Council nears vote on inmate proposal

The zoning and a conditional-use permit for a proposed 40-bed pre-release center in southern Kalispell will go to a formal City Council vote next Monday.

At least four council members appeared Monday to favor rezoning from business to public use the 1.78-acre site at 2282 U.S. 93 South. They also appeared in favor of granting a conditional-use permit for a pre-release center for screened Northwest Montana prison inmates on the last several months of their sentences.

One council member leaned toward opposing the rezoning and permit. Two were absent and two did not give a clear indication on where they stood.

Monday's council meeting was a workshop session at which no votes were taken.

Butte-based Community, Counseling and Correctional Services is prepared to spend $3 million to renovate the 12,750-square-foot building that formerly housed Department of Health and Human Services offices. The Butte firm also would add a 4,750-square-foot outbuilding.

It would operate the facility for the state as an alternative to direct release from prison while providing supervision as inmates readjust to society.

Flathead County has about 1,300 people in the state corrections system - the fourth-highest of any county in Montana. Lake and Lincoln counties contribute another 650 offenders.

During the past seven years, more than 900 offenders from Flathead County have spent time in pre-release centers at Missoula, Bozeman, Butte, Billings, Helena and Great Falls.

Four people spoke Monday against putting the center at that site, while two Kalispell residents supported that location.

Opponents said other locations would be preferable and they cited concerns about proximity to homes in southern Kalispell.

"When it comes down to my two kids, I don't want to take any chances," said southern Kalispell resident D.C. Haas.

One business next to the proposed pre-release building, Penco Power Products, collected 146 signatures -from in and out of Kalispell - on a petition to protest that location.

Another neighboring businessman, Shane Jackola, supported the location.

"No matter where we put this thing, it's going to be an issue for someone," he said.

The concept is for inmates approaching their release dates to be returned to their home area, kept in a strictly supervised and structured environment, obtain jobs, and be counseled intensively on living outside of prison.

A Kalispell facility is supposed to house primarily Northwest Montana residents.

Mike Thatcher, chief executive officer of the Butte firm, said the facility will have a zero tolerance policy toward any infractions by the inmates.

He said one out of six inmates at Community, Counseling and Correctional Services' other facilities is returned to prison for infractions. One out of each five remaining inmates who finish the program returns to prison within three years - the maximum time that the state and the company track released inmates, he said.

The Montana Department of Corrections requires that pre-release centers be placed in areas with access to city sewer and water and within van-driving distance to jobs. Law enforcement and ambulance response times also must be within a certain limit.

The facilities cannot be in residential areas or within 1,500 feet of a school.

Council member Tim Kluesner said he leans against the rezoning and conditional-use permit.

He contended that rezoning was not sufficiently studied by the Kalispell Planning Board, which recommended approval of both rezoning and the permit.

Kluesner also contended that Kalispell's government accepted the idea of hosting a pre-release center too quickly.

"Why not Columbia Falls? Why not Whitefish? Why not Evergreen?" Kluesner said. "There's got to be other sites in the county."

He also objected to the U.S 93 South site's proximity to homes, a bar and casinos.

Mayor Pam Kennedy and council members Hank Olson, Jim Atkinson and Randy Kenyon appeared to lean toward approving the rezoning and conditional-use permit.

Olson said the site still will look like an office building after it is converted into a pre-release center. He said any inmates breaking the rules, such as going to a bar, will be sent immediately back to prison.

Kennedy said the state picked Kalispell -the city did not seek the center.

Kalispell is the largest city in Montana that does not have a pre-release center.

Council members Duane Larson and Wayne Saverud gave no clear indication about where they stood Monday. Bob Hafferman and Kari Gabriel were absent.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com