men. Building that playground was a tremendous effort on your part and a great example for younger kids."

In other action, the commissioners:

approved the hiring of Teri Williams as an unpaid intern at the correctional facility, effective June 23.

approved the hiring of Chad M. Weaver as an intern in the probation department, effective June 22.

accepted with regret the resignation of Jonathan Reed from the probation department, effective July 18.

accepted with regret the resignation of Charles Chambers from the correctional facility, effective June 15.

approved an agreement with Tyler Technologies Inc. of Dallas, Texas, for yearly maintenance support for the county's accounting software program at a cost of $3,044.

accepted the resignation of Daniel Swigart from the telecommunications center, effective July 4.

agreed to a memorandum of understanding between Child, Adult & Family Psychological Center of State College and the county to provide psychological testing and evaluation, psychotherapy and court testimony for children and youth services.