SEQUIM — A decision on what level of safety conditions must be imposed for the proposed medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinic is expected by Dec. 18.
Phil Olbrechts, the City of Sequim’s appointed hearing examiner, heard four days of testimony between Nov. 16-24 in a virtual hearing.
Though the City of Sequim and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe agreed upon a stipulated settlement of conditions in early October, Olbrechts went forward with the hearing.
In an email, he wrote that a hearing must be held on modifications to the revised Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance (MDNS) and the tribe and/or city must defend the modifications as consistent with State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requirements.
The tribe appealed MDNS conditions for its proposed 16,806-square-foot medical facility off South Ninth Avenue, where doctors would dispense daily doses of methadone, Suboxone and Vivitrol for patients with opioid-use disorder while offering wrap-around services.
Tribal officials largely felt the city’s imposed conditions didn’t relate to environmental impacts nor would be imposed upon any other clinic.
Olbrechts said a city ordinance (No. 2020-009) expands examiner authority to set the ground rules for SEPA appeals, and he included Save Our Sequim’s (SOS) attorney Michael Spence to cross-examine witnesses because of the high level of interest and concerns from community members.
At the end of the hearing, Olbrechts said he’s in a “golden handcuff situation.”
“The conditions may be so good, it may prevent me from requiring anything,” he said. “It puts me in a little bit of a difficult spot.”
However, he said his decisions are detailed, even-handed and unbiased.
“I’m not trying to be friends with anyone,” Olbrechts said. “I will give you a decision that follows the law.”
Prior to the hearing, Olbrechts denied five other appeals against the MAT clinic because he said they “lack standing.”
Conditions
In the agreement between the city and tribe, it kept conditions such as mitigating for construction dust affecting air quality and determining if a cultural survey is necessary prior to construction.
Tribal officials voluntarily agreed to 15 conditions, such as:
• On-site security, transportation for those who need it to and from the clinic and no patient loitering.
• Creating a monitoring and evaluation program developed by a Community Advisory Committee made up of Brent Simcosky, the tribe’s health services director, Sequim City Manager, Sequim Director of Community Development, Clallam County sheriff, Sequim police chief, tribal council member, city councilor and health field worker with experience treating opioid use disorder.
During the hearing, Simcosky agreed to add a community member position.
• Post a bond of $250,000 prior to occupancy to support local first responders’ efforts, only if available on the market on commercially reasonable terms; and, if over a six-month period, calls for service to the clinic exceed calls for service to the other medical clinics/offices within the city.
• Fund a social services navigator position through the city to provide social service assistance to patients and other persons in need of substance use disorder and mental health assistance within the city.
• Comply with federal law regarding notification requirements to notify the city if the tribe applies to put the clinic land into Tribal Trust land.
Omitted
Of the agreed upon conditions, six were struck from the city/tribe settlement during their discussions. Some of those stricken conditions included using the tribe’s “Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Preliminary Medical Outpatient Clinic and Community Response Plan,” and creating a Good Neighbor Agreement.
Barry Berezowsky, Sequim’s director of community development, said during the hearing he did not tell Simcosky the Response Plan would be included as a condition, but translated conversations with him and the clinic developer into mitigation measures.
“It contained elements they presented to the community … This was a co-authored attempt to respond to the community, and hold (the) developer to their commitment,” Berezowsky said.
When asked by Andy Murphy, the tribe’s attorney, if Berezowsky would have imposed similar conditions on the MAT as other medical clinics, he said no.
Berezowsky later said through city/tribe mitigation they removed asking the tribe to waive sovereign immunity and the response plan because “we walked away with something rather than nothing” with the voluntary conditions.
Sequim city attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross said city officials don’t believe they have many conditions they imposed they could enforce; hence, the voluntary agreement.
Berezowsky said during interviews elements of the Good Neighbor Agreement were included in other conditions.
Spence later questioned Sequim Police Chief Sheri Crain. She said she didn’t think the response plan was necessary and that other agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration had more oversight on restrictions, making a Good Neighbor Agreement superfluous.
Crain said removing neighborhood sweeps always felt “awkward” because it could cause more trouble than it solves with “people assuming there could be a problem.”
Find more information on the process at sequimwa.gov/964/MAT-Clinic-Appeals.
Parties have 21 days to appeal Olbrechts’ decision under the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA).
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
