PENNINGTON GAP METHADONE CLINIC PROPOSED

PENNINGTON GAP - A late-breaking development may have at least temporarily
staved off the effort of a California company to locate a methadone clinic
in Pennington Gap.

Pennington residents - and even some Lee County residents - went into a
near-revolt Tuesday evening after learning through the grapevine that CRC
Health Group had obtained a business license from the town to operate an
outpatient substance abuse and opiate treatment center in the former
Pennington Gap Rural Health Clinic, located at 132 Maple St.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company has also filed with the county for a
certificate of occupancy in the building. County building officials say if
the building meets state-required codes, they will have to issue the
certificate.

A dozen or more folks who had learned of the planned center attended the
town's regularly scheduled council meeting that evening to protest and seek
to have the license revoked. Citizens also wanted the town to take whatever
action necessary to prevent the clinic from locating in their town, Town
Manager Mark Smith said Wednesday.

Smith said while town leaders were sympathetic to the wants of their
constituency, there is legally nothing the town can do to revoke the
license or to stop the company from doing business in town, as there are no
zoning laws to stop the clinic. He added that obtaining a business license
is required by town ordinance, and unless a business intends to provide
services forbidden by ordinance - such as liquor by the drink - the town
must issue the license.

Smith admits that he was not fully aware of what exact services the clinic
intended to provide when the license was issued, but said had he been,
there was nothing he could have done to prevent office staff from issuing
the license.

Smith said he became aware of the clinic plan when a representative of
Powell Valley National Bank, which owns the building, brought a
representative from the company to his office asking what would be needed
for the company to set up business. The town manager said he was confused
at first because he has been working recently with the county industrial
development authority to locate a call center in the former health clinic -
and was preparing to show the building the next day to that company. When
it was clarified that this was a different prospect, Smith said he
explained what documents were needed and where to obtain them and still did
not realize he had been discussing a methadone clinic.

The company representative then went to the clerks to obtain the business
license and then to the courthouse for the certificate of occupancy.

After the protest in Pennington, the Town Council agreed to send a letter
to Delegate Terry Kilgore and Sen. William C. Wampler Jr. supporting a
house bill Kilgore is helping sponsor in relation to a similar situation in
his native Scott County. The bill in effect would prohibit clinics from
opening in localities that do not have a zoning ordinance in effect.
Council members also instructed Smith to send copies of the letter to
county leaders as well as U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher and other state and
federal officials.

By Wednesday morning, a number of folks had contacted their county
supervisors for assistance in getting the clinic stopped, but supervisors
say there is little they can do.

Supervisor Mark Carter, in whose district the proposed clinic would be
located, said he checked with the county administrator's office and was
provided with a copy of the state law that details why the county has no
control in this situation.

"For the purpose of zoning," the law states, "the governing body of a
county shall have jurisdiction over all the unincorporated territory in the
county, and the governing body of a municipality shall have jurisdiction
over the incorporated area of the municipality."

"According to this, we're going to be very limited to what we can do to
control, or even monitor, what goes on in the corporate limits of the town.
There's probably nothing we can do under this statute," said Carter.

Chairman Claude Ray said he thinks the proposed clinic is a serious matter
and agreed there doesn't appear to be much the county can to to intervene.

"As chairman of the Board of Supervisors, I think this is a very serious
matter. We will have to give a lot of thought toward whether it will be
good for the county, for economic development and for the people of Lee
County. The safety of the people of Lee County is very important to the
Board of Supervisors," said Ray.

Pennington Mayor Jimmy Smallwood said he was taken by surprise by the
effort to locate the clinic in his town but was hopeful something could be
done to stop the clinic.

"Pennington Gap needs a lot of things, but this is not one of them. I don't
think a methadone clinic is what we need, and there were at least 12 others
here last night that don't think so either," said Smallwood, as Smith
pointed out that those were just people who knew about the clinic and were
able to attend the meeting on short notice.

County IDA Director Tim Long said Wednesday morning that Boucher recently
contacted his office concerning a call center, and he immediately contacted
the bank about the former clinic's availability. After learning the
facility was available, he arranged for Boucher representatives, call
center and state officials to tour the building on what turns out the be
the day after the methadone clinic began its effort to locate there.

Long said after the tour, he was concerned that the call center company
might want the building, and he did not want to find out that the building
had already been leased or purchased, so he polled IDA board members and
was granted authority to obtain an option to lease or purchase the
building. He acquired that option Wednesday afternoon for a term of six
months with the option to renew for another six months.

Phil Hershman, president of CRC's outpatient clinic division, confirmed
Wednesday that the company was interested in locating a center in
Pennington Gap. He said the company owns and operates the Life Center of
Galax and a number of other opiate treatment facilities.

"Because of our facility in Galax, we are aware of a demand for services in
the Pennington Gap area, and we are exploring the possibility of a center
in Pennington Gap," said Hershman.

Hershman said the center does more than just provide methadone to
recovering opiate addicts, as it provides outpatient counseling, medical
services and laboratory services.

Obtaining the business license and the certificate of occupancy are just
the first of several steps in locating a center in the town, he said.
Hershman said the next step would be to file an application with the state
for a license to operate, then to secure and renovate a facility and hire
staff.

"It's a fairly involved process," he said.

Hershman said the state license process could take several months and that
renovating the former clinic could take another few months. He estimated
that it would be four to six months before the clinic opened for business
if all went well.

Hershman said he was not aware that Pennington Gap had no zoning ordinances
that would bar the clinic from locating there. The town was chosen, he
said, "due to geography and feedback from our existing patients. We clearly
see the need for services there based on research. Our goal is to open the
clinic to meet the need that exists for the treatment service," he said.

He could not be reached for comment after it was learned that the clinic is
no longer available.