May 11--The Industrial Foundation is currently in negotiations and may be close to a deal on another potential site for the proposed Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention facility, according to business recruiter Steve Butcher.

The site currently under negotiation is located in the northeast corner of Wolters Industrial Park, across from Corrections Corporation of America facility and north of Weatherford College.

According to Butcher, the site was not previously considered because they had repeatedly attempted to purchase the property in the past 20 years, even in the past five years, and were rebuffed or ignored.

Multiple other sites in the Wolters area were considered but "we had very little luck coming up with a potential location," Butcher said.

Any potential property must have adequate access to utilities and a road, be fairly flat and available for purchase, according to Butcher.

To the surprise of Butcher, the owners of the 187-acre tract expressed openness to selling when they were recently contacted.

If the deal goes through, the Industrial Foundation would buy the entire piece of land and give 30 acres to Emerald Correctional Management on which to build a facility to house ICE detainees. The rest could be given to other companies looking to locate in the area or expand.

The 62 acres near the airport that the Industrial Foundation was planning to give Emerald was the last property they owned, according to Butcher.

"So we're able to solve another problem at the same time," Butcher said. "One of the biggest incentives offered is free land to companies that create a tax base and jobs."

"The goal is to get a contract in place very shortly," Butcher said. "We hope to submit a specific use permit request next week."

"Emerald Corporation is trying not to lose their funding source," Butcher said. "There's a big push to get at least a site nailed down."

If all goes as planned, the specific use permit application would appear on the planning and zoning commission agenda for their regularly scheduled June 1st meeting and, if approved, would be considered by the city council at their June 2nd meeting.

Mayor Mike Allen said it is not unusual for the council to consider items passed by the planning and zoning commission at their next meeting and proper notice of the public hearings will be published.

"We're not trying to do this behind closed doors," Butcher said, but added there is a need to get a site settled quickly for Emerald's project funding.

"In moving the site ... I think we have solved one of the biggest problems in the public's perception," Butcher said.

According to City Manager Lance Howerton, the site has adequate access to utilities and would not tax the city's system.

Wastewater would go to the Willow Creek wastewater treatment plant, which is permitted to operate at 1.2 million gallons per day capacity, according to Howerton.

"Currently we are running at less than 50 percent capacity," Howerton said. "Even if we were to add a 100 thousand gallons per day, it would still be at less than 50 percent capacity.

With around 2,000 inmates, the Corrections Corporation of America facility typically uses 200,000 gallons per day, Howerton said, about twice the projected use of the proposed Emerald facility.

On a peak day, the Hilltop water treatment plant processes 7 million gallons, Howerton said, and since a recent infrastructure upgrade should have a capacity of around 13 million to 14 million gallons per day.

The ICE facility's projected use is around 100,000 gallons per day, according to Howerton.

As far as security and land use concerns goes, Howerton said the site may be more appropriate.

Area businesses and properties that would be affected have already been near the CCA-run facility for over 20 years, according to Howerton.

"It's in a heavy industrial area removed from any residential areas," Howerton said.

"I think you can see we've spent a lot of hours on this," Allen said.

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