DELEGATE SAYS METHADONE CLINIC NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF SCOTT COUNTY

GATE CITY - A proposed methadone clinic would not benefit Scott County
residents and would cater to Tennesseans, Delegate Terry Kilgore said in a
letter to state officials.

Kilgore, R-Gate City, voiced his opinion on the proposed clinic during a
comment session allowed by the Virginia Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services.

Appalachian Treatment Services wants to locate a methadone clinic off
Highway 23 in Scott County near Weber City.

In his letter, Kilgore said ATS's decision to locate there shows where its
customer base lies.

"It appears to me this company is attempting to locate in Scott County
right across the state line from the more metropolitan Tennessee areas so
they will be able to draw the majority of their clientele from Tennessee,''
he wrote to state license official Ralph Sroufe.

ATS has already filed the necessary paperwork for a license to operate an
opiate replacement service in Scott County, which currently does not have
any zoning ordinances in place that prohibit such a business from being
established within its borders.

Towns such as Gate City and Nickelsville already have zoning laws on the books.

County Attorney Dean Foster said the Scott County Planning Commission has
recently hired a firm to help the county with the zoning process, but given
the necessary public hearings and other stipulations a locality must go
through to establish zoning, Scott County could not institute regulations
until late 2005.

Sheriff Jerry Broadwater and board of supervisors Chairman David Redwine
said last week that a campaign aimed at keeping the company out of the
county was going to be mounted.

ATS, which received a Virginia business license in 2002, has already had
two localities in Southwest Virginia - the city of Bristol and Washington
County - deny their applications for a clinic.

Washington County zoning commissioners ruled that ATS's proposed location
near Exit 7 and John Battle High School did not meet proper zoning laws.

ATS sponsor Richard Skelskey last week said one of the major reasons the
company wants to locate in Scott County is because 60 percent of its
clientele come across state borders from the Tri-Cities region to its
Asheville, N.C., clinic.

Kilgore said later in an interview from his Gate City office that he has
concerns over possible state tax dollars being used in a facility that will
mainly be used to service Tennessee residents.

"That is just one of many problems that we have with this clinic. There are
a lot of questions that have to be answered before anything is signed off
on,'' he said.