Valley Rally to include prison push

Saturday, January 30, 1999

by Jeffrey age

the Chippewa herald

A geriatric prison on the Northern Center for the Developmentally Disabled grounds in Chippewa Falls will be a hot topic in Madison next week.

Business and community leaders from the Chippewa Valley converge on Madison Tuesday and Wednesday for the fifth annual Chippewa Valley Rally.

The rally will place local leaders at the table with lawmakers to discuss issues important to the Chippewa Valley.

The geriatric prison proposal has been designated as a primary topic by Momentum Chippewa Valley, and was brought to the table by county representative John Regatta.

The Department of Corrections, Department of Administration and Department of Health and Human Services have submitted appropriations to the 1999 budget.

Local leaders will ask lawmakers to support leaving $6 million in the proposed state budget to fund a partial conversion of Northern Center to an elderly corrections care center.

"Northern Center and the money that has been appropriated relates to maintaining jobs and putting (the appropriations) in a place where we can proceed with the planning," Regetz said.

Jobs at Northern Center have become an important community issue because of a shrinking employment pool. Northern Center once housed over 2,200 developmentally disabled residents and employed 600 Chippewa Valley citizens.

Because many of Northern Center's residents have been placed in community centers, the center now houses about 242 residents and employs 300 people.

The center carries a heavy economic clout. Of its $29.7 budget, $25.7 million is for salaries and benefits.

Under the Northern Center proposal, the Highview Tower Building would be converted to a center for elderly corrections care use. Elderly and terminally ill patients from the penal system will receive long-term medical care at the facility.

The first step in making the geriatric prison a reality occurred when the state Building Commission approved the conversion.

Regatta said another county issue to be discussed is a sales tax exemption on on computer and electronic testing equipment, an exemption that affects companies such as Silicon Graphics, Inc. and Celestica. Legislators will be encouraged to exempt computer testing equipment from a business' property tax.

The Chippewa Valley will ask the Legislature and the state Department of Revenue to evaluate how the tax on testing equipment for electronic components is applied.