State reviews sites for new parole office
Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 4, 2004
The state’s parole and probation office is going to move. The question is &045;
where?
Mayor James Perkins Jr., Councilwoman Jean Martin, Judge Frank Long and Jody Pilcher worked on answering that question Wednesday morning. The group examined the George D. Wilson building, located at 12 Franklin St., as an alternative to a residential site on Lauderdale Street.
Currently, the parole office, located at 1007 Alabama Ave., is scheduled to relocate to a building on the 600 block of Lauderdale St. owned by Pilcher’s family. Old town residents, including Martin, who represents the ward, expressed concern about the move when they discovered it last week.
That concern led the group to examine the Wilson building on Wednesday.
That doesn’t mean it won’t change, though. Long, advisor to the State Parole and Probation Office, said a resolution wasn’t reached after the group toured the Wilson building, but noted that a decision could occur shortly. &uot;We’re trying to find a possible alternate site,&uot; Long said.
The state has a contractual obligation to move the parole office and needed the lessor’s agreement to change sites, he added.
John Pilcher, local attorney and brother to Jody Pilcher, said several discussions had occurred about the parole office. He added that discussions were ongoing, though he couldn’t comment on the specifics at this point.
Interested parties are expected to correspond via e-mail and fax over the next few days until a compromise is reached, Perkins said. &uot;We all left there understanding that this is time sensitive,&uot; he added. &uot;Everybody was a part of this discussion, and everybody gave input. Everybody is talking and listening.&uot;
Larry Jones, who represented old town residents on Wednesday, said he wanted everyone to walk away from the resolution a winner.
Martin agreed. &uot;My interest is seeing that another place is found for the office,&uot; she said.