SELECTMEN DROP METHADONE CLINIC FIGHT

Discrimination Lawsuit Dropped As A Part Of Deal

Calling off a six-year legal feud with Spectrum Health Systems, the Board
of Selectmen voted to withdraw its opposition to a proposed downtown
methadone clinic and avoid the possibility of a court judgment that could
be financially devastating to the town.

Spectrum is seeking more than $1.5 million in a lawsuit filed against
Framingham that accuses the town of discriminating against drug addicts - a
case the company is willing to drop as part of the settlement approved by
the selectmen last night.

According to the terms of the agreement, Spectrum would abandon the
discrimination suit. In return, Framingham would withdraw its appeal of a
state Land Court decision that ordered the town to issue the company a
building permit, and would stop fighting Spectrum's application for a
license to dispense methadone at the 214 Howard St. site. Each side would
bear its own costs and legal fees.

Although the town counsel, Christopher Petrini, said he believes Framingham
would have prevailed in the discrimination case, he recommended that the
board seek a settlement because of the significant financial risk. Last
night, Petrini repeated concerns he expressed to Town Meeting in April,
among them that courts have sided with methadone clinics in similar cases,
and that a judge, not a jury, would decide the suit.

"It's in the town's best interest to try to achieve a constructive
relationship so there will be mutual cooperation," Selectman John Kahn said.

Spectrum officials did not attend last night's meeting and could not be
reached for comment.

While derailing the possibility of a financially ruinous ruling, the
board's decision to settle sparked vociferous criticism at the meeting from
many residents who spent nearly an hour heaping scorn on the selectmen.

"You people are turning this town into another Lawrence," said Sandy
Norton, owner of Framingham Typewriter Sales, which is next door to the
proposed clinic. "You are doing a disservice to Framingham; you're dumping
on it."

Numerous town officials spoke out against what they called a complete
disregard for Town Meeting. In November, Town Meeting passed a resolution
calling on the selectmen to do everything in their power to prevent a
methadone clinic from opening at 214 Howard St. Town Meeting renewed its
request in April when it asked that Framingham's legislative delegation
fight the facility.

"It doesn't matter what we do. You chose what you wanted to do," said
Daniel Gittelsohn, a Town Meeting member. "You're ruining our town."

The legal bickering between the town and Spectrum erupted six years ago,
after the company tried to find a new spot in town for its methadone
clinic. Spectrum had operated clinics in three locations on Waverly Street
and Union Avenue from 1989 to 1995. Community opposition mounted when the
company tried to find a new site in 1996.

Framingham initially rejected a building permit request and the Zoning
Board of Appeals denied a variance exemption from parking regulations.
Spectrum then took Framingham to court, and that part of the case ended
last June when state Land Court ordered the town to issue a building permit.

Town officials appealed that decision and Spectrum filed its discrimination
lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court.

Petrini said Spectrum and the town would drop their respective court cases
Monday. The town is sending a letter today to the state Department of
Public Health that withdraws Framingham's opposition to Spectrum's
application to dispense methadone.

Spectrum, meanwhile, has not completed the community siting process of its
state application for a license to distribute methadone.

Several Town Meeting members hope to garner unified community opposition
and the intervention of state officials to prevent the clinic from securing
a license, although officials from the Public Health department have said
opposition alone is not enough to block the granting of a license.

Petitions have been circulating through the town, and Francis X. Reilly, a
leader of the civic group FIMBY, or Framingham is My Backyard, said he
wants to call a Special Town Meeting to discuss the Board of Selectmen's
decision.

According to Petrini, the selectmen have the authority to make settlements
under $25,000.

Selectmen Ginger Esty, who has been a vocal critic of the proposed clinic,
refused to sign the agreement.

"I cannot be silenced," Esty said at the meeting.

"The selectmen have no business going forward with this settlement," she
said in an interview. "Not once, but twice the selectmen were told by Town
Meeting to keep fighting."

Although the terms of the settlement prohibit the board or any town body
from suing Spectrum to block its opening, the agreement does not prevent
individuals from filing private lawsuits against the company.

"The town has not subverted the power of private citizens who want to carry
the battle forward," Kahn said.