Marshalltown one possible location for halfway house
By TAMMY R. LAWSON, TIMES-REPUBLICANArticle Photos
If the federal government has its way, Marshalltown will soon be the recipient of a new facility for prisoners transitioning back into the community.
The Iowa Correctional Association submitted a proposal last week to the city and Marshall County for building a federal halfway house on property located at 408 S. 12 Ave., formerly home to Yellow Freight Systems.
Pennsylvania-based FireTree Ltd., a non-profit corporation specializing in public re-entry, would release federal offenders in the city of Des Moines as well as Marshall, Polk, Story or Warren Counties.
The facility would operate five years with an estimated 46 beds for males and 12 beds for females by end of the contract term.
Offenders will include those transferred into the release program or committed directly to serve short sentences, and prisoners under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office. Participants in the program will serve a minimum of four months.
The company is in the process of securing necessary zoning approvals and permits with construction slated to begin on April 1, 2010.
"I want to make certain the public is aware that this facility is proposed," said Mayor Gene Beach. "[The city council] could pass a resolution saying we, as a community, are opposed to it but this is a federal issue so if they want it here, it's probably going to be here."
People who wish to comment on the matter may contact Edgar Stanton, Contract Specialist for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320th 1st St. N.W., Washington DC 20534, by phone at 202-307-3070 or email at estanton@bop.gov.
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Contact Tammy R. Lawson at 641-753-6611 or tlawson@timesrepublican.com
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snooker
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08-01-09 3:01 PM
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This comment goes back to herkeye. I DO NOT NEED TO MOVE. They need to move the location of the new halfway house. I DON'T WANT IT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE THERE ARE TOO MANY LITTLE CHILDREN. How about if we put it in YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?!?! Enough said!
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iamtammy
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07-31-09 5:59 PM
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Side note: Calls placed earlier today to Stanton and Firetree haven't been returned yet...will try again Monday. Stay tuned...
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NOHALFWAY
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07-31-09 4:29 PM
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I think that we should send mass e-mail to this guy and tell him that he needs to reconsider the location. this is a dangerous klocation--too close to children.
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herkeye
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07-30-09 11:31 PM
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I agree with veteran...miles out of town. And Snooker...I would rather have it in the proposed location than have it on IA Ave East. That is way too close to the dirty book store and the strip joint for these criminals. They would need new shoes every week. I bet you did not think of that...you just want it away from your home. Remember, you can always move if you don't like it where it is going. I would still rather have it miles out out town....say about 500 or so.
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AverageAmerican
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07-30-09 9:53 PM
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...and how dumb is does our Mayor think we are?? "I want to make certain the public is aware that this facility is proposed," said Mayor Gene Beach. Duh!!! Building to start in the spring Gene. AT least have the decency to stand up and tell the truth---you supported this and probably courted the feds. This just doesn't fall from the sky without city executives advocating FOR IT.
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AverageAmerican
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07-30-09 9:49 PM
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Illegals and now convicts. HAHAHAHA. Beach and team can't jack tax rates on homeowners any higher without risking tar and feathers. So now they turn to Fed and State handouts with all the strings. Have all you silent taxpayers had enough yet????
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happygolucky
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07-30-09 5:02 PM
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I do not think any of our comments will make any difference. Try and talk to the city council is like talking to a dead horse. They only listen to the city administrator and so-called mayor.
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iamtammy
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07-30-09 2:13 PM
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To clarify, I talked with someone at the Department of Correction earlier today, and it is FireTree themselves requesting the federal halfway house be located in Marshalltown; the situation is the same regardless.
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snooker
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07-30-09 11:05 AM
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I sent the below letter to Edgar Stanton, and would suggest others contact him directly with their comments. I and other citizens of the Marshalltown community appreciate your committee's selection of our fine city for this project - just not in this residential neighborhood. There are a lot of families with small children, including numerous autistic and special needs children, currently living in this immediate area. I would be overly concerned about children walking to the bus stop knowing there are federal prisoners living less than 2 blocks from our home. The majority of those I have spoken with do not believe it would be a good idea to build the half-way house at your chosen location. A building of this nature could be built along Iowa Avenue East on vacant building sites just east of Rose Hill Memorial Gardens, located off new Highway 30. I hope you will still consider Marshalltown - just at a different location.
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MrMarshalltown
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07-30-09 9:50 AM
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I think a person has a right to be negative about issues like this. Maybe we wouldn't have to be neagative in the comments section if this town had something positive going on. You can tell me that we have it great here with our library, aquatic center, new parks, etc... but to be honest these are basic necessities for any town. I like living here, but to say that someone should have to move because they don't agree with the way things are going is sheep like thinking. I feel the city council/elected officials focus only on the easy wins for the city (such as these.) Go to a town like Ankeney, Ames, Grimes, etc and you'll see what a community roughly our size can do when it's pointing itself in the right direction. The more I think about this idea the worse it is. Our current half-way house is, for the most part, offenders from Iowa. Now we'll be bringing in even more criminal types from across the country to muck up Marshalltown. Great.
