AUSTIN, Ind. (WDRB) -- Austin City Council members unanimously approved a moratorium Monday afternoon to temporarily prohibit any new outpatient substance abuse treatment clinics from locating within the city limits.
City council members shared a letter with WDRB News from Acadia Healthcare requesting a zoning approval letter for the address 3636 West Frontage Rd., which is the former OnSite warehouse. The company’s letter states intentions for an outpatient substance abuse treatment center to treat opioid dependence.
Mayor Dillo Bush called a special council meeting Monday to allow community members to voice their opinions about the potential for a methadone clinic within city limits and right off I-65. There were at least 50 people who showed up to the meeting, and every person voiced concerns and opposition to the clinic.
Kris Hunley, who runs Todd’s Place, a counseling center in Seymour for men fighting addictions, grew up in Austin and was an addict for 20 years. He had personal experiences abusing methadone for several years.
“So many people even die from methadone,” Hunley said. “The withdrawals from it are worse than heroin itself. I was a full-blown heroin junkie, and I would rather have come off heroin that come off methadone. It’s terrible.”
Hunley said to the crowd during the meeting that “methadone is part of the problem” for addicts.
“It’s just a pure devil’s drug is all that is,” he said. “And it’s helping keep chains of addiction on them.”
Several others voiced concerns that a methadone clinic in Austin or anywhere else in Scott County would only bring more problems. Several business owners said the HIV crisis gave the city a bad name. But they are finally starting to see progress with more people working, more people beating addictions and more people wanting to move to Austin.
The business owners and citizens told council members they were worried a methadone clinic would only increase safety concerns, line the pockets of a for-profit company and reverse the progress the city has made. They added that a clinic would not bring any financial gain to the surrounding community.
Scott County Sheriff Jerry Goodin agreed and said that he intends to tell Gov. Eric Holcomb the clinic is not welcome in the county. He pointed to the Southern Indiana Comprehensive Treatment Center, a similar clinic run by Acadia Healthcare off Charlestown Pike in Clark County. Goodin said preliminary data shows that in five years, police officers have been called to that location 845 times.
“It’s very staggering,” Goodin said. “It’s something that our community, this county, does not want. And quite frankly, we can’t handle.”
He said his department would not have the resources to respond to that many complaints. He instead called on Holcomb and the state to send help in the form of funding for nonprofit groups and programs that are already up and running and making a difference, including the rehabilitation center the county jail started.
“Help complete our rehabilitation center inside of our jail,” Goodin said. “Send us some true mental health help that don’t involve a pill.
"Thanks, but no thanks."
Hunley agreed that counseling would be more beneficial than methadone for those battling addictions. He said “you can’t medicate the problem,” and Todd’s Place proves that with a 38 percent success rate of helping people out of addiction without methadone or suboxone.
“You do it by showing them love and showing them how to live again,” Hunley said. “Because we love them, and God loves them. The only cure to addiction is God.”
After the public comment time was up, council members unanimously voiced their similar oppositions to a methadone clinic of any kind coming to Austin. They unanimously approved a resolution for a moratorium to temporarily prohibit any outpatient treatment clinics through May 6, 2020. This essentially puts any potential clinic plans on hold for full year to allow the city time to review and revise its current zoning laws. The council also unanimously passed a request for proposal to revise the city’s zoning code, which has not been updated since 1991.
After the meeting, those in attendance said they were pleased council members listened and took action, but they also hope nearby city councils and the county council will pass similar resolutions to prevent Acadia from locating anywhere in Scott County.
In an email to WDRB News, the vice president of business development for Adacia Healthcare CTC Group, Tony Ruscella, said the company is not pursuing the Austin location now. Ruscella said they are “considering 2-3 other options at this time, none of which are in Austin city limits.” However, he could not say where those other locations could be, “due to the nature of the current sites being conceptual until we have further clarity on both deal terms and zoning.”
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