Activist Oden gets grant for Down East prison plan

JONESBORO – A political activist this week was given a $2,000 planning grant by the Washington County Development Authority to flesh out her design for a new prison Down East.

Nancy Oden, who had originally requested $15,000, learned of the grant on Tuesday.

“This is a very small grant,” she said in a prepared statement. “But I plan to do everything as outlined in my proposal even if it means convincing others to contribute their time and expertise for little or not pay.”

The working name for the Oden proposal is “New Start Farm.”

Oden also has asked Gov. John Baldacci to appoint her to the Prison Task Force that is being set up.

“Those of us who want to work with inmates and help them become productive, working members of society should have a place on that Task Force, so it isn’t dominated, as it is now, by those who merely build more cages in prisons for profit, rather than have inmates work to learn how to take care of themselves and others,” she said.

The Jonesboro woman said she envisions an organic farm that would lead to spin-off businesses.

“Our proposal encompasses much more than prisons, per se, since it involves growing food locally, recycling, composting and reusing formerly wasted materials, rehabilitating drug and alcohol addicts so they can fit into society and be productive, and having inmates do community services which will help Washington County’s people, all of which would save taxpayers’ money and help the inmates pay for their room and board,” she said.

While Oden is focusing on her plan, members of the Washington County’s legislative delegation have their own.

The goal is to replace the medium- and minimum-security Down East Correctional Facility at Bucks Harbor.

Right now the prison houses everyone from murderers at the ends of their prison terms to men who broke windows in a building. It was built to hold 96 men; its current population is nearly double that. Sixty-nine employees staff the prison.

Earlier this month, the legislative delegation and county officials met with Gov. John Baldacci and Department of Corrections Commissioner Martin Magnusson to discuss building a new facility that would replace the prison located at the former Bucks Harbor Air Force Station. No new site has been selected.

The meeting followed one held in April in Machias between the legislative delegation and the Washington County Development Authority that explored the possibility of WCDA building a new correctional facility, then leasing it to the state.

The WCDA is a state entity modeled on the Loring Development Authority in Limestone. Its board members are nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. Their plan is for WCDA to borrow the money to build a prison if the state would commit to a long-term lease.

Another suggestion that has been offered is to let private contractors run the prison.

Republican state Sen. Kevin Raye of Perry said Thursday that the governor was in the process of setting up the working group. “There are no new developments, as far as I am aware of, since our meeting, but I will be checking on that in the next week or so to see where things are at,” he said.

When first built, the Down East Correctional Facility was not intended to be a prison. The buildings that sit on a small hill in Bucks Harbor once belonged to the U.S. Air Force 907th Radar Squadron. The old buildings, which are still there, were used at one time for the chow hall and barracks.

The prison opened in 1985. The state has spent more than $1 million in repairs, and more is needed.