WARREN, Maine — The man who has led the town’s planning board for 20 years has announced his resignation.
Peter Krakoff said Sunday that the controversy over the proposed CRC Health methadone clinic played a role in his decision.
“The past nine months have been very, very difficult. Some people feel I’ve done a good job and some people feel I have not done such a good job,” Krakoff said.
He acknowledged the proposed methadone clinic has been the most controversial project that the planning board has handled in his time on the board.
“There have been some gravel pits, some subdivisions,” Krakoff said, but nothing even close to as contentious as the methadone clinic.
Krakoff has been on the planning board for 22 years and its chairman for 20 years. His involvement with town government began a couple years before that when he helped write a town mining ordinance. Back in the late 1980s, Black Hawk Mining had proposed mining for nickel deposits near Crawford Pond, a proposal that generated considerable public interest.
“It’s time for someone new to step forward,” he said.
CRC Health’s proposal to establish a methadone clinic was approved by the planning board in June on a 3-2 vote. Krakoff was in the majority on the board to vote for approval, saying it met municipal ordinances.
That approval came after nine months of meetings by the planning board, each of which was attended by neighbors who opposed the proposal.
CRC Health first proposed a methadone clinic in November 2010 at the former Warren Primary School. That proposal was met by opposition and led the town to adopt a moratorium on methadone clinics to allow regulations to be adopted. That led CRC to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the town. CRC then turned to the current proposed location at the intersection of Route 1 and Short Street.
Neighbors to the Route 1 proposal have appealed the planning board approval to the zoning board of appeals. The appeals board is scheduled to meet later this month.
The town tentatively settled the CRC lawsuit but it has not been formally dismissed as CRC awaits approval of its project. Warren has filed a motion to U.S. District Court in Portland to enforce terms of the settlement but CRC has opposed that request, saying the town has yet to approve the project both because of the pending appeal to the board of appeals but also because the Warren Sanitary District has not given its approval.
A hearing is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 17, in U.S. District Court of Portland on the town’s motion to enforce the settlement which required the town’s insurer to pay damages to CRC and approval of the project.
A special town meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening at 7 on whether to approve spending up to $60,000 more for legal fees associated with the methadone proposal.
Tough decisions when the Federal goverment will be the final arbitor as it was in Rockland. It is too bad Warren residents didn’t learn the lesson from others who have traversed the same path. Hope they see that the extra $60,000 for legal fees they will vote on Thursday night will not be the last.
The thought, the sadness, my Maine, I have worked with WW1 vets in their last years, I have worked with WW2 vets, Korean vets, and Vietnam vets, etc, am still working, but for the life of me, I liked the WW1 and the WW2 vets the best, it was a lovely Maine then, the old cookstove in the kitchen, the Chevy out front, the people of Maine were different then, but Meth Clinic’s needed in my Maine, seems almost unbelievable. Maine will not work in this environment, oh there will be a State, but not Maine, I shutter at what we have become.
Hahaha, fighting for a methadone clinic to come to your town? Not too bright down in Warren…. If the state will pay to haul your criminal crack heads out of town, why would you want surrounding towns to bring theirs in? It’s so great listening to this debate. Lets bend over backwards to give crack heads and heroine addicts a place to come get a free high! Are there any protections in place to see that these criminals are not using other drugs? A big fat NO.
Build it and they will come.
..and stay.
And rob taxpaying citizens blind, home invasions and carjackings to follow. One arrives for help, which includes free housing paid by the city, free mainecare and food paid by the state, free cellphone, free clothing orders to walmart, and no requirement to ever go to work. That one arriving here for the ‘help’ will bring active drug addict friends and family to take advantage of their generous ‘benefits’. there is a BDN report online titled ‘prescription drug abuse blamed for increse in Maine crime’….now those statistics will show you what will happen when the clinic arrives…please read those.
You’re absolutely right. I had a friend who lived near a clinic in Bangor. What a freak show it was in the parking lot at the clinic. People loitering, fights, drinking, drugs… He was scared to let his kids outside.
An associate of mine had his car ransacked in broad daylight in a parking lot near a clinic in Bangor.
