Ch 17 Reports

We're at the point now where we are flat out of maximum security space the space that we've been putting out has been security space open border town of Lockport here and there trying to find space. Well I don't think the person should be. I think we should do everything we can to prevent it from being built. The camera is a nice country residential community and we expect to keep it that way and we feel that with the proposal the Cambria faire village it could only better the community it. On Channel 17 reports this week. Well examine the bitter controversy over the

deactivated Lockport radar base in the Niagara County town of Cambridge. Residents here hope to convert the 80 acre site into a senior citizens retirement village. But the government has other plans. It recommended the state take over the base for much needed cells as a medium security prison. The battle lines are drawn. But it's an uphill fight for the townspeople. The Air Force facility at Shawnee and Saunders settlement road was closed in June 1979 declared surplus property by the federal government. The base is located seven miles east of Niagara Falls 15 miles west of Lockport Air Force personnel still maintain the installation and will remain on duty until the government transfers the title to the state to use the site as a prison. The Corrections Department wants to convert the site to a medium security prison because of the increase in convictions in the New York City area. Court backlogs there are being tried by extra judges and there was a need for hundreds of

cells. The state prison system currently has more than 26000 inmates 3000 more than the design capacity of the state's 33 prisons. State plans call for housing three hundred fifty four inmates It came after spending about five and a half million dollars on renovations. But the people of Cambridge see a prison as a danger and their way of life. I'm worried about my children because I moved out here so they have plenty of room and worried about what will happen live right over their fence would be the prison fence. That's right. My fences are what happens if it becomes a prison what happens to you. I can't move because they can't afford it interest to move to another house. I'll have to stay and stick it out and look forward to that with my kids. I grew up in the Love Canal territory My parents are one of the houses that was asked to leave by the state and we moved out here for a breath of fresh air and I just wonder where entire county can you feel safe. We've tried different places and so far we've been at least feel like we've been kicked out of every place.

So what happens if we do get a prison here. We're moving again a couple years or five years ago we had a lot of trouble here with wire books and we almost got my place. And they were mostly going to my land. So if the prison is built here you're going to hang in hang and where I don't know I want to do my job and go. And we'll adjust to it. The thing of it is we moved in here 10 years ago and we worked hard for our living in our home that we now and I feel it's been taken away from us. The state has taken that away it would take it away from us. If there would be a purpose and there was a resident here and came here do you have any special concern. Yes I have a great deal of concern not just for the town of Cambridge but for the whole of Niagara County. We become a dumping ground here for chemicals for the whole of New York State and now are become a dumping ground

for New York City's. Undesirables that they wish to get rid of the fears is that is what I believe in I believe in housing for for the elderly which I feel is just as important as facilities for prisoners. We forget that we have millions of elderly living in this country that are being taken care of and I think this is the issue. Well our property borders the. Base in the barrack and we farm here. We've been here. Five generations and we just feel we were here first and this is not a good location for a prison. What is your stand on the Cambridge prison plan. I'm opposed to the plan because it is incompatible with the area of the residential use in the farming community and majority of the surrounding area there's a number of homes.

And it would be incompatible with zoning and the existing use of the area. Prison would lower the property value in the of the surrounding area tremendously. The legislature believes that this is a rural setting and that the residents who have demonstrated their opposition to the construction of a prison or converting it into a prison would not be beneficial to the whole county. We were afraid that under the early release program which supposedly this prison is constructed for the students might be enrolled in Niagara County Community College in the both Cs instructional unit and that this would not be detrimental for the or it would be detrimental to the college

and to both cities because both facilities are filled. We do not want that person in the county. It's the wrong place. If they just charge these prisoners it is probable that many of them will remain within the community. And. Some of them will likely a certain percentage always gets picked up again for crimes that might be committed in this area. Our jail itself for. Some of these offenses which. Where prisoners can serve up to one year they're overloaded already. We are at our maximum with our jail. We can't afford to take on any further responsibilities with respect to jail. As a state have a title to this facility as yet. What system do we stand on this.

