Proposed Prison Could Be Huge Project For Winslow

By Sam Conner
   Winslow could reap huge benefits if the plans of Ruby Wash Properties, LLC develop according to plans expressed by their representatives. One phase of those plans was on the agenda of the Winslow Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday.
   Attorney Robert Thompson, representing the company, said on Tuesday that the company plans to build a 5,000-bed prison facility in Winslow if the company is awarded a contract for constructing and operating the facility by the state, which has said that the contract would be awarded by June 30, 2010. Thompson said that once the contract has been obtained, the company would begin construction as quickly as possible.
   The area is already properly zoned and the permits required were expected to be acquired by Tuesday. Thompson said that the staff working for the City of Winslow was a great team to work with, and were totally cooperative and willing to go beyond the call of duty to see that the project is ready to go. He was highly complimentary about City Manager Jim Ferguson, Attorney Dale Patton and Planner Paul Ferris and, in fact, the entire city staff.
   In addition to the proper zoning and permits from the city, Thompson said that the company has agreed to donate 30 to 35 acres to the city for wastewater treatment. The city currently has to pipe from south of the BNSF Railroad to the wastewater plant, and this donation should ease that problem. The company will also donate a site for a police and fire substation at a road leading to the facilities from Highway 87.
   The city has agreed to allow use of the airport for transportation of prisoners. This, according to Thompson, was a key to the facility, as it is perfect for the safe handling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and federal prisoners.
   Thompson said that the 5,000-bed unit is only phase one of the development the company plans in the area. Two more units are planned for a total of 12,000 prison beds in the next two phases of the development. He said that there may also be an ICE processing unit constructed. The entire area of the proposed development contains some 900 acres located south of the Winslow-Lindberg Airport, north and to some extent east of the Arizona State Prison and west of State Route 87.
   According to Thompson, phase one of the projects is expected to cost approximately $350 million and employ some 1,000 people, not including those who work during the construction of the facilities. Those added jobs and residents would be a huge benefit to the city, and there would likely be many more jobs and businesses needed to keep the facility and new residents accommodated.
   The facilities would house state prisoners who are currently farmed out to other states, prisoners from other states and ICE prisoners. Arizona currently has 4,490 prisoners serving their time in other states, and locating them in Arizona should lower the cost of incarceration. The lack of adequate prison space is a factor in most states, and the federal system is operating at 136 percent of capacity, which means it, too, is overcrowded.
   After Thompson spoke about the project, and several speakers from the audience spoke both for and against the project, the commission voted to approve the conditional use permit with no conditions or annual reviews.