Published: July 01, 2008 09:05 pm      

Methadone clinic deal made in Tazewell

WARDELL, Va. — An agreement has been reached between the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors and the operators of a methadone clinic located near the Wardell community.

The plan announced Tuesday aims to address complaints of health and safety hazards at the clinic. The agreement was made possible thanks in part to a willingness of the community and the clinic to communicate with each other, County Attorney Eric Young said.

“I think what is happening is members of the community are communicating directly with the clinic now,” Young said. “I think that was probably the most significant achievement of the committee in getting them to talk. The clinic realizes they need to be a good neighbor.”

The community petitioned the Board of Supervisors last fall, and demanded action on part of the county to address widespread concerns at the methadone clinic, including problems with traffic and security. A committee composed of community, clinic and law enforcement officials was formed to tackle the concerns, and has been meeting since last November.

Young said the final agreement states the clinic will make improvements to their facilities and their security in exchange for the county not proceeding with further action based upon the complaints heard thus far. However, should serious incidents occur after the date of the agreement, Young said the county will be free to take remedial action as provided by law.

“The board believes these measures are carefully calculated to remedy these specific complaints,” Young said. “The agreement also provides for an ongoing committee of residents and clinic representatives to ensure the agreement’s implementation.”

According to the agreement, security will be on the premises of the methadone clinic one hour prior to its opening during all business hours. The agreement also calls on the clinic to install security cameras with digital recording capacity to view the parking lot, and states the security staff at the clinic will allow early arriving patients to enter the facility. New stop signs also will be installed along the premises of the clinic.

“The traffic situation has improved since last fall because they have added a parking lot,” Young said. “One of the issues we debated was the fencing and gating of the parking lot. They are going to have security officers there before the opening of the clinic. So hopefully folks who are waiting on their dosing can go in. The security will be on the premises in the morning.”

– Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com