I'm writing in regard to Firetree Ltd., the company that purchased the former Beaver Adams Elementary School, located in Beaver Springs. I will get straight to the point: Firetree Ltd. operates community re-entry centers and drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, mainly for convicts. They contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the federal Bureau of Prisons to get the majority of their clients, but do not offer the safety and security that a prison provides such as guards, fences, internally locked doors, window bars or handcuffs.

This is why the vast majority of the community is so concerned. The location of such a facility should be in a community that has the proper social services in place to safely support both the facility and the community.

Western Snyder County lacks these social services. For example, the property that Firetree Ltd. purchased is surrounded by Beaver Township, which has no police force of its own. Beavertown only receives 17 hours of police coverage a month, Beaver Springs has just one part-time police officer who works 20-25 hours a week, and McClure has no police force of its own.

I feel that we currently need increased police presence in our community. However, it seems logical that if Firetree establishes in our community, an even greater volume of police presence would be needed. That will most likely be funded by raising taxes. Firetree's nonprofit status will most likely make them exempt from paying toward this financial burden, as well. Please understand that helping private citizens is not Firetree's specialty. According to their own literature, they say it's a fair statement to say they have a "criminal justice" speciality.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are 40 facilities that treat drug and alcohol addiction within 50 miles of Beavertown. So, opposing this Firetree facility is by no means denying anyone the opportunity to seek the rehabilitation services they may require. It is simply opposing a facility that our communities can't safely or economically afford to support.

Angela Keiser, Beavertown