Shelby County residents who want to comment before a state board about a proposed methadone clinic have until June 27 to sign up.

Robert White has submitted an application to open a methadone maintenance treatment center in Alabaster.

Those wishing to submit written statements or appear before the State Health Planning and Development Agency’s certificate of need review board must do so before June 27. They must also submit a copy of statements to White.

White filed a letter of intent last December with the agency to open a clinic. It came in the midst of a court injunction regarding another proposed methadone clinic in Saginaw – only a few miles from White’s planned clinic.

Alabaster officials have expressed their displeasure regarding White’s plans and even adopted a resolution in December opposing the clinic.

&uot;The intent of the resolution was to send a clear message to our residents and to the people proposing this clinic that we don’t want it here,&uot; Alabaster City Council president Rick Walters said at the time.

Last October, Shelby County Circuit Judge Dan Reeves upheld an injunction against the Shelby County Treatment Center in Saginaw. Proposed clinic owners Susan Staats-Sidwell and Dr. Glenn Archibald filed an application for a methadone clinic in Calera in November 2003 but later changed the location to Saginaw.

Neighborhood residents against the planned clinic rallied in opposition.

Staats-Sidwell said Monday her request is currently being appealed to the Civil Court of Appeals, and a decision is expected soon.

&uot;I feel there is a need for a methadone treatment facility in Shelby County,&uot; she said.

Methadone is a prescribed medication used to combat addiction to heroin and other prescription drugs.

– Patrick Johnsto