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happygolucky
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07-30-09 7:15 AM
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Charles... You really do have a problem with life. You are such a big racist, that you cujld not see the truth if it hit you in the mouth. You keep saying the same thing over and over, but no really cares about your trash. Give it up. If you live in Marshalltown, and don't like MOVE out. If you live out of town, it is none of your concern./ TR Where is the ignorant rantings button that we can use on Charles????
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herkeye
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07-29-09 9:30 PM
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I say no....just today I met one of these tards on the road. He was walking on the pavement towards me and did not move over at all. He was just daring me to hit him. If I would have had a 72 Impala 2dr I would have loved to swing the door open and knock his sorry ass straight into the ditch! Send these pukes to another town....We (I) don't need them here!!
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Johnny
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07-29-09 8:12 PM
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Someone asked about security. It's a halfway house, which means they have got to have a job to go to. Which means they WALK to work. Sometimes the walk back, somtimes they don't. This is a Fed. deal the one in town is for state offenders. To go federally you screwed up big time! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
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higherground
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07-29-09 7:12 PM
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iamtammy - I think JeanieGirl hit the nail on the head with her post. veteran - "Mexietown" is a term used to display the contempt that I and other law-abiding citizens have for the fact that Marshalltown is a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants, of which the vast majority are from Mexico. As far as "Marshalltown one possible location for halfway house", I wish I could feel like someone actually did only a halfway job of thinking when they considered Marshalltown as a location, but I have this unsettling feeling that they actually put a lot of thinking into selecting this city. Let's see - could it be our churches and schools - maybe the new Fisher Tech Center? I have no clue what is actually trying to go down, and I'm not a gambler, but I WOULD bet that this "halfway house" offers nothing positive for Marshalltown.
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mtownescapee
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07-29-09 5:47 PM
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I suggest that Marshalltown take the windmills and rejected by Teddy Kennedy and let Teddy and his pals have the half-way house in their neighborhood.
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happygolucky
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07-29-09 4:31 PM
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Waterfowl, you forgot to mention the great swimming hole. That place only ooses about 60 grand a year. How much are loosing on the libary? You will NEVER get the truth from the mayor. He is incapable of telling the truth on finances.
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WaterfowlHuntersWife
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07-29-09 4:19 PM
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Mtown is a slum town. There's nothing new and exciting to bring people here. Nobody cares about making the town "historically pretty" and all that other crap. We care about modern technology and trendy stores. Mtown could've used a Bass Pro Shops. Instead, we get a new library. *blink* Major snorefest! This town is uninteresting.
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JeanieGirl
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07-29-09 2:14 PM
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It seems that this is just one more nail in Marshalltown's coffin.
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Cyklone
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07-29-09 1:39 PM
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Charlesincharge is a racist who feeds off of attention he gets from this website. He bashes anything and everything Marshalltown yet still lives there (or feels the need to comment on everything going on there). The best way for people like him to go away is to ignore his comments. TR - could you make an ignore function for people's comments we don't want to read?
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MrMarshalltown
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07-29-09 10:50 AM
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Mayor Beach is correct in saying the Feds will do what they wish, but I hope that our elected officials put forth a fight against this. I'm upset that I check the paper everyday for a glimmer of hope for this town. We've got some potential here, if the people who call the shots didn't take the easy route out all the time. It's alot easier to pass a raise for yourself or make a new bike trail in town. Don't let this happen and put your focus on the big picture, repair the streets, keep the town clean, and bring in new industry.
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MrMarshalltown
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07-29-09 10:39 AM
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I'm against this. Although this group isn't going to be a threat to the job scene of the same group of people who are propsing an unneeded 1.2 Million dollar renovation to our previous public library, this will however take away 50+ low paying jobs from law abiding people people trying to scrape by in our city. Many fast food and low end jobs make tax breaks by hiring on offenders to their payrolls. Who do you think they are going to hire when given the choice? How about the fact that many of these criminal types will get comforatable with their stay and will more then likely make their temporary stay a permanent one? That's all we need is an increase to our crime rate with the recent increases indicated by the acting police chief. How about how attractive our town will look to prospective companies looking to open up shop? Lets go ahead and open up that new data center or industrial site in the town of 30,000 people, with a 10-15% poverty rate, & two halfway houses. CONT.
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DoinkyBoy
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07-29-09 10:11 AM
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I vote no!
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TRFansUnite
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07-29-09 9:38 AM
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Mebbe we work out a deal with the feds to let us put a nuclear plant where to new coal plant was going to be and then put the halfway house right next to it?
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SammyCy
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07-29-09 9:35 AM
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This would be terrible..we already have a halfway house in town that brings in all types of criminals and their "relatives" They are sex offenders, convicted felonys, etc. We have enough problems here in Marshalltown...if we want to stop more businesses and people coming to town..ya bring more criminals in. SAY NO TO THIS
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gopanthers
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07-29-09 9:34 AM
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A more appropriate location for a 1/2 way house is Waterloo. Crime is rampant in 'loo. Robbery and shooting reported almost daily.
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