Well the latest word I had was that they weren't too sure if the state had a title or not. But according to Alfonse D'Amato he was more or less dumped on to the legislature saying that well we've given the state a title. Now it's up to the legislature not to give Governor Kerry the money. I was hoping that he would have prevented a title transfer at the federal level. It would have made a lot easier with more less nipped in the bud much earlier than this. As far as I'm aware the federal government still has title. There's a letter that has been sent to Senator D'Amato and myself that indicates an intention to turn the land over to the state. But as far as I'm presently aware there has not yet been a transfer of title. Do you have any idea why the GSA rejected the bid for a senior citizen facility.

It seems to me that when the federal government. Owns a property such as a military installation they have an obligation to see to it that that property is utilized in the future if at all possible in a manner that's acceptable to the local citizenry. The alternative that the citizenry came up with that is senior citizen housing was far far preferable to the desires and intentions of the state. Where I think the General Services did not think when they made their decision. I think most of their decisions are arbitrary because they did not check with the community and if they had checked with the community out they would have made the decision that they did. The General Services Administration more or less rejected the site name for senior citizens about it. Yes they did. Temporarily we feel. And in its place is the Cambridge prison land.

And your feelings on that. I don't feel Cambria needs a prison first of all Cambria don't have that many criminals and secondly 70 percent of these people are coming from New York City area. Camera is a nice country residential farming community and we expect to keep it that way and we feel that with our. Proposal that can be a fair village. It could only better the community. State Corrections Commissioner Thomas Coghlan in hopes of building local support for the prison noted that inmates sent to Cambridge would have 30 months or less to serve on their sentences and none would be convicted of sex crimes or murder. The commissioner also stated that the vicinity could be a temporary prison and used for two or three years with all of the needed security including electronic sensing devices Coghlan estimated that half of the 160 to 180 present jobs would be filled by local residents. The annual prison payroll run two and a half million dollars

a schedule channel 17 interview with the corrections department spokesman this week was canceled. But Commissioner Coghlan earlier stressed the need for jail space. In this interview on Inside money we're at the point now where we are flat out of maximum security space the space that we've been putting on has been medium security space up in Watertown out a lot or here and there trying to find space. We have better schools more employment opportunities. Better family line better community lines even reduce crime. But that's what we've been about since since FDR as the federal government. The Great Society tried it and the crime rates going up since then. Now I think that society has to respond in a number of ways. I'm not saying close down schools are closed down for the program. But remember you've got a certain segment of that population that commits crime

terrorizes elderly people that makes it unsafe to work in the city of New York. You've got to have prisons for those people. The final determination of whether this site will be used for a prison will be made in Albany Highgrove county legislators will be fighting to keep money for the prison out of the final state budget. Well I'm sort of for supporting the desires of the people who live in the town of Cambridge and there is overwhelming opposition to the location of the prison there. I think that there are better alternatives for the commission of Corrections in towns where people want such an institution. The village of Albion I'm sure there's a site every county or kind of August county would have less opposition. You have a town Kamya. Well I think the fear is in the I believe them to be justifiable is number one. This is touted as a medium security type of installation. These people are who would be incarcerated there are on the way out of the system so to speak and one of the fears that I

have is said a number of these inmates will in fact end up and release programs into some of our educational facilities such as Down the road from the institution is in a County Community College and I have had a number of people come to me constituents of mine and people who are saying to me for god sakes man we don't want to get going to school with criminals and I am convinced that the prison is cited there will be one of the uses that they look forward to in the future. Same thing is true with the proceeds of the proceeds installation just down the road. The commissioner Coghlan is stated to me that he doesn't intend to do this he may use some of the teachers in the facility teaching some of the prisoners but I happen to believe that would be a lot easier for everybody on a bus and send them to the institution of the learning institution than to bring the teachers there.

Well I don't think the Cambridge prison should be built. And I think we should do everything we can to prevent it from being built. What fears do you have. Well I fear like everyone else right now in every county has so many problems to deal with another situation which would hurt our community is something that we really don't want. How would the community be best served tax wise with a say a minimum security state prison or a senior citizens complex. Well I think you'd have to do a complete analysis that would gain tax wise from both. Whether we gain war from a senior citizens village or a correction facility be very difficult to judge except that there would be more jobs. I think you can safely say there would be more jobs in a correctional facility but here again. I think the right of self-determination in a village where people should have a voice in what goes into that village supersedes the demeanor of the state in this case particularly since there are other places in which such

