Tremont Council President: “As Far as ICE Goes, We Try to Stay Out of It.”

A sign on the door to the Tremont Borough building Tuesday evening read:

“If you are here for anything regarding the ICE Detention Center, you are in the wrong jurisdiction. You need to contact Tremont Township, not Tremont Borough. The ICE Center is not on the agenda for the Borough meeting tonight.”

Despite the sign, the proposed ICE detention center in neighboring Tremont Township was still a topic of discussion at the Borough’s regular council meeting.

Council President Roger Adams opened the meeting by saying he believed the ICE detention center had “nothing to do with Tremont Borough.”

“That has nothing to do with Tremont Borough,” Adams said. “As far as ICE goes for the Borough of Tremont, we are not involved. We try to stay out of it. We’re just looking to see what’s going to happen here.”

Adams told those in attendance should direct their concerns to the Schuylkill County Commissioners and their state representative.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Adams did tell Coal Region Canary that despite some of his comments earlier, he is concerned about the impact of the ICE detention center on the borough, especially the utilities infrastructure.

To a financial degree, Tremont Borough is not as directly affected by the proposed 7,500-bed ICE detention center slated for the former Big Lots Distribution Center as those in the township.

The Borough stands to lose $0 in property tax revenue while Tremont Township will lose about $189,000 annually as long as the federal government owns it.

Property owners in Tremont Borough could be pinched a little more because they contribute to Pine Grove Area School District, which stands to lose about $555,000 annually, and to Schuylkill County government, which will lose $222,000 a year in property tax revenue.

But the Borough’s budget will largely be unaffected directly when the ICE detention center goes online.

Adams added that to this point, no one has been in contact with Borough officials regarding the ICE detention center.

“Everything is up there (Tremont Township),” Adams said.

Several in attendance disagreed and expressed concerns over the utility infrastructure in the area.

Tremont Borough and Township are both hooked into the same municipal water and sewer systems.

Since it was learned that the detention center in Tremont Township will house up to 7,500 ICE detainees and employ up to 2,500 people, Schuylkill County Commissioners have said the water and sewer systems there can’t handle that capacity.

Adams again told people with those concerns that they should be directed toward Schuylkill County Municipal Authority.

Mayor Justin Moeller added that both water and sewer facilities that are owned by SCMA aren’t in Tremont Borough, they’re in Tremont Township. So their capacity and their ability to take on what’s been proposed for the ICE facility there is on the township, SCMA, and the federal government.

In addition to those concerns, people like retired Tremont Elementary School teacher Brenda Wiscount said she’s concerns about the humanitarian side of the ICE detention center and how detainees will be treated at a facility near the town that she loves.

Residents Urge Borough Officials Be Proactive

It was suggested Tuesday that Tremont pass some sort of resolution expressing their concerns of opposition to the ICE detention center.

Solicitor Shane Hobbs said that a resolution of that kind is a bit premature at this point.

“There’s bridges to cross before this is finalized,” Adams said.

Lara Wiscount told Adams that she’s taken her concerns to the County level and elsewhere but wanted him to know that there’s concern in the borough, too.

“We don’t want it finalized,” she said. “We want you to hear our concerns and take that to whoever will listen. We just need people to know our concerns and that they’re legitimate.

“I love Tremont. I don’t want to work backwards,” Lara Wiscount said, encouraging Adams and other Borough officials to be more proactive with regard to the ICE detention center.

Moeller told those expressing their concerns Tuesday, specifically about seemingly being left in the dark on the issue, that he’s been in contact with Schuylkill County Commissioners and they’re in the same place as he at this point.

“They know as much as I do, which is very little,” Moeller said. “It’s a back-door deal that no one knows anything. And when it comes to the federal government, they can pretty much do whatever they want.

“Best thing I can say is keep calling the State Reps.,” he said. “They need to hear everyone’s voice because me calling them isn’t enough. I need you guys to do your part and reach out to them.”

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