State plans demolition of prison worker homes

COTTONWOOD (AP) - The Idaho Department of Correction has sent eviction notices to occupants of a state-owned housing complex in Cottonwood that has served as home to prison staff and their families for decades but has fallen into disrepair and is slated for demolition later this year.

The complex was built by the U.S. Air Force in 1955 for staff working at a nearby radio tower. The facility, which includes 18 homes, began catering to prison workers in 1974 after construction finished on the North Idaho Correctional Institution.

So far, at least eight of the notified families have found new housing, and state prison officials are helping seven other individuals find new places to live.

"No one wants to do this. No one wants to make this decision," Kevin Kempf, division chief for operations at IDOC, told the Lewiston Tribune. "These people that live in these homes are our staff. So it's making a very, very difficult decision even that much more difficult."

Residents paid up to $400 per month for the homes, which can be rented out only to state employees. But in recent years, the properties have fallen into disrepair, prompting the state's risk management insurer to determine the homes are no longer worth insuring.

Kempf said agency officials have been meeting and working with affected employees in a region without a surplus of work force housing options.

"It's so important to us that we know our staff is going to be taken care of," Kempf said. "Our focus is the care and concern of our staff up there. This is a very, very traumatic event. We know that. We want to go about this in an extremely fair and compassionate manner."

Prison employees are scattered throughout the Camas Prairie and Clearwater Valley and face long commutes because of a shortage of housing in the immediate area, said Cottonwood Mayor Dennis Duman.

"There's just not much available up here," said Duman, adding that manufacturing companies struggle with attracting new workers because of the shortage of housing.

"So there's a hundred different obstacles in the way," Duman said. "We're exploring all avenues but the city of Cottonwood stands to lose because of the potential of these people (at the state housing complex) moving out of the area."