a facility could be located if there were no other places then I would say that I would say OK we have to me I select this site even though it's going to be unpopular since there are more there are sites which would be popular. Then why jam it down the street throat of people who don't want it. The whole issue pleases me personally in the rather difficult position because I am considered one of the law and order people in our body. I believe that if a person commits a crime that he should be punished and that punishment means putting people in the slammer. And so. It has been stated to me that it's inconsistent for me to say put him in the slammer but don't put the slammer in my district. That's not really true. I believe that while these prisoners must be house someplace there are a number of communities said one of these institutions that want this type of institution because of the jobs it produces and because of the impact that it does have on the economy of that area. My people don't want

it. We just don't want it that's all there is to it. Are you concerned about work programs whereby prisoners may be annoying at nearby. We definitely know that it is the right of the prisoner in New York State to be allowed to have a work release program an educational release program and a weekend for a law program. With community college so close to us Bossi so close to us in fact there's a handicapped and retarded BIOS used within a few hundred feet from this facility. So we know that they are going to be infiltrating into the schools around here and here again. We don't need this our own people need the use of these facilities. Within a mile from this complex there is a Girl Scout camp that used year round. There's a lot of woods there's a lot of fields with Byron's and everything these people could hide and a lot of these cities around the area don't think it's going to affect them and they are wrong because the first place a prisoner is going to go is to the city

so they can get temporarily lost shall we say. Late this week attorneys for the residents and Cambria it pertained to temporary restraining order from Federal District Judge John Elfen restraining the GSA. One law in the state immediate entry to the site. It will be argued in court Monday. The action contends the GSA failed to take several necessary statutory steps in attempting to dispose of the land. The New York State Department of Correctional Services I believe the figure was something like five point four million dollars to renovate this prison to make it into a prison. Where is this money going to come from since the funds weren't in the state's deficiency but what the governor is trying to do now he's got it in the main budget which we have to vote on a bill for it he has two requests in the main budget one for 10 million dollars for Operation expansion of I don't mention specifically Lockport Watertown can't Gabriel with a couple of other institutions.

Just as a nine million dollar request by the governor in the budget for expansion of an unnamed facility. So they've got a total of 20 million when you dollars out of which you can pull up 5.4 million for Lockport so you can safely say the governor has it in place and now it's up to the legislature to approve it or disapprove it. You know to get the issue out of the deficiency budget recently and we're currently working to get it out of the main budget too. One of the you just can't be against you have to have an alternative plan. One of the reasons that the fair people have been successful to this point is because it's not that they're just against prisons but they have a plan. He's senior housing development for that site. We have a plan in Albany Senator Daly and I have been working in convincing our colleagues that there are adequate facilities existing that are owned by the state. There was a little movement of people around with a little bit of innovative thinking on the part of the Department of Corrections. It probably would result in

saving the state money and provide adequate housing inadequate care for these inmates. And it appears to be up to the state legislature to come up with the money is in the upcoming budget. What kind of opposition can you muster up. This could be very difficult situation because in order to get it is put into the budget. If you require 76 Assembly votes to get it out of Korea 31 center votes to get out. My concern is that the other assemblyman and senators realize that if we do or are successful to keep the president out of there it will probably go in their backyards. So it's very difficult to get enough votes to get it out of the budget if the governor wants for spearheading the fight to convert this site into a 700 unit retirement village is a nonprofit organization called Cambridge fair an acronym for freedom against invasion of rights Cambria fair Valley. We hope to be is a senior citizen community consisting of

individual homes club residential condominium types. We are trying to locate 100 bad skilled nursing facility in this community. We will have use of the community college and it's going to be a community all of its own for the senior citizens. We tried very hard center of the amount of one myself to get the Department of Housing and Urban Development to actually come up with some financial assistance for senior citizen housing. But regrettably the Reagan administration has cut back housing programs a tremendously and therefore secretary of Housing and Community Development appears on willing to come forth with federal money for that purpose. Was the White House involved in any way in this decision. I suspect they were I do know that the issue did go to Ed Meese for decision. And therefore I contacted Ed Meese