FYI- the town has been fighting against it, they don’t want it & never have. The big, powerful company with all the money just sued this small town, how many times can the town financially recoup? What is haha funny is your interpretation of this article.
That’s the way I took this dispute. It is really sad that a town is forced into accepting an environment that is certain to bring crime with it. Warren citizens… Run!!
I know, seems like they are being bullied into it. If I had a house right near the purposed site you can bet your backside I would fight it. That poor home owner should sue the company for the complete loss of value in their home if it gets built. Weather I agree with having clinics or not , It is not fair to visit that upon surrounding homes. No means no CRC.
Another one? There going in like big box stores. It must be bad medicine, it only seems to make the problem worse. Have they closed any because they’ve cured the problem and there not needed any more?
Meanwhile, we’re still having cannabis and milk raids.
Please enlighten me. I understand the reference to cannibis raids. But what are milk raids?
I believe the Capt is referring to the governments raids on producers of raw milk, just one more way our “elected” officials like to try to run the lives of everyone, cause they know what’s best (yes, that is sarcasm)
Exactly right.
crc health group is the mcdonalds of methadone clinics. it’s primary (or only) investor is bain capital. even supporters of these clinics should have a problem with giant for-profit recovery rackets. go to the crc health group website and look under investors.
In 2006, Bain Capital paid $723 million for the CRC Health Group
Been drinking the Kool Aid, I see.
facts are facts.
And your point is??????
ROMNEY HASN’T WORKED THERE FOR YEARS.
YOU along with so many others can’t say how President Obama is going to improve the economy so you just keep tossing whatever against the wall and hope something sticks.
we were talking about methadone clinics. what facts do you dispute?
Stand by Warren, your crime rate is about to increase. All the local crack heads will begin to arrive as soon as the doors open. Your drug stores will be robbed weekly. Take a look at what is happening in Bangor. Put them in jail? HA! Where? The state has no room so the courts put them back on the streets. They cause problems over and over and nothing can be done. Good luck Warren.
Just say NO!!!!! Methodane is a life long addiction, mostly life long welfare people.. Hopefully the State and Federal Government stops funding drug addiction.
Methadone clinics are big business. I have never seen anyone improve on it. I have known of many people who “boost” by using other drugs in combination with methadone to get high. Heroin addicts in recovery have all told me that they hated it, that it was harder to kick than heroin itself. The way that they got off it was to use heroin after not taking the methadone to deal with the withdrawal, then going “cold turkey” off of heroin. I believe that methadone is just another way to exploit addiction rather than treat it.
What kind of company do you keep that you have access to all kinds of addicts and they tell you about their methadone opinions ? There are good out comes from methadone, the news just never tell those stories. I had a sister on it, for a year and a half she held her first job, wasn’t out on the street doing dangerous drug seek behaviors ( getting her knees kicked in by a guy that didn’t want her to run away when he was abusing her ) , and was the person I once knew. Then some of her old demons came back and she slipped just as she had been off methadone for two months. It worked, she failed. An addict is an addict. Now do I think some abuse it ? Yes, but there are also good outcomes.
The information I have from addicts is through employment I have had. I have worked in human services for quite a long time and have known many addicts. However, I do know people in recovery in my private life as well. And they have all told me the same thing.
BTW, addicts in recovery are some of the best people I have ever known. They are very different from addicts who are actively using. I bet you probably know recovering addicts, but you may not know about their addictive histories unless they opt to tell you.
I work in field as well, you always have hope…if you don’t , you can’t do the job day after day. I have been told a lot but not many say cold turkey would actually be best. The amount of physical pain they can be in usually convinces people to accept the replacement by day two. Like I said, it doesn’t make the news when someone is successful, only when someone is caught selling or stealing it. I wish some positive stories could be told.
Talk is cheap in this forum. If your going to oppose replacement therapy for opiate addiction would you please provide solid research to back up your arguement.
you first
I haven’t a clue. However it’s clear what we have is growing out of control. Replacement may be part of the problem. There is no replacement for tobbaco and there is no replacement for alcohol, People manage to free themselves of it otherways. Is opaite AA mandatory with these clinics? Is there so many hours in a group therapy they have to attend? Are there class’s with motavational speakers? It looks like a contagious disease is being treated with a cheap band aid, and it’s not working.