DRUG CENTRE MOVES AHEAD

Lacombe County council cleared the way on Tuesday for a drug and
alcohol treatment centre to operate at the former prison work camp near Tees.

Council passed second and third readings to rezone land to allow the centre.

On Monday, council heard little opposition to the proposal at a
public hearing, attended by about 40 people.

Reeve Terry Engen said the county is being a "catalyst" for change,
to help people deal with their drug or alcohol addictions.

"I guess it's one of the social difficulties we have in society. We
can't bury our heads in the sand and think that it doesn't happen
here," Engen said.

People from all around Alberta are likely to use the facility, he added.

The camp is located a few kilometres northeast of Tees.

Last fall, Karen Cretney and Jim Gray purchased the site to run
Central Alberta Recovery Centre, a 20-bed, private residential
facility for men to provide five-week treatment sessions.

The camp at Tees has a dorm, a separate kitchen, recreation hall, two
office trailers and a house trailer.

Clients would come voluntarily and no one ordered to take treatment
by the courts would be allowed.

It would be strictly for men who are employed and have gone through detox.

Councillors reviewed a security report submitted by the centre before
they voted on the project on Tuesday.

Engen said there was a lot of discussion among councillors about the proposal.

A security analyst recommended few changes to the site because many
security features were already in place from the time it was a
provincial work camp.

Suggestions included a fence to distinguish the property, signs to
guide visitors on the property, and more exterior lighting.

The wide open, rural location would also allow security personnel to
spot anyone trying to come onto the property.

"It certainly, in my mind, addressed the situations and concerns the
public had on the different aspects of security," said Engen.
Developers must now apply for a development permit.

The application for the permit is expected to come before the
county's municipal planning commission on May 2.

"MPC will have the opportunity to put conditions on the permit like
they normally do on any development."