Recovery Center Project to Follow
ALFRED, Maine – The plan by York County government to build a regional first responder training center, followed by a substance use recovery center, is moving from the drawing board to construction.
After two years of planning and permitting, the projects are ready to move forward as York County Commissioners approved the guaranteed maximum price of $24 million for site work for the two buildings and construction of the training center at a special meeting Thursday, Sept. 12. The projects will be situated on county-owned land off Layman Way.
The site work for the two buildings is imminent, with construction set to begin on the training center building this fall. While guaranteed maximum price figures for the recovery center building are not yet finalized, that project is estimated at about $18 million.
County Manager Greg Zinser said so far, figures for produced by Landry French, the construction management company, closely match estimates produced when the projects were in the early planning stages.
Much of the funding from the two projects comes from York County government’s allocation from the federal American Recovery Plan Act, along with congressionally directed funding, grants, and from other sources.
The York County First Responder Training Center will offer state of the art workforce development for law enforcement, dispatchers, and fire and emergency medical services and related professions, all close to home.
The York County Recovery Center will sport 58 beds – 50 licensed substance use disorder beds offering detox, short- and long term options – and 8 observation beds, allowing for immediate access to care.
“I think you should be really proud,” Zinser told county commissioners, in part.
He said the first and foremost focus for the training center will be people in York County, but noted the county’s initiative is seen favorably by training entities that are well respected in their fields, which could see folks from other areas undertake training here.
York County Commission Chair Richard Dutremble said his counterparts in other counties have told him they wished they had followed York County’s example when allocating ARPA funds.
“So it is recognized that what we’ve done is very beneficial,” all over the state, Dutremble said.
The guaranteed maximum price for the site work and training center building came in at $23.71 million, which said Zinser, includes recent adjustments totaling about $160,000 in the county’s favor.
Commissioner Richard Clark moved to approve an amount not to exceed $24 million, which he said would provide “wiggle room,” and was seconded by Commissioner Robert Andrews. All five commissioners' hands shot up at the vote.
Commissioner Justin Chenette thanked the county manager and staff for their diligence.
“I’m sure it hasn’t been easy, and we appreciate everyone’s work,” he said. “Our public safety officials really do deserve a regional place to train, to educate, and to prepare, to keep our communities safe. This is going to be really exciting, not just for York County but for the entire area. People are looking to us for leadership and I think we’ re going to set in motion a lot of interest in how this can be replicated throughout the state.”
An official groundbreaking is expected at a date to be announced.
York County was awarded $40 million in APRA funds in 2021. Commissioners conducted public meetings to seek input on possible projects. They allocated funding to help convert a former church to a teen center in Biddeford, to a social services hub in Kittery, purchased a dredge to help coastal communities cope with erosion, made repairs and upgrades to county buildings and equipment – and earmarked a large portion of the funds for a regional training center and a recovery center.
“It’s a pretty big deal. It took a lot of work to get here,” said Zinser.
York County Commissioners have approved guaranteed maximum pricing of $24 million for a first responder training center building as seen in the top right of the rendering and the site work for it and a substance use recovery center – which means the projects are set to begin.