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Blair County commissioners remove Alto Rest Park site from consideration for new county prison
Summary
After weeks of public opposition and thousands of petition signatures, the Blair County Board of Commissioners voted to remove the Alto Rest Park–adjacent property from consideration for eminent-domain acquisition as a site for a new county prison and to continue the search for alternatives.
Blair County commissioners voted April 3 to remove from consideration a parcel adjacent to Alto Rest Park that had been the county's preferred site for a new county prison.
The vote followed more than half an hour of public comment from county residents and representatives of the Alto Rest Park Cemetery Association, who urged commissioners not to pursue taking the land by eminent domain. Jeffrey Behrens, vice president and general manager of Alto Rest Park Cemetery Association Incorporated, told the board he submitted “signatures from almost a thousand additional people” since the last meeting and said, “taking our land will have a significant negative impact on both the present and future business of Alto Rest Park.”
Why it matters: Commissioners have been searching for a long-term replacement for the current county jail. The preferred Alto Rest site had triggered sustained public opposition,…
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