The ornately designed fence proposed for the Shakopee women’s prison was dealt a setback last week as members of a key House committee expressed skepticism over the $5.4 million price tag.
“I wish you’d come back with a little less,” said committee Chairman Larry Howes, R-Walker. “The wrought-iron is nice. I know the neighborhood would like that, but we don’t even have a fence like that around the governor’s residence.” (Feb. 29 meeting audio)
The $5.4 million security fence — the top bonding priority for the Department of Corrections — was part of the governor’s DOC bonding request introduced to the House Capital Investment Committee on Feb. 29.
Representatives asked about alternatives to the brick and wrought-iron fence, which is proposed to be accompanied by an interior invisible detection system.
“What is the [cost of a] bear-bones fence?” asked Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent. “What is a chain-link topped with razor-wire?”
The answer: $2 million less.
Howes has asked for an analysis of the cost to build a black chain-link fence with black posts, similar to one erected along a trail near his home. He’s not suggesting razor-wire.
“Obviously, it’s only 5 feet high, not 12 feet, but it looks very good,” Howes said. “Instead of stone columns, use 12-inch steel pipe painted black and have a nice crown or globe on top.”
These comments are exactly the kind feared by residents who met with prison officials a few weeks ago. Opinions are mixed among neighbors about the need for a fence, but opposition will be stronger if the design changes.
“I can’t say they’re all wanting it, but of all the designs we’ve had, this is the one that seems to be the least oppositional for them,” said Shakopee prison Warden Tracy Beltz, adding that one homeowner told her he’s afraid of the state doing a “bait-and-switch” for a more traditional design.
If the Legislature funds a cheaper fence there’s a strong possibility the city would fail to approve a conditional-use permit for its construction.
Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, questioned why the prison couldn’t employ technology to keep inmates in — such as anklet bracelets on those mostly likely to escape or motion detectors on poles.
“This looks so 19th Century to me,” Kahn said. “I have a problem spending this kind of money on what looks like such an old type of solution.”
Beltz responded that it’s difficult to predict who will attempt escape, noting that one woman fled on her last day at the prison. She also talked about the need to keep outsiders off the prison grounds.
A woman with not much left on her sentence is likely not much of a public safety risk, Kahn said.
Kahn also asked why the fence is “suddenly needed,” given that none of the seven inmates who’ve escaped since 1995 did anyone harm.
“That’s what we’re hoping to prevent with a system like this,” Beltz said.
Howes was surprised the prison doesn’t already have an invisible detection system.
“I would think you should have light poles all around with sensors on them. If someone moves — even a deer — a radio signal goes into the guard shack,” he suggested.
Such a system has limited benefit, Beltz said, because it would only alert the prison that something has breached a point, but it wouldn’t preclude anyone from leaving.
The exterior fence also acts as a barrier for contraband, said DOC Assistant Commissioner Terry Carlson. An outside party wouldn’t be able to hide drugs in a specific bush, for instance, with a fence.
“Having a barrier is such an important part and we want to be good neighbors,” Carlson said. “We want to have a fence that meets that concern as well.”
Committee members also questioned why the prison was built where it is in the first place.
“That’s amazing they would build a school that close to a prison,” said Committee Vice Chair Peggy Scott, R-Andover.
The city should have had zoning in place around the prison site to prevent such facilities, “but the horse is out of the barn now,” said Rep. Lyndon Carlson, DFL-Crystal, adding that if the state had rebuilt the prison elsewhere in the mid-80s, “we wouldn’t have this issue before us today.”
The bonding proposal’s next stop is the House Public Safety Committee.
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