By TIM PRESTON — The Independent
LOUISA — People who live on Bow Branch delivered a simple message to Lawrence County’s fiscal court Monday regarding a proposed shelter for women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
“If you would see our little road and see where we live ... you would not want this next to you,” said Martha Hacker, speaking for roughly a dozen Bow Branch residents attending the meeting.
Hacker made it clear she and her neighbors are aware of the drug problem in Lawrence County and the need for resources to address the problem, but made it clear they feel it should be placed elsewhere.
“Everyone agrees there is a problem with drugs in Lawrence County, but there are homes for sale on Tim Robinson’s road, too,” Hacker said, referring to the former assistant county attorney who now serves as executive director for Odyssey, the faith-based organization working to establish the recovery program in the county.
One family is already planning to move this spring because of the proposed shelter, she added. Otherwise, she said the small community’s concerns include people constantly “coming and going” without anyone who lives there knowing who they are or what they are doing there, along with potential for decreased property values and access to medical care for the recovering addicts at the shelter.
“No residence on our road has a security system because we feel safe,” Hacker said while questioning the shelter’s stated plan to install a $6,000 security system at the duplex proposed for use as a recovery shelter for as many as 16 females.
Odyssey board member Raymond Byrd said everyone involved with the effort to bring a drug and alcohol recovery program to the county understands the concerns of the community, even though much of the objection to their plan is based on inaccurate information and even “scare tactics.”
Byrd said anyone who is admitted to the shelter will be screened by counselors to assure they are not a danger to themselves or others, or suffering from any form of sever mental illness.
Staff members would be the only people causing additional traffic, he said, although shelter residents would be taken by bus to Community Fellowship in Louisa on a daily basis. Shelter visitation will be limited to once a month, he said, and the actual number of residents seeking shelter in Bow Branch would typically be closer to five or six than the capacity of 16.
“We need something for these women,” Byrd said, turning back to the small crowd and adding, “Somewhere, you know someone who is afflicted (by addiction) ... in your own family or a close neighbor.”
The proposed shelter will be named “Karen’s Place” in memory of Byrd’s daughter who was murdered by a 14-year-old drug dealer in Huntington on April 21, 2006. During an executive session portion of the meeting, Byrd said his daughter died because of a drug-related dispute over $40.
“I’ve lived with this problem for 20-some years and I’m trying to help someone else. It’s too late for my daughter,” Byrd said, citing three nonviolent drug-related deaths in Lawrence County in recent weeks from his experience as an assistant county coroner.
“I see this often,” he said. “If we don’t stop it, it will only grow and that is what’s happening to it now.”
In response to spontaneous questions from Bow Branch residents, Odyssey supporter Judy Herron stressed the shelter will not be a “detox center” but will have program requirements and guidelines, including the security system and 24-hour staffing, set by the national Teen Challenge board. A former teacher who is now involved with prison ministry efforts, Herron said she “without a doubt” expects to see a former student either in prison or at the shelter.
“We chose Bow Branch because it is a small, rural community,” Herron said, noting objections to a shelter in downtown Louisa, and explaining medical transport from the rural location to the hospital in Louisa would require only seven to 10 minutes of travel time.
Making her plea personal, Herron said people would likely have a different opinion about the proposed shelter if they could hear the stories of women serving time for their drug-related crimes.
“People are closing their eyes to a real problem in our community. And, if you think it’s bad now, it’s just going to get worse,” she said. “If you don’t want it in your neighborhood, you are closing your eyes.”
In response to questions about the zoning of the proposed shelter, County Attorney Mike Hogan repeatedly stated he has not told Odyssey officials the recovery shelter would be allowed by the county’s ordinance. In fact, Hogan said his interpretation of the ordinance would be the shelter is not appropriate for that part of the county due to “primarily transient” nature of those who would be staying there.
The county attorney compared the county’s attitudes regarding the proposed shelter to public sentiment about nuclear power.
“We’re all for nuclear power until they want to build a nuclear plant in your back yard,” Hogan said. “I am for a recovery center, but I don’t want it in Meadowbrook next to my house.”
Hogan advised the fiscal court to refer the zoning question to Todd Moran and members of the county’s zoning board, and suggested Odyssey supporters seek a variance to allow the proposed shelter.
Fiscal court members unanimously voted to refer the zoning question to the zoning board and immediately adjourned the three-hour session.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.
