RESIDENTS NEAR KLAUS OBJECT TO JUVENILE CENTER

JACKSON -- It seemed most people liked the idea of a secure juvenile center in Cape Girardeau County. Of about 40 county residents recently surveyed about what they thought, two-thirds indicated they wanted the facility here.

But three times the number of people who completed the surveys prepared by the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association signed a petition opposing the center. Some are from near Klaus Park, the cost-free site county commissioners are using to attract attention from the Missouri Division of Youth Services; other signers live in the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Three lines at the top of the petition read: "Concerned citizens opposed to locating DYS juvenile center for felons in Klaus Park." The words are followed by 124 names.

The debate began almost two weeks ago, when commissioners announced they wanted to lure a 30-bed, secure juvenile facility to Cape County. It would cost $3.8 million to build, create 50 new jobs and have a $1 million annual payroll. In addition, much of another $250,000 in operating expenses would be spent in the county.

Commissioners plan to offer DYS several acres in Klaus Park on a 99-year lease with another 99-year option for $1 a year.

Don Harper and others who live near the park don't like that idea, leading Harper to help with the petition drive. His land adjoins the park, and he said potential monetary benefits for the county don't outweigh the dangers associated with the facility.

"We live in a tranquil setting," Harper said. "I don't want to wake up at 3 a.m. with a sheriff and his deputies in my yard and a helicopter overhead trying to find an escapee."

As a salesman for Tipton Linen and Uniform, he sometimes must stay away overnight. Harper said he worries about his wife's safety and expects a drop in property values, but neither is his biggest concern.

Harper said he objects to the commission recently buying park land in one area -- 48 acres adjoining North County Park -- and then offering to lease it in another. He questioned whether the Klaus Park deed even provided for leasing to a state agency.

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said there is no legal problem.

"We didn't come in on the last load of pumpkins," he said. "We wouldn't have come this far without researching that."

The acreage the county plans to offer DYS doesn't compare to the 48-acre purchase, he said. Jones wants the state to turn those 48 acres into a conservation department nature center.

He and Harper plan to meet later this week to discuss other concerns.

As for the problem with escapees, Mark Steward, director of DYS, said there's always a chance the teens will get out.

"They aren't hardened criminals," he said. "These are kids 14 to 17 years old, and a lot of them get homesick. It's not like they're serving 10-year sentences, either; they're serving about seven months."

He admitted that several teens have escaped from Sears Youth Center, a DYS facility in Poplar Bluff. But that center is several miles out in the country, Steward said, providing a generous buffer zone between it and any homes. Because of the rural setting, there's no fence around the grounds.

If Klaus Park was picked for the facility, there may be a 12-foot fence with barbed wire at the top.

Steward said community support would play a large role in choosing a site for the center. In St. Joseph, residents concerned about a potential site visited another DYS facility. People here may be taken to the Girardot Center, which houses teens convicted of felonies and sits in the middle of Cape Girardeau near an elementary school.

Some who live in Westlake Meadows and Crystal Springs subdivisions less than a mile from Klaus Park will be tough to convince.

Mary Jo Way said she was "really upset" when she heard about plans to put the center in the park.

"We have lived out here for six years, and there's never been any crime," she said. "Now a lot of us are thinking about selling our homes if the juvenile center comes in."

Harper, Way and other opponents of the center will be able to speak at a public hearing. However, Cape Girardeau County must pass the first cut before the hearing is scheduled. About 10 of the 28 counties that are potential sites are expected to apply.

DYS should receive Cape County's application by the end of the week.