his office as did Senator D'Amato trying to get him to have the federal government turn the property over to HUD for the development of senior citizen housing. Mr. Meese apparently bucked the issue back to GSA to Mr. common. Apparently without instructions but I somehow suspect that there may well have been instructions from the White House that it should be for the president because of the letter that Mr Common sent to Senator D'Amato and myself which cited the president's strong concern about crime and the need for additional prisons. The commissioner of Corrections. It's going to be a temporary prison two or three years. And you live there. I have to totally disagree with the commissioner there has never been in the history of New York State a temporary medium security prison. In fact we are almost thinking that he is going to have this a prominent prison and eventually

go to a maximum security. I think. COMMISSIONER. Is pulling our leg. If they're going to spend nearly five million dollars and converting it I think that that's going to be a permanent facility. The corrections department also estimates that half of their one hundred sixty to one hundred eighty jobs at the prison would be filled by local residents. Can you see that happening oh that's a farce also because these are most of those positions are civil service and they're drawn from throughout New York state and any time that you think we're going to have half of the workforce come from local the local area that's a farce. If these prisoners come from the New York City area and then the families want to visit them there are no facilities in this agricultural community to house them. So who's going to pay for the transportation for nagger farms or Lockport or Buffalo for instance

to get these families many of those prisoners come from a welfare situation as it is. It's also been noted. The inmates in this facility would serve 30 months or less they're ready to go out. World none has been convicted of a sex crime or a murder. Isn't this more or less your case. We totally disagree with the commissioner there. There is such a thing as plea bargaining. And when I talk to him when he came to the town hall in Cambria I asked him that question. And with the plea bargaining Yes there definitely will be murder one murder two and rapist so it's going to be hard core criminals right down. If he says it that's the type of people that are going to be in there. You don't have to have. Sex crimes or anything or murder. To scare some of the populace because

the person whose home is invaded for the purpose of. Burglarizing it. That's a traumatic experience to the individuals living there especially if they're senior citizens. To find your house devastated. So it doesn't matter whether it's murder or sex crime or whether it's an ordinary burglary in which your home has been invaded. It's being done a nuff as it is in this area. We don't want to increase any possibility there. If you are successful in say that legislation does not come up with the funds are. You sure it says then that it will become a retirement village. No there's no such assurances that something has to be worked out between the town of Cambridge and the federal government. That retirement village has not been approved for funds at Washington. I don't see how it could become a reality unless it is subsidized by the federal government. So that's something that's in there right now has to be considered separate. The main thrust

of the present time versity is whether or not funds should be made available at the state level for the building of the renovation of the present airport site to make it into a correctional facility and secondly whether or not the federal government should turn the property over the latter seems to be fair complete in that the federal government GSA has now said it will turn the land over to the States so we're down to the bottom line of whether or not we can block the governor from getting any funds in this coming budget for such a facility. The fair people have been told by the federal government that all of this is contingent upon the state utilizing these premises as a prison and it takes money. So if the money isn't in place we have been led to believe that within six months the property would revert back to the federal government. And at that time. To play and you know that has been submitted by the fair people has met tremendous support you know people really

think that they have a real hot item here with a seniors complex that they're talking about a commingling of the older with the younger people the rural setting. There's a great deal of merit to it and I believe that if we can get the money out that little beyond words and upward from then on for the fair people I think it be an excellent place for a senior citizen community. As you know there's three areas where the senior citizens are able to go One is North Tonawanda Lockport and city Nagra follows. And I've always maintained for the last 10 years that we need a senior citizen center somewhere in the towns equally located from the three cities. And I think he came here he would be perfect that is pretty much centrally located in agriculture. On. February 2nd 1982 the legislature unanimously passed another resolution. Reaffirming its opposition to the prison. But affirming a position with respect to fair.

For. Senior citizens facility. And. We support that. Concept in its entirety. So what can the people of Qana Kaymer you do now at this stage. Advice when you get well we're doing the best we can and were assisting the fair group as much as possible to prevent it. And I think we will still succeed. Is there any hope for the residents of Cambridge here that one day we may see a senior citizens facility there. Or is it a foregone conclusion that we'll see a prison there. There are two things that would have to happen first of all the state legislature would have to block the authorization of monies in the state budget for development of the site as a prison and then secondly the federal and state governments both would have to come up with monies for its development a senior

citizen housing on. Until something is actually done with that site which is irrevocable. Of course there's still hope.