Baldwin County’s Juvenile Wilderness Camp facility may soon be in private hands, as the county commission discussed leasing the facility and overturning the everyday operations to an Enterprise-based company.

Pathway Inc. is poised to enter into the lease agreement with the county to manage the facility, which houses at-risk youths for rehabilitation.

Commissioners hailed the plan as a “win-win” for the county, as it lowered costs for them but still allowed the program to keep running.

“Pathway’s reputation precedes them statewide,” Commissioner Chris Elliott said. “We’re excited about them coming on board and continuing to provide this service at a significant reduction in costs to the county.”

County officials estimate that the county could see almost $1 million a year in savings by Pathway taking over the facility.

“There are a lot of instances in which the private industry can do better than government,” Commission Chairman Tucker Dorsey said. “It’s been a drag on our General Fund budget as long as the county has been doing it.”

Commissioner Frank Burt said he was initially against having a private company take over the facility from the county, but admitted he had changed his mind after seeing the Pathway offer.

“When we first began to do an RFP for management of Wilderness, I thought it would be a hard proposal for me to support,” Burt said. “But, as I studied it and learned more, I was moved to approve it. This is a good program. Anything we can do to improve these kids’ lives and get them back on the right path is a good thing.”

There are currently 43 employees working at the facility who will lose their jobs after the Pathway takeover, but commissioners said they expected almost 80 percent of the employees to be retained by Pathway. Dorsey said some of the current employees have also sought other jobs within the county system.

There was some negotiation between the county and Pathway still to work out, mainly regarding electronic equipment and furniture being used at the facility.

Commissioners said they wanted to see the current value of the equipment Pathway would be seeking to use, but said equipment like security cameras could easily be leased and used by the company.

“I don’t see any point in pulling the cameras out,” Elliott said. “They’re installed and operating, so pulling them out would be time consuming and they likely couldn’t be used anywhere else.”

The lease would also remove questions of liability for the county regarding the facility.

“Certainly liability is a factor in the final decision, but our main concern has been making sure we’re using the taxpayers’ money wisely while still being able to offer services to these young people,” Elliott said.

Attention was brought to the facility following an alleged attack on a worker by one of the juveniles housed at the facility late last year.

Commissioners also entertained a proposal to reallocate the portion of the county’s cigarette tax currently going to the facility to be used at the county’s juvenile detention center, with all commissioners agreeing to the move.

County officials also mentioned the lease to Pathway would require the county to make some changes in the bonds they had issued for the facility since it would no longer be a nonprofit, government-run facility. The county will have to take out a nearly $2.5 million loan that will be used to pay off the bond’s investors in 2023.

Commissioners will vote on the lease agreement and other changes at their meeting on Aug. 16 in Bay Minette.