RAWLINS - The bottom line for Rawlins officials hoping to convince state officials to build a new medium-security prison built just outside the city is the bottom line: a savings of an estimated $30 million because the Rawlins site already has many required services in place.

The Rawlins site - next to the Wyoming State Penitentiary - already has a state highway for access, utility lines, and kitchen and laundry facilities that could be shared with the existing prison, supporters of the project said.

Further, the city is offering to provide water, sewer and solid waste services in exchange for prison labor to be used in a prison industries program. The inmates would work on city parks, recreation and beautification projects, in the process learning skills in construction trades and horticulture. Such inmate work programs have been conducted in Rawlins in the past but are not now, as only maximum-security inmates are held at the penitentiary.

The utilities-for-labor program would save the state around $200,000 per year, but the big economic impact revolves around the existing road, buildings and utilities valued at around $30 million. As a result, Rawlins officials say they believe their proposal is the most cost-effective for the state.

Carbon County Economic Development Corp. Interim Director Jay Grabow said the proposed site "was always planned to handle 1,600 prisoners. We are just putting it to use as planned." The site is just east of the current maximum-security prison located south of the city.

"This is the best deal for the taxpayers of Wyoming," Grabow said as he outlined the proposal in a public meeting in Rawlins Wednesday.

Rawlins is one of three communities seeking the prison. In September, after a phase one bid evaluation, a Wyoming Department of Corrections review panel narrowed the site selection to Torrington, Riverton and Rawlins. Now those communities are providing additional information to the Department of Corrections, and public meetings are being held in each city. The department will forward its recommended site to the Legislature.

A recent meeting in Torrington involved a public that had "enthusiasm" for a prison, Ron Kilgore, Rawlins community planning director, told about 30 people attending a meeting in Rawlins Wednesday. Some at the Rawlins meeting said if the prison is built in Torrington, that will create jobs and economic benefit for Nebraska, because of the community's proximity to Scottsbluff.

In Riverton, Kilgore said, a group opposed to locating the prison there presented a petition to department officials with around 1,500 names.

A public meeting with corrections officials evaluating the Rawlins proposal will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at Jeffrey Center.

Rawlins has been home to the Wyoming State Penitentiary for more than a century.

"It is an important part of our economy," Kilgore said. However, he added, "It is not a solution to anybody's problem."

There was no opposition to the proposed prison voiced by Rawlins residents during Wednesday's meeting. The community already understands many of the issues that will arise if it is built here, Kilgore and Grabow said.

"If having a prison in your town were the disaster some Riverton residents see it as, I wouldn't want it either," Kilgore said.

Two issues surfaced at the meeting as items the Rawlins planning committee needs to address when making its pitch to the department next week: staffing and quality of life. The former, they said, is not specific to Rawlins, while the latter is, they believe.

Maryjane Rule, director of the intensive treatment unit at the penitentiary, said it is already difficult to find qualified medical personnel to work at the penitentiary, and the proposed medium-security, intensive-treatment prison will need even more specialized staff members. But she said she supports Rawlins as the site for the prison and said she believes the staffing issues will be similar in any Wyoming community.

Rawlins contractor Greg Olson agreed, saying "staffing is not a Rawlins problem."

However, residents said quality-of-life issues - ranging from shopping opportunities to weather conditions - are a concern. City Councilmen Ken Klouda and Jim Wells pointed out recent improvements to the community that help address that issue, including both indoor and outdoor shooting ranges, a new golf course, new and expanding walking paths, and the city's recreation center.

They said city officials and residents need to work hard to "sell" their community and to engage new residents so they feel welcome and are retained in jobs once they have been recruited. They said housing prices in Rawlins are lower than both Torrington and Riverton.

Star-Tribune correspondent Candy Moulton can be reached at candywwa@aol.com.