FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – As Allen County continues to move toward a permanent solution to its problems, paying the 20-year rent on the land the prison will stand on is an important step.
While the county is taking the step, the state held a public hearing Thursday to give taxpayers who oppose the project a platform to voice their thoughts about the plan.
The hearing was held by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) after many Allen County taxpayers were unhappy with the proposed plan.
The meeting included comments from petitioners who questioned the legality and liability of the lease.
“There are three main issues that I believe relate to the legality of the lease; the first as it is currently formulated I believe it undermines the ability of the County Board to protect against wasteful and unnecessary leases, specifically the essential leases described in IC 36-10-1-7…and the second is how the controlled project was not used for this purpose, so I think the reasons are questionable,” Fernandez said.
But lawyers representing the district claimed otherwise.
“Mr. Fernandez referred to the idea that this is not a control project but that is not true,” said Mark Crandley, an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg while referring to IC 6-1.1-20-3.2.
“The next thing that has been brought up several times is the role of the County Council, and this does not strip the County Council of any powers that it has,” Crandley said. “We have a divided county government, the county commissioners have their roles, the council has their roles.”
Another common discussion point Crandley addressed was whether or not a new prison was needed.
A common argument made by those who oppose building a new jail is the assumption that the existing jail could be rehabilitated instead, something the province says has been found to be unsustainable.
“What will we look like 20 years from now?” Crandley said while speaking about the work Elevatus has done for the county. “They (Elevus) not only offered what the solution is now, but what will it look like 20 years from now? If we are going to spend public money let's look for solutions that are suitable for the future as well.”
According to Crandley, Elevatus's projection of the capacity the prison will need in the 2040s would be in the ballpark of 1,500 beds.
At that number, adding floors and capacity to the downtown facility would be expensive and insufficient.
“We'll be talking about adding 200 beds and some beds… This number will provide us with an insufficient amount for a number of years,” Crandley said. “The construction, although expensive, will cause us to be overcrowded again within a very short number of years.
Crandley also addressed some other issues such as environmental concerns, but ultimately says these fall outside the scope of the DLGF.
“That's not what we're here to discuss today. There's a declaration of these issues, there's a review of these issues by environmental agencies,” Crandley said. “It's an issue for a different day.”
“A Different Day” is also when the concerns of adding to the DLGF can be summed up.
Although the virtual public hearing was held on Thursday, relevant concerns about whether or not the lease is liable can be summarized to Hearings@dlgf.in.gov through January 18.
