BREWER – Residents and the police chief stressed at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting the need for a tough look into side effects methadone treatment facilities have on communities before they are allowed to open within the city.

“It’s difficult to track the actual crimes that you can associate with these clinics [but] anytime you see an increase in addicts … you see an increase in criminal activities,” Police Chief Perry Antone said.

Three components are needed to combat opiate addiction – education, enforcement and treatment, he said.

After hearing from two residents and Antone, councilors unanimously endorsed posting an emergency moratorium banning the opening of methadone clinics.

The ordinance will be considered for adoption at the council’s August meeting and would put into place a six-month ban on any methadone or other drug treatment facility openings.

Resident Michelle Markie, who said she works with clients who use the three methadone clinics in Bangor, said she is worried about crime.

“I think that’s increasing their crime” rate, she said. “I’ve had my car broken into and my garage broken into.” She added later, “I certainly don’t want them in our community.”

And resident Patricia Preble told councilors that she “grew up on the streets” and advocated for a hard-nosed investigation at the street level into if methadone clinics work.

“You don’t give an alcoholic another beer,” she said.

Methadone, a synthetic opiate, is used to treat addiction to heroin and other opiates. The drug has its supporters, who say clinics are crucial to curbing addiction, and critics who say the clinics do nothing but breed more crime. Bangor is home to three of the state’s nine methadone clinics.

If the proposed moratorium is approved next month, a committee composed of the police chief, council members Archie Verow and Michael Celli, City Manager Steve Bost, City Planner Linda Johns, Code Enforcement Officer David Russell, and City Solicitor Joel Dearborn would be created and charged with developing reasonable regulations governing possible locations and operations specific to methadone clinics in Brewer.

“To our knowledge, there is no proposal to put one in Brewer,” Mayor Manley DeBeck said. “I think three [in the area] is more than enough and I don’t think Brewer needs one.”

Research into drug treatment facilities by city staff is already under way, Russell said.

“We want to make sure we cover everything from the development phase up,” he said.

During the meeting, city councilors also:

. Recognized the Brewer High School softball team as Class A State Champions.

. Heard a proposal to add synthetic turf to Doyle Field at a cost of $1.2 million, that, if approved, would be split between the city, corporate sponsors and local donations.

. Created a low-interest loan program for city employees to use to improve the energy-efficiency of their homes. The program allows employees to borrow up to $5,000 and repay the loan through weekly paycheck withdrawals.