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TRI-
June 2, 2009
By Joe Chapman, Herald staff writer
About 25 residents of rural Franklin County attended the county
commission meeting Monday to oppose plans to develop a housing facility
for seasonal farmworkers southwest of Basin City.
The project wouldn't require county commission approval, but the
residents asked the commission to join them in opposing it.
"If you don't support this one, this is your chance to come out and say,
I don't support it," said Dave Phipps, who has a farm near Basin City.
The Franklin County Farm Bureau recently bought 10 acres just north of
the Road 170 and Ringold Road intersection from the Bureau of
Reclamation for the 100-bed project.
It would serve seasonal workers such as those who come for cherry
harvest. In the past, many of those workers have camped on state land at
Ringold, where there have been conflicts with fishermen and problems
with waste disposal.
But the residents who attended the commission meeting expressed fears
that the housing facility would increase traffic accidents, drive up
labor costs for other farming operations, and increase crime rates
related to drugs, fights, rapes and homicides.
They also doubted the facility would remain solely for temporary
seasonal housing, but said it eventually would become Section 8 housing
for low-income people.
The state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development is in
the second phase of reviewing an application for funding the project,
and its preliminary designs are complete.
The Farm Bureau plans to lease the housing development to the nonprofit
Washington Farm Labor Association to manage it. The housing complex,
which is composed of duplexes, would have an on-site manager and lease
agreements.
But the project's opponents decried the inability the management would
have to screen workers' backgrounds, the inadequate supervision that
would be at the facility and the limited law enforcement presence due to
the site's remoteness.
"We bend over backwards to accommodate the so-called 'oppressed'
people," said Jodii Guilbeau. "We are members of this community. We are
the ones who are going to be living with this in our backyards."
Commissioner Rick Miller said he supports migrant housing for
agriculture and there's a need for it. Although the audience largely
opposed the project, there were others who support it, he said.
Commissioners Bob Koch and Brad Peck said they would favor submitting a
letter asking the state to set money for the project aside to allow time
for answering some of the unresolved issues.
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