The proposed sale of the St. Andrew's, Vestal buildings is not looking good. This was the top story on the front page this morning. btw, on an obliquely related topic, a few members of St. Andrew's Anglican Church received letters from the Bishop of the DCNY requesting financial support for the Contributors Fund (or something like that). If the DCNY is strapped for cash maybe they should stop throwing money into lawsuits. Besides being against the explicit words of Christ, they are expensive. ed.
From The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin:
Clayton Ave. neighbors oppose facility near schools
By Vanessa Ebbeling • vebbeling1@gannett.com • Staff Writer • December 23, 2008
VESTAL -- A meeting that began with a prayer deteriorated into a shouting match between residents and leaders of a faith-based organization that wants to relocate a treatment center near the high school and an elementary school.
Vestal residents passionately argued that a treatment center for women battling addictions doesn't belong in their neighborhood.
Treatment center officials responded by saying residents have the wrong impression of their clients and how the facility operates.
"I think a facility like this is necessary, but I don't feel it belongs in a school zone," said Eric Kelley, who lives next door to a building on Mirador Drive that is being eyed by Candlehouse, a residential rehabilitation center for women struggling with emotional, drug and alcohol problems.
Clayton Avenue Elementary School and Vestal High School are both within a quarter-mile of the site. High school students park near the facility, while elementary school students who live in the neighborhood walk to school.
Candlehouse leaders are contemplating relocating from their Owego location to the former St. Andrew's Episcopal Church buildings on Mirador Drive.
Neighborhood residents argued there's simply too much risk involved to allow the facility to move into the vacant buildings. They're worried about their children walking to school, the possibility a resident could stray from the grounds and break into nearby homes, and the type of people and activity that the center could draw into the neighborhood.
Neighbors have banded together and pledged to fight the facility's relocation at all costs. This weekend, a group distributed 1,200 flyers throughout the neighborhood to stir up support. About 100 residents turned out for Monday's meeting.
Confrontations erupted at several points during the meeting, which took place in the chapel. One resident expressed doubts about crime statistics on the facility and its residents, noting that clients provide police with their home addresses rather than the treatment center's address. Clients are from outside the immediate area.
Some worried about the criminal records of some staff and residents. Other residents questioned the staff's qualifications to run a secure facility.
"The homeowners in this area will be subjected to decreased property values and an increased crime rate," Clayton Avenue resident Dan Reynolds said in an e-mail to neighbors.
Treatment at Candlehouse may be a sentencing alternative to incarceration. While in the program, women confront emotional issues that may have led to substance abuse or simply prevented them from leading normal lives.
The faith-based treatment program requires participants to surrender their rights and be supervised around the clock. Some clients who are deemed trustworthy are allowed to take short walks alone and visit with family off site.
Typically, women spend more than a year in treatment.
"During that time, they learn a new way of living," said President and Executive Director Richard Mecklenborg.
Candlehouse hasn't completed the purchase of the building. Town officials are still determining if a zoning change is necessary. Town Councilwoman Patty Fitzgerald, who lives on Clayton Avenue, pledged to get answers for residents on the zoning issue. The treatment facility is expected to be discussed at the council's next work session on Jan. 12.
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