By Christin Coyne
ccoyne@mineralwellsindex.com
Citizens voiced their views on the proposed illegal immigrant detention facility after a presentation by Emerald Correctional Management Thursday evening at the Mineral Wells High School cafeteria.
Around 80 people showed up for the meeting intended to provide information on the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility proposal and hosted by Mayor Mike Allen and attended by city council members.
“As mayor, and I believe that I can speak for some or all of our council members, as well, I feel that this is a project which is worth while and would be beneficial to our community,” Allen said, before introducing Steve Afeman, chief operating officer of Emerald Companies.
“We’re the company that had the escape [last weekend and] … want you all to know that it’s not a perfect science,” Afeman said to start out the night, saying the transportation officer did not follow rules and regulations. “He’ll be lucky to retain his job at this point.”
A detainee being transported by Emerald to a facility in Haskell escaped from handcuffs in Weatherford last week. He later turned himself in when he arrived in Arlington.
Afeman said Emerald Companies was founded in 1996, currently employs approximately 1000 employees, and oversees about 4400 inmates in facilities across the U.S.
Presenting the project
“A lot of effort and time went into the selection of the site,” Hull Youngblood, an attorney representing Emerald Companies, said.
A 62-acre tract northeast of Mineral Wells Municipal Airport will be sold to Emerald for $1 per acre if all the conditions of a 90-day option agreement with the Industrial Foundation are met.
Youngblood said ICE drew a circle with a 75-mile radius from their offices in Dallas for the location of the proposed facility.
Twenty-five to 30 sites were evaluated, Youngblood said. “Others just did not fit.”
Access to transportation, infrastructure such as water, sewer and power lines, space for a security zone and minimal site preparation needed were factors that influenced the decision, Youngblood said.
“ICE told us that access to the airport was important to them,” Youngblood said.
“The purpose is to gather detainees together [from other facilities] and when requested by ICE transport them … to DFW,” Youngblood said.
The proposed project is designed for immigration detainees, Youngblood said. “If they have committed an additional crime, then they are processed through the federal marshals … those people go to different facilities.”
“The city can sign the project they choose to sign,” Youngblood said. “The city is a filter on the type of inmate that can be held.”
The proposed facility would be built initially for 1,000 beds and would not house families, Youngblood said.
Afeman said the detention facility would be built to maximum security standards and have video monitoring and a roving perimeter guard 24 hours each day.
Two 12-foot fences with razor wire and cameras would surround the detention center, according to Afeman.
The facility would not be visible from Harvey Road and would be equipped with a Federal Aviation Administration-compliant non-polluting lighting system that has a downward reflection, Afeman said.
The Emerald run facility would undergo several inspections each year, according to Afeman, including an annual ICE audit, an unannounced ICE audit, a 3 day audit by an ICE private contractor, and an annual Texas Jail Commission inspection.
“There is no public money involved in this project,” Youngblood said, stressing that neither the county nor the city would be issuing bonds since it is to be a privately owned facility.
The proposed owner would be Inland Public Properties Development, Inc., out of Austin, and Emerald would lease the property from them through a real estate investment trust, according to Youngblood.
Because the city will not own or operate the facility, liability will be minimized, according to Youngblood. Because “inmates are some of the most litigious people,” the city would be added to Emerald’s liability insurance, according to Youngblood.
When the deal is closed, Emerald will pay the city an impact fee of $240,000, Youngblood said.
The construction budget is estimated at $35 million and would employ approximately 200 people while the 12-to-14 month project is completed, according to Youngblood.
City Manager Lance Howerton said he estimates the city would receive about $140,000 in property taxes on the property assuming a $35 million appraisal value and the current tax rate. County property taxes would go to Parker County.
The city would also be paid 95 cents per detainee per day for daily operations, an estimated $300,000 per year, according to Youngblood.
Mineral Wells residents would have priority in hiring, Afeman said.
Youngblood said they are estimating a payroll of $3,000,000.
Concerns
Nearly 20 people spoke, almost all voicing concerns with the proposal.
“Our concern is property value surrounding it,” Alex McKee, ranch manager for Bunker Hill ranch, said.
The facility would be located on the south and east borders of Bob Minyard’s ranch.
