Cherryfield residents to vote on meth clinic moratorium

CHERRYFIELD – Selectmen have called a special town meeting and vote for Sept. 28 to consider enacting an emergency moratorium ordinance regarding methadone treatment facilities.

The selectmen discussed their options at a special meeting among themselves on Monday evening and set the special town meeting and vote for 10 days out.

The community has been identified by Discovery House, a for-profit corporation out of Rhode Island, as a place where company officials want to locate a second methadone treatment clinic for Washington County.

Discovery House already operates one clinic in Calais. That one opened in April 2005 and serves about 220 clients.

Discovery House has a purchase-and-sale agreement in place for a professional building along Route 182. The proposed location would put the clinic within two-tenths of a mile from Cherryfield Elementary School.

More than 100 Cherryfield-area residents turned out at the company’s public meeting last month, when Discovery House officials described their program.

Most of the residents voiced their opposition to the plan – and many of those are now putting their names to paper to state that much.

The selectmen are circulating an opinion poll that asks: “Are you in favor of a substance abuse treatment facility being located in the town of Cherryfield?”

Residents can sign their names and indicate “yes” or “no.”

The opinion poll is not legally binding. It states at the top: “A developer has indicated intent to locate a substance abuse facility in the town of Cherryfield. As the town lacks an ordinance regulating the placement of such facilities without the boundaries of the town, we, the undersigned board of selectmen, are asking for citizens’ opinions regarding this project.

“This opinion poll, although it will have no binding impact on the location of the proposed facility, will become part of the town’s permanent record.”

The statement is signed by the four selectmen: Chairman Art Tatangelo, Richard Fickett, Joe Strout and David Livingstone.

One of the people who is going door to door seeking residents’ opinions said that, so far, the majority do not favor the clinic coming to town, against a smattering of yeses.

The selectmen are collectively opposed to Discovery House coming to Cherryfield, population 1,157. They feel the town lacks the infrastructure to support such a facility, such as a police force or other social services that clients could draw on.

Rob Kornacki, Discovery House’s director of development in Rhode Island, could not be reached Wednesday.

Dan Walker, an attorney for Bernstein Shur in Augusta, represents the project and was present at Discovery House’s public meeting on Aug. 30.

“You have to understand that they get a hostile reception at first, and in some places, they go in anyway,” Walker said Wednesday.

“It’s always fine once it’s up and running. It always becomes part of the community, like it has in Calais.”

The special town meeting will occur at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Cherryfield Elementary School.