Questions plague proposed clinic

BANGOR – After more than three hours of presentations and discussion at Monday night’s City Council workshop on a proposed methadone clinic at Maine Square Mall, several unanswered questions remained about Colonial Management Group’s plans.

Exactly how many patients would the clinic serve and from how large a geographic area? Does Bangor really need a second clinic to treat opiate addiction or can Acadia Hospital’s three-year-old treatment program meet existing demand?

Scott Lynskey, a resident speaking during the public comment portion of the proceedings, said Bangor was being “sold a bill of goods” by Colonial, and that the city should “treat this as a wake-up call.”

The clinic, he said, will attract people with addiction problems to the city.

“It’s gonna be a dam busting,” once word of the city’s second clinic begins to spread, Lynskey said. “Maine’s a great welfare state and Bangor’s the capital of that, so let’s go.”

Though Lynn Costigan, Colonial’s associate director for new development, said she was prepared to answer all of the questions Monday night, city councilors directed City Manager Edward Barrett to compile a list of questions they wanted answered in writing to send to Colonial.

The company’s responses will then be shared with city councilors and the public, Council Chairman Frank Farrington said.

In addition, the council will raise the methadone issue -and the lack of local control with regard to the placement of clinics – with members of Bangor’s legislative delegation during a meeting scheduled in December.

At issue is Colonial Management Group’s plan for a clinic at the retail shopping center across Hogan Road from the Bangor Mall.

Colonial Management Group operates nearly 50 clinics in 17 states, including nearby New Hampshire, but this is its first in Maine.

The plan has proven unpopular with several city councilors as well as with some of the clinic’s future tenants at the strip mall, whose concerns run the gamut from potential parking problems to increased crime. Many of those who’ve weighed in on the issue also have said they’d prefer that the clinic open in a hospital setting, like the one at Acadia.

Monday’s workshop, the public’s first official opportunity to ask questions and comment since word of Colonial’s plans began to circulate this month, drew about 40 people, more than half of them connected to the city or to methadone treatment.

Public comment ran heavily against the clinic, though at least one Maine Square Mall tenant, Malibu Tans co-owner Bill Irwin, said negative publicity about the mall’s parking crunch was hurting business more than news of the clinic.

Assistant City Solicitor John Hamer noted that the city’s role in the matter is limited to making sure that the clinic locates in a zoning district that allows it, in this case general commercial and service districts.

Jurisdiction over licensing and regulation rests with the state and federal governments, he said.

In a background memo for city councilors, Hamer recommended against amending city zoning to prevent the clinic from opening here because that could expose the city to a discrimination lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Mary Fusciello, a resident, asked how methadone benefits addicts.

“What is the treatment? How do they get better?” she asked, noting that it sounded to her like one drug was being substituted for another.

Timothy Woodcock, former council chairman and U.S. prosecutor, said that Colonial has expressed willingness to work with the city to allay local concerns, though he noted there also must be “a sober recognition that this can provide a risk” on the city’s part.

“We should test the waters and see the extent to which they will [work with the city],” he said.

Councilor Richard Stone was among those who seemed frustrated by the city’s lack of authority in the matter. He called for an executive session to talk about the city’s legal options but his motion to that end failed.

“We’re all dancing around the issues,” he said.