Dear Editor:
I applaud the Wiscasset Select Board’s vote to grant a continuance on Amistad’s (aka commonspace) application for a drug recovery resource center at St. Philip’s Church so community concerns can be heard and a more detailed proposal could be presented.

A prior letter claimed there had been several community meetings regarding the Amistad/St. Philip’s proposals. That is not true. There were two meetings, one in February after the announcement of the Amistad run emergency warming center and one in March after the announcement of the Amistad grant for a 12 unit single resident occupancy housing project. At each meeting, residents expressed concerns and had many questions;
both meetings were adjourned before any meaningful responses from either the Church or Amistad could be given. Of note, the only discussion of a drug recovery center was a denial at the March meeting that such a thing was planned; it was presented as simply a referral service. No other meetings have been held, despite repeated requests.

We are not, as the previous writer painted us, “sky is falling, NIMBY” neighbors. We are neighbors whose concerns have been ignored and who have received misleading answers to very direct questions. To say we don’t know how Amistad runs its programs is inaccurate as we have first-hand experience with the warming center. We were told residents would be vetted by local police, not true; we were told there would be no hanging out after hours, not true. The only restriction placed on those using the center was that they don’t use drugs, except tobacco, on Church property. In other words, don’t use in their backyard. It is ironic that most of the Church congregation, vestry, and Amistad staff, don’t even live in Wiscasset so their programs won’t affect their own neighborhoods.

I thank the Select Board for giving Wiscasset residents and taxpayers a chance to express our concerns about programs that could drastically affect the quality of life in our town and for encouraging Amistad and the
Church to honestly engage with us.

Karen Sullivan

Wiscasset