By Kelly Morgan,Staff Writer

PARIS – A handful of voters approved a temporary ban on methadone clinics at a special town meeting Monday, in response to news that a for-profit drug treatment center might open in Oxford Hills.

Town Manager Sharon Jackson said Tuesday that only about 15 people showed for the meeting. All but two voted in favor of the six-month moratorium.

Two other towns have approved moratoriums so that they can consider restrictions on methadone clinics also. Methadone commonly is used to control addictions to opiates such as heroin.

“Right now, what will happen is the (Paris) Planning Board will work on writing an actual ordinance,” Jackson said. An ordinance may limit how or where a clinic is be built, or how it is operated.

Norway and Oxford voters have approved similar moratoriums in recent weeks after area police chiefs were contacted by representatives from Discovery House. The Rhode Island-based company operates drug addiction treatment facilities in Indiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Utah, according to its Web site.

According to local officials, a moratorium may be enacted for 180 days and may be renewed by voters for an additional 180 days if needed. Some have said the state would not allow a permanent ban on methadone clinics.

Selectmen held a regular meeting after the special town meeting, Jackson said.

They discussed abandoning Colby Farm Road, and will vote on the matter at an Aug. 8 meeting. According to a memo Jackson gave the board, there are no records showing that the town has in the past formally abandoned or discontinued the road, but it has not been maintained by the town and is in poor condition.

The board also signed a notice of determination declaring a portion of Ken’s Lane as “presumed abandoned.” The selectmen had voted 2-1 in favor of the abandonment at a July 11 meeting.

In addition, Jackson said the board agreed to purchase diesel fuel through C.N. Brown this year instead of renewing a contract with Union Oil of South Portland through SAD 17. Jackson said C.N. Brown is now charging $1.75 per gallon of diesel fuel, as opposed to Union’s price, which would be locked at $1.95 for one-third of the year.

The C.N. Brown price is not locked, but is lower, Jackson said. “Plus, it keeps the business right here in Paris rather than spending $25,000 in South Portland.”

The town purchases about 16,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year, she said.