McKee said they have cleaned up the area and created a 20-acre lake for possible future home developments in the Harvey Road area and are concerned that a detention facility would devalue property.
“Our concern is visitors,” David Brock, vice president of business development for Hydroscience Technologies Inc., said. Brock said he is concerned about the traffic of visitors to the facility coming and going.
“I’m not sure in the long-term interest, this is the right way to go,” Brock said.
David Shupp, a retired aviation expert, said he is concerned that the Federal Aviation Administration has not approved plans to put a detention facility near the airport.
“And I’m really curious why those 62 acres are being sold for $1 per acre,” Shupp said.
Rhonda Olson, a homeowner near the proposed facility said she has concerns that Emerald will be able to find enough workers: “[Corrections Corporations of America] currently has issues staffing their facility.”
Olson and her husband, Marc, gave handouts and voiced numerous concerns with the facility, including putting the brakes on current economic development in Mineral Wells and moral issues with privately operated incarceration.
“There must be other places in Parker County that the facility could be placed,” Olson said.
“When you think of Huntsville, I don’t think anyone thinks of tourism,” Jerry Watts, another concerned citizen and former business owner concerned about the image of Mineral Wells, said.
Tammie Underwood, representing S-Tec, who would be the facility’s closest neighbor, said her company has safety concerns that have not been fully addressed by Emerald.
Shauna Bradshaw asked why the facility would be built to maximum security and whether any other type of prison inmates would be housed.
“Why wouldn’t you want the most secure facility?” Afeman asked and said the city would have a housing agreement with ICE before Emerald began any construction and would control who is housed at the facility.
Afeman said that they pay for any law enforcement called out in an emergency and said the price tag for the escape last week was $16,000.
Former Mayor Clarence Holliman, during whose time in office the project began, spoke in support of the project.
“This is a reputable company,” Holliman said. “It’s just not something that’s going to be thrown up.”
“We need to realize that [Community Christian School] is a K-12 school 1 mile away,” Doug Jefferson, an administrator with CCS, said, voicing concerns about the safety of the school children though he noted he was not against the project. “There really needs to be some security meetings.”
Response
Joan Muncy, whose family owns land near the proposed property and is against the location of the proposed site, said she thought the meeting was helpful.
“Most everybody was able to say what they wanted to say,” Muncy said.
However, Sue Clutts, another speaker against the project, said she had none of her questions answered at the meeting.
Steve Butcher of the Industrial Foundation, which is selling the land to Emerald, said he didn’t believe a dialogue had taken place and commented on several issues raised after the meeting.
“The reality is, if you want to see this new detention center, you’re going to have to search it out,” Butcher said. “It’s not going to be a sore thumb sticking out.”
“I don’t see how that’s going to happen,” Butcher said of the concern that Mineral Wells would become a prison town like Huntsville.
Including the pre-parole facility, the total percentage of the population working in detention facilities in Mineral Wells would be less than 4 percent, while 14 percent of Huntsville’s labor force works in the prison, Butcher said.
“We have a diversified manufacturing base,” Butcher said.
Butcher said the Industrial Foundation has been trying for 16 years to put a business on those 60 acres.
The Industrial Foundation regularly gives away land to bring businesses to the area, Butcher said.
“That’s why we exist … to bring businesses and create jobs,” Butcher said.
BJ Services was given 47 acres and $300,000 in 2006, Butcher said.
“The city and county make out like bandits” with the resulting $50 to $60 million tax base and jobs created, Butcher said, referring to the BJ Services deal.
Afeman also responded to some questions raised after the meeting.
When asked whether he believed Emerald could find the employees to staff the facility, Afeman said the feasibility study estimated that 75 percent of positions could be filled in the area and then they might need to fill from the Weatherford area.
“We’ve gone in much more remote parts of Texas,” Afeman said.
“We start out with the prevailing wage in the area,” Afeman said of the pay scale.
“The real question you have to ask is do you know 100 people in this town who need a job,” Afeman said.
Even if immigration policy changes, Afeman said he doesn’t see foresee requesting that the city bring in a different type of prisoner.
“At this point we don’t, just because of the sheer volume [of detainees already in the system],” Afeman said.
