"FAA ponders 'unprecedented' plan for prison near Pueblo, Colo., airport"

Saturday, August 7, 2004

FAA ponders 'unprecedented' plan for prison near Pueblo, Colo., airport
The Pueblo (CO) Chieftain


The city of Pueblo's plan to locate a prison adjacent to its airport is
an unprecedented move, says Allen Kenitzer, public affairs manager for
the Federal Aviation Administration's Northwest Mountain and Alaska
regions.

Because the city is pioneering the concept, the FAA does not know how
the prison could affect future airport operations, Kenitzer said. The
plan may be a test case for the FAA. 

FAA officials nationwide this week researched the history of prisons
being on airport land and told Kenitzer that neither the data search nor
anyone's memory could produce a similar setup.

Kenitzer, like city officials, said the release of the airport property
to GEO Group, owner-operator of the prison, could happen at any time,
possibly preparing for an October groundbreaking.

The only holdup is the FAA's approval of the city's environmental review
statement, which will include any public resistance to the project.

Kenitzer said the FAA's evaluation will not address whether an airport
with its usual high security priority being next to a prison is a good
idea.

The Criminal Justice Reform Coalition of Colorado Springs has filed a
lawsuit attempting to stop the prison, but that was not necessarily
considered, Kenitzer said.

"We have certain guidelines. People can raise concerns. People can have
problems with it. The FAA does have regulations we enforce. If somebody
has an issue with it, it can be discussed. But again, if the regulation
is silent about a specific issue like this. . ."

When asked how the FAA might monitor the prison/airport situation,
Kenitzer said he could only speculate. He agreed, though, that it could
be an ongoing test case for the FAA.

City officials have played down security issues relating to the private
prison, which they describe as a prerelease/parole center where inmates
likely would not jeopardize their short time by escaping.

The private prison, however, is designed to the state's medium-security
standards, such as those at the privately run Crowley County
Correctional Facility, according to Alison Morgan of the Colorado
Department of Corrections.

City Attorney Tom Jagger acknowledged that the prison, and the type of
inmates housed there, could change in coming years under new contracts
in the future. However, he said, such a change is "highly improbable"
given the current city contract with GEO Group and its proposal to the
DOC.

Kenitzer said he didn't know whether an airport-prison combination will
require the city to improve airport security measures through staffing,
fences or monitoring.

Under security measures implemented after the 9/11 terrorist attacks,
such a decision would fall to the Transportation Security
Administration. The FAA is in charge of general aviation security.

Michael Fierberg, a regional TSA spokesman, said Friday that he did not
immediately know if security restrictions would change and even if they
did, he added, he might not be able confirm it to the public because of
obvious "security sensitive reasons."

Jerry Brienza, airport operations manager, said the prison will not
require increased airport security. 

"They (GEO Group) have their own security. It is self-contained. The TSA
does not require us to set up any security. The prison has not contacted
us to request that we step up any security," Brienza said.

In the past year, City Transportation Director Dan Centa said the
airport's security rating has been downgraded because of fewer
commercial flights there and the airport tower shutting down at 10 p.m.
Airport security staff leaves at 11 p.m. and there are no overnight
perimeter patrols.

Centa said the relaxed security has not hurt the airport, not even when
an Albuquerque military trainer plane's tire caught on fire and a crew
member dialed 911 from a public phone. The military training flights
provide no income to the airport, Centa said, but they do help maintain
the city's relationship with the FAA and the National Weather Service's
airport office. 

"This (airport) is an old military facility that was given to the city
of Pueblo," Centa said, "We view it as a symbiotic relationship"
benefiting both the city and the military.

"The weather service is tied into that. And on occasion, because of
cutbacks or whatever, you'll hear there are those that want to cut back
in the weather service and in the (FAA) tower operation. Obviously, we
strive to do almost everything we can to maintain good relationships
with the weather service, the FAA and with the military."


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