The city of Madison has caught wind of an October recommendation by Dane County that a work-release facility be built on the city's south side, and some Madisonians are concerned about the proposal's implications for the area.

A Dane County planning commission has suggested that a jail facility housing inmates on work- and school-release programs be built on Fish Hatchery Road south of the beltline highway. The site is currently occupied by a building used by the highway department.

Lack of communication between the governments of Dane County and the city left the recommendation largely unnoticed until last week.

It is not what is on the site, however, that has city officials concerned, but rather the area that surrounds the site. According to George Twigg, spokesperson for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, the mayor is questioning whether the neighborhood can support such a facility.

"It is a comparatively low-income neighborhood, and they've had some issues with crime and public safety they're trying to address," Twigg said. "They've been making progress, but it is at a fragile point in time of becoming a better neighborhood."

Twigg added that the mayor understands the need for such a facility, but said there could be better options around the county for the site, in or outside Madison.

But that view is not shared in its entirety by Dane County Supervisor Ashok Kumar, District 5, who noted that though the facility could be constructed at lower cost outside Madison, such a distant location would pose additional problems.

"With a location outside of the city, people enrolled in work-release programs would have diminished access to businesses and bus routes," Kumar said. "With that, there is less possibility for upward mobility."

While the mayor is concerned about the lack of communication on this issue, Twigg added that such lapses in communication between the two branches of government are rare. He also said that the rarity of such a lack of communication may be contributing to the amount of media coverage it has received.

At the same time, Kumar said that while the concerns of the city and the neighborhoods should be considered in making the final decision about the location, the decision itself should ultimately be up to the county.

"Municipal and city governments have control over a lot of things, while the county government has comparatively little power," Kumar said. "I feel we should have at least some say over the little amount of power we have."

He also said that beyond concerns over the proposed location of the facility, the controversy should also call into question other social issues present in the area.

Kumar said that Dane County has the highest disparity between minority and non-minority inmates in the state, and that more work-release programs — such as the one being proposed — are needed to help alleviate the problem.

"Low-income people are being incarcerated [in Dane County] at one of the worst rates in the country," he said. "And if we build way outside the city where they have no access, then we won't see any systemic changes."