This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Apparently the Draper city fathers haven't seriously considered that a new prison site has to be selected and purchased; plans drawn, bids solicited, evaluated, and awarded; and a prison actually built and operational before the 700 acres the prison now occupies will be in their hands.

The public should be presented with architectural renderings of the new prison before we see renderings of the new Draper ("Draper City shares its vision for prison site," Tribune, Feb. 21). Cart before horse?

The $4,000 architectural rendering prepared for the Draper "visionaries" did little to increase confidence in the practicality of a prison move project that could cost the state millions in traffic congestion and pollution control to accommodate 40,000 new jobs along the I-15 corridor.

These two huge problems, along with inconvenience and hardship for the public and prison personnel, don't seem to be included in the "vision." A new prison out in "Rattlesnake Flats" is a waste of money and won't be satisfactory for anyone. The Draper vision is only to set the public up for the kill and the in-crowd up for developers' utopia.

This proposed land grab is an arrogant abuse of power for monetary gain. Perhaps the wrong people are behind the Draper prison bars.

Donald J. Justesen

Price