GREELEY, Colo.-
Plans for GEO Group Inc. to build a private prison in the Weld County town of Ault were dropped over a disagreement about whether the state should guarantee the company a minimum number of prisoners.
“It was apparent the department and GEO could not come to an agreement,” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Alison Morgan told the Greeley Tribune in Wednesday’s editions.
GEO spokesman Pablo Paez told The Associated Press Wednesday the state had awarded the company a contract to build the prison but later said it could not provide the minimum occupancy guarantee and rescinded the deal.
“We felt we had complied with the (state’s specifications in its request for proposals) and we were disappointed the award was taken back,” Paez said. But he said the company hopes to work with the state in the future.
GEO, based in Boca Raton, Fla., had a tentative agreement with Ault to build a 1,500-bed prison on 40 acres in the southeast part of the town, about 10 miles north of Greeley. Ault officials had agreed only in concept so GEO could begin negotiations with the state.
Mayor Brad Bayne said the proposed prison was “over and done with now.”
He said the town’s next step will be working on its comprehensive plan and expanding its growth area for industrial opportunities.
