Baldwin County commissioners had several questions Tuesday about the Residential Wilderness Camp in Lottie, after a 15-year-old male camper allegedly committed sexual assault against an employee in late December.

The camp, which serves as a low-security juvenile corrections facility for both boys and girls, had been closed for 10 days following the Dec. 22 rape incident occurred.

The juvenile suspect has been arrested on first-degree rape and second-degree assault charges and is awaiting trial.

The commissioners questioned Program Director Jennifer Lee about whether to reopen the camp, with several of them saying they have reservations about reopening the facility.

“I will tell you from what I have heard I have serious concerns about reopening the camp at this point before looking thoroughly at policies and procedures for safety there,” Commissioner Chris Elliott said. “I think it would be premature to open and repopulate the camp at this time.”

For her part, Lee said she had talked with her staff members during the 10-day shutdown and said many of them felt comfortable coming back to work.

“I think they want to go back to work and they feel safe,” Lee said. “The staff has had opportunities to make recommendation on things they want to alter. I think is this one of the situations where getting back on the bike and moving forward will help make things better for everyone.”

Lee said she would like to bring the juveniles back in a staggered process, beginning by bringing back the girls this week and then phasing in the boys starting next week.

“We need to get the program back going again,” Commissioner Skip Gruber said. “I think there’s still a few concerns, but the program does a lot of good for a lot of kids. You have incidents that happen, but one bad egg doesn’t spoil everything.”

Judge Carmen Bosch, who handles juvenile court cases for Baldwin County, also spoke to the commission about how the facility helps her serve youthful offenders who have limited options for receiving services like the ones the Wilderness Camp provides.

“Some of these kids have needs that couldn’t be met at the girls home or boys home,” Bosch said. “For kids that don’t have delinquencies, my options are severely limited.”

When questioned about whether she felt it was okay to return children to the facility, Bosch said she would feel comfortable with that, but suggested some changes in the ways juveniles were vetted before being placed there.

“ I think we need to look at the vetting process — not just what their charge is, but what their past has been,” Bosch said. “I also think we need some training with regards to safest practices for staff and other children who are there.”

Elliott also raised concerns about how much money was being spent on the facility by the county, as he said more than $100,000 per day of taxpayer money was being spent to keep the facility running.

“I want to have a discussion about the overall cost of this facility. I don’t doubt that there are a number of success stories, but at some point I want to make sure the commission acknowledges the costs,” Elliott said. “I just wonder if there aren’t more efficient ways to use taxpayer money to reach a similar outcome. I just want to make sure we have an honest conversation about what this costs the taxpayers.”

The commission voted 3-1 to reopen the camp this week, with Elliott voting against.

Commission Chairman Tucker Dorsey said the group would take up the budgetary issues about the camp at a work session later this month.

“We want to make sure that our kids are safe and our employees are safe,” Dorsey said. “This incident has caused us to take a real comprehensive look at what we’re doing.”