METHADONE CLINIC SUPPORTERS SEEKING COUNTY, STATE PERMITS

WEBER CITY - The organizers of a proposed methadone clinic in Scott
County are currently in the process of obtaining permits from county
and state officials.

Addressing the Scott County Board of Supervisors earlier this month
about the proposed Appalachian Treatment Services clinic, County
Attorney Dean Foster said ATS Director Richard Skelskey has requested
a county permit for a 2,800-square-foot modular building.

The agency plans on installing the structure near the Roadrunner
Market convenience store off U.S. Route 23 and a few hundred feet from
the Tennessee state line.

Skelskey was informed by Scott County Building Code Official Bill
Dingus that an approved erosion and sediment control plan must first
be obtained from the Scott County Soil and Water Conservation
District, Foster said.

ATS must also secure a commercial entrance permit from the Virginia
Department of Transportation, the county attorney noted.

James Parsons, VDOT interim resident engineer for the county, said the
supervisors have inquired about the permitting process for the clinic,
but nothing has been received in writing from ATS officials as of Oct.
15 in terms of a permit request.

The supervisors passed a resolution last month that opposed the ATS
plan to locate a clinic within the county, although there are no
zoning ordinances in place in Scott County to stop the clinic from
operating.

Several county lawmakers - including Supervisor Paul Fields, who
represents the district in which the clinic would be located - pointed
to the high traffic volume in the state line area as a major problem
with the clinic locating just outside of Weber City.

"We have already got a bottleneck at the state line coming off of 23
anyway, and with more traffic coming in there, and with (patients)
being on dope or whatever, it will certainly (cause) more accidents,"
Fields commented at the supervisors' September meeting.

VDOT Bristol District Public Affairs Specialist Brenda Waters
confirmed that the thoroughfare along Route 23 in Gate City and Weber
City is "one of the most heavily traveled roadways" in the far
Southwest Virginia region.

Recent traffic data released by VDOT officials in Richmond state that
the stretch of highway sees a traffic volume of 28,000 cars on a daily
basis.

Parsons said that volume will be taken into consideration when the
permit for ATS is considered.

"If an entrance is going in at the planned location, we would have to
look at things from a traffic standpoint, including how much traffic
(the clinic) would generate, whether we would have to install a right
turn lane, and things of that nature. At this point, all that has
taken place is general discussion," Parsons said.