What Next? Covered Bridges Treatment Center Plans Push Forward
Now that public meetings over plans for a privately-run juvenile detention facility in Newbury are finished, the resounding question remains, what next? And as one resident asked the state, “What can the community of Newbury do to stop you?”
Sean Brown, the commissioner of the Department of Families and Children, which will oversee the Covered Bridges Treatment Center, seemed determined last week to push ahead despite local concerns around safety, traffic, and emergency response capacity.
At the start of the community consultation process, he said the state wanted to secure community support before moving forward. In an interview last week, Brown suggested that box had been checked.
“I would say while there’s certainly some residents who are strongly opposed to it, we have heard from many who are actually supportive of it, so we do feel like there is support in the community for the project,” he said.
The Wells River facility is designed to hold a maximum of six beds for teenage male offenders, making it far smaller than its 30-bed predecessor in Colchester . The former inn is also planned to undergo an estimated three million dollar renovation, with major upgrades in security features.
The last informational meeting was held on March 18, and there are no additional public meetings planned for the future. However, there will be additional opportunities for public input on the project, which will be operated by the private contractor Becket Family of Services.
Becket and DCF will submit a proposal to the Newbury Development Review Board. Then the public can offer their own comments and suggestions, but the review board is not obligated to respond to these comments. From here, the review board will make a final decision to approve or deny the proposal. This process can take upwards of two months. The timeline is as follows:
● Becket will submit an application to the zoning administrator, who has 30 days to review the application
● If the application is deemed to be complete, it is referred to the Newbury Development Review Board
● An announcement of when the public hearing will take place will be released 15 days prior
● A public hearing is held and all interested parties have the opportunity to make a case for or against the facility
● When the chair of the review board believes that all testimony has been heard, the public hearing will close
● The review board will have 45 days to approve or deny Becket’s application
This timeline means a final decision could be made as soon as this summer.
Becket is still facing intense opposition from some in the town. In the third, and last, informational meeting, residents discussed any and all measures that would be taken to stop the plans — including putting it to a popular vote.
However, state officials and town selectboard members cast doubt on any efforts to halt the project. The local frustration has also spilled onto online forums.
“This whole project from start to finish has had a film of secrecy,” wrote Tina Fenoff Heywood, a community member, on the “Newbury VT Discussion: Becket Detention Center” Facebook page. “These meetings have been a facade, simply going through the motions. If Becket genuinely was interested in allowing the residents of Newbury to have a voice and being a partner in the decision making we would have been involved months ago.”
Brown, the DCF commissioner, said that as the project pushes forwards, he will continue to communicate with Newbury residents. “We are continuing to hear from residents. I actually just received some further correspondence just before our meeting here,” he said.
Regarding the oppositions and community concerns, Commissioner Brown said “we have adjusted and proposed things in response to what we have heard”.
These adjustments include running a study to determine how the facility will impact traffic, maintaining the facility’s property tax structure despite Becket being exempt due to its nonprofit status, and having the facility’s executive director attend the regular Newbury selectboard meetings.
Brown also mentioned an emergency notification system that will be available for community members to participate in and that paid-for security systems have been offered to residents living in close proximity to the facility.
Discussion is still underway to address a lack of police presence in the area. At the third community meeting Brown discussed possibly contracting with that state police or other nearby police departments to provide regular patrols in Newbury.
Newbury residents, specifically those living on Fish Pond Road who will be in closest proximity to the facility, have expressed fear and frustration towards the facility plan. Major concerns include community safety, stemming from the nature of the facility’s juvenile inhabitants as well as a lack of police and emergency service presence in the area. Other concerns address how the facility will impact the town image, local businesses, and home values.
“I am very pessimistic,” wrote Jean Reynolds Greer in the Facebook group titled “Newbury VT Discussion: Becket Detention Center.” “It's going to happen no matter how we feel about it. Private property or not something that is going to have that much of an impact on the community should have a vote by the community.”
Yet as of right now, a vote is not in the cards. Newbury will be watching the working of its Newbury Development Review Board closely in the coming months.
