Sequim City Council sets special meeting on MAT

SEQUIM — The Sequim City Council would not be involved in the permitting of the first phase of the proposed Medication-Assisted Treatment Center, even if a decision is appealed.

But the council does want to hear what residents think about the proposed $20 million facility planned for 19.5 acres off Ninth Street west of Sequim’s downtown, City Manager Charlie Bush said Thursday.

The City Council plans a special meeting July 29 about the city’s role in the permitting process for the potential Medication-Assisted Treatment Center (MAT). The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Guy Cole Event Center in Carrie Blake Park, 202 N. Blake Ave.

The City Council will be prepared to take public comment from the audience. During the public comment period, each individual will have three minutes to address the council.

“This will give us an opportunity to hear the community fully,” Bush said.

Opponents of the proposal sought to discuss the plans with the Sequim City Council on July 8, but city staff recommended that council members not speak then.

“We have not received an application (for a permit), which makes it really challenging for us to talk with our community,” Bush said Thursday.

Since then the tribe has confirmed with the city that it plans only the first phase of the project at this time.

The potential development of the MAT is part of a larger plan to build a behavioral health center that will be jointly operated by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and Olympic Medical Center.

The expectation is that the first phase would be a walk-in clinic. The area the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe has purchased is zoned for clinics, said Barry Berezowsky, Department of Community Development director.

The process for that is administrative, with approval made by the staff Any appeal of the decision would go before a hearing examiner whose decision in turn could be appealed to the Clallam County Superior Court.

The second phase, expected to have an in-patient component but which has not been funded at this time, would take a different route. Depending on what is needed and what is done, this process could result in an appeal to the City Council.

More information about the process will be discussed at the meeting.