ALFRED, Maine — After more than two years of planning, York County officials say they have found a way to put American Rescue Plan dollars into good use. According to state data, more than 100 people in York County died from a drug overdose in 2022.
The idea is to have a new facility in Alfred on land already owned by the county, which will include a training facility for public safety personnel and a detox and rehab center for people with substance abuse disorder.
"Right now, the project as we are contemplating today has a regional training facility for public safety, emergency medical services, and the fire service right next door, more or less. There's going to be a 58-bed regional recovery center," Greg Zinser, town manager for York County, said.
The recovery center would include 16 short-term beds, 16 midterm beds for a half-way house, 10 long-term beds, eight detox beds, and eight beds for observation, which would all include 50 substance-use treatment beds with eight of those being observation.
York County officials are waiting for the town of Alfred to approve the plan. County officials say there is a "hangup" with the town while the application for the project is undergoing a "substantive" review with Alfred officials.
The next hearing to talk about the review of the project is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8, at the Alfred Town Hall.
Zinser said the Alfred planning board is taking longer than estimated to approve the plan, and he's worried costs for the facility might go up.
"There are permitting processes with the state and federal government. They are actively in review and wrapping up," Rachel Standfield, the development director at York County, said. "It's a back-and-forth, during which they ask questions and the county answers and has been going on for a while with this project,"
The picture below is a rendering by Oak Point Associates of what the outside the training facility would look like, which is one of the wings of the project.
As far as the cost goes for the project, the estimated price tag is roughly $45 million. The county already has $38.5 million, which leaves roughly $6.5 million in deficit. The money the county has already secured came from ARPA covid relief funds.
"Our preference is to not take out a loan from the bank. We know the money exists in the state, and we hope to close that gap with other funding sources," Zinser told NEWS CENTER Maine.
The picture below is a map of what the training and treatment centers would look like, more or less, at Layman Way in Alfred.
The picture below is a rendering by Oak Point Associates of what the outside of the treatment facility would look like.
Zinser said the patients they hope to serve are people who are trying to recover from substance use disorder. The plan is that once they get back on their feet, those in recovery could have a housing opportunity to help them further their recovery journey.
"We are working with the Sanford Housing Authority, and they are looking at some land in Sanford at this point in time to create an apartment complex to give these individuals who are leaving the treatment program access," Zinser explained.
Zinser said this would be a first-of-its-kind type of project for Maine, which has an all-encompassing plan.
Also confident about the future and need for this project is York County Sheriff Bill King.
"Oftentimes people are ready for recovery, and you need to meet people at that particular time," King said. "Right now, we have to say, 'We will be back,' because no treatment center will take them until they are completely detoxed."
Right now, the Layman Way Recovery Center in Alfred is serving people who are detoxed but who are going through recovery. However, the York County officials plan to make the new proposed center barrier-free, where people who are addicted can get a bed and start their detox process there.
"Because of the success at Layman Way, when we got the ARPA money, we thought, 'What a great idea!' It would be not only to have a short-term residential program but to have a detox, a short-term, midterm, long-term," King added.
For King, he said he believed this new future project could even keep people out of jail.
"As well as the concurring mental disorders that some people have, we are able to take care of those in this facility and are able to really turn back people that are going to be successful," the sheriff said.
Zinser also said that, if approved, the recovery center would be free for the people who are admitted. He said they are looking at options with Maine Care to cover some expenses and other sources of tax income available to the county.