City shows interest in pre-release center

The Columbia Falls City Council is looking at the possibility of locating a planned pre-release center here.

The City Council voted Monday to invite the committee charged with finding a site for the center to present its plans to the city. The council hopes to learn more about the center and get input from residents on the proposal.

Several council members voiced their support in learning more about the center.

"This move is going to give an opportunity to the citizens to tell us what they think," council member Don Barnhart said.

A committee appointed by the City of Kalispell and Flathead County in January 2008 has been charged with finding a location for the center. After receiving negative public comments, the committee recently decided not to locate the pre-release center south of downtown Kalispell. Instead the committee has set its sights on locating the center in the U.S. Highway 2 corridor north of Evergreen.

Community, Counseling and Correctional Services, a Butte-based nonprofit, will run the 40-bed facility. The state will survey nearby residents, who must approve the site, before it can be selected.

City Manager Bill Shaw suggested the city consider locating the center here because it would provide jobs and add to the city's tax base.

"Everything about this strikes me as something that could benefit Columbia Falls," he said.

In addition, he noted, about 100 people living in or near the city would qualify for enrollment in the facility.

"This could provide closer supervision and training" for those participating, he said.

Pre-release centers aid inmates nearing the end of their sentences by providing treatment, counseling, job training and placement services.

The state requires that pre-release centers be within minimal response time from law enforcement agencies and fire and medical services. The committee has also restricted the potential location by stating that it can't be in residentially zone areas or closer than 1,500 feet of a school.

Shaw said he worked in Othello, Wash., which has a pre-release center nearby, and found the facility to be beneficial.

"I never had the impression that people felt concerned for their safety because of the facility," he said.