BANGOR – With about a month to go before the scheduled startup of Bangor’s second methadone clinic, city councilors Monday established a panel to address local concerns.

The community advisory group, which has yet to be appointed, has been given the task of leading discussion about Colonial Management Group’s plan to open a methadone clinic at Maine Square Mall.

“There was an oversight committee for the clinic at Acadia Hospital,” Councilor Richard Stone said after the meeting.

“If it worked once, there’s no reason it can’t work again,” Stone said, adding, “It’s a good forum for citizens, for the methadone clinic [operator] and the city.”

Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., Colonial Management has signed a 10-year lease with the owner of Maine Square Mall, a busy retail shopping center across Hogan Road from the Bangor Mall. If all goes according to plan, the clinic will open in March, a Colonial representative said last month.

The advisory group being formed to evaluate Colonial’s proposal will work much like an earlier group formed in anticipation of Bangor’s first methadone clinic.

The first group, called the City Council’s Special Committee on Opiate Addiction, was established in 2000 in response to Acadia Hospital’s plans to open a methadone treatment program.

Though it was controversial in the beginning, Acadia’s program has been operating quietly for almost four years. The special committee has since been disbanded.

The methadone issue, however, resurfaced late last year, when city officials learned of Colonial Management’s plans to open a second clinic in the city.

Bangor officials first discussed appointing the advisory group in mid-December.

At the time, councilors agreed the idea was premature because Colonial had yet to obtain the licenses it needs and probably wouldn’t for months. They instead appointed a panel to look at the larger issue of medical service providers, including methadone clinics. That group is now at work.

The Colonial advisory panel, which has yet to be appointed, will include representatives from the city of Bangor, Colonial Management, the Bangor Police Department, the state Department of Health and Human Services and businesses located near Colonial’s proposed clinic.

A source of frustration for Bangor’s elected officials has been the city’s limited role in decision making.

Colonial’s clinic requires state and federal licensing, but the only city requirement is that the clinic operate in a zoning district that allows it, in this case general commercial.

Also Monday, councilors:

. Agreed to apply for a federal grant to make buprenorphine, a promising alternative to methadone, available through a regional network of physicians.

. Approved a three-year contract with Bangor Police Department’s commanding officers calling for a 2.5 percent raise during the first year and 2 percent increase for the two remaining years. The contract is retroactive to the end of last June, when the unit’s prior labor agreement expired.

. Approved a liquor license and special amusement permit for Greenleaf Bar & Grill, which will occupy the former Legends spot at 16 Union St.