“Hearing”
on drug rehab center proposal to continue
By
Will Collette
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| The Council decision has already been made, but not officially |
If
the Charlestown Town Council had not decided last month to
postpone consideration of the plan to put a prayer-based residential addiction
treatment center into the iconic General Stanton Inn, this months’ Town
Council meeting would take about 15 minutes.
But
because Teen
Challenge, the Pentecostal drug treatment program proposing the new use for
the Inn, decided to come to the October
meeting without legal representation and just “wing it” on their own, the
issue was bumped to Monday’s Council meeting.
Town
Solicitor Peter Ruggiero told the Council at the October meeting that he
recommended postponing the public hearing to consider the project in order to
preserve Teen Challenge’s due process rights, and the Council readily agreed.
However, it was less a matter of concern for Teen Challenge than it was fear of
giving the drug rehab group grounds to go to court.
As
Town Council President Tom Gentz (also a Charlestown Citizens Alliance leader)
put it, “We need to do this right… The
value in doing this right is we don’t have to do it again and again.”
I think everyone in Charlestown understands
exactly what Gentz means – the Teen Challenge proposal is toast.
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| "Hell may be hot, Tom, but it's a dry heat." |
That was clear
as soon as the Planning Commission voted unanimously to “advise” the Council to
reject the proposal.
It will be a cold day in Hell when Gentz fails to follow
the lead of the CCA Party’s real leader, Planning Commissar Ruth Platner.
They just want to make sure this doesn’t end up
in protracted litigation like the Whalerock
wind turbine proposal that was finally ended when Charlestown bought the
land for open space, thus ending the project.
I
have suggested that we learn a different lesson from the Whalerock debacle. Let's cut right to the chase.
If the Teen Challenge plan goes down, as I think everyone knows it will, Charlestown needs a Plan B to save the Inn. Charlestown needs the General Stanton Inn to serve as an anchor for Cross' Mills, our historic center of town. The best way to preserve the Inn and make sure it becomes an asset that boosts our history, arts, culture, tourism and local business is for the town to buy it.
If the Teen Challenge plan goes down, as I think everyone knows it will, Charlestown needs a Plan B to save the Inn. Charlestown needs the General Stanton Inn to serve as an anchor for Cross' Mills, our historic center of town. The best way to preserve the Inn and make sure it becomes an asset that boosts our history, arts, culture, tourism and local business is for the town to buy it.
Using the same reasoning we have applied to
dealing with other town priorities such as preserving open space and providing
recreational activity, the voters should be presented with a bond
referendum for historic preservation starting with the General Stanton Inn.
I would really like to hear from anyone who has a
reasoned argument against that approach.
The rest of the Council agenda is so thin that it
will take only minutes to complete. The “public hearing” on the drug rehab
program proposal could take hours.
Here
is the town’s official agenda with their links to supporting documents.
Charlestown Town Council
Regular Meeting 11/9/2015 7:00 PM Council Chambers
Town Hall 4540 South County
Trail Charlestown, RI 02813
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