MIDDLEBORO – Town officials have negotiated a sweet deal with High Point Treatment Center and the zoning board approved a 72-bed permit Thursday.
The non-profit drug treatment center will pay more than $136,000 a year in lieu of taxes and kick in nearly $300,000 to repair a town-owned parking lot on Pearl Street.
Middleboro's deal is substantially better than what the tax-exempt organization pays Plymouth, where there are 100 beds, and Brockton, where there are 196 beds.
During its 30-year tenure in Plymouth, High Point has not paid local taxes nor made payments in lieu of taxes, said Town Manager Melissa Arrighi.
In Brockton, High Point is leasing its space and the landlord pays local taxes. But Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter said High Point is negotiating to buy one of the buildings it is now leasing.
Carpenter said the city does not receive payment in lieu of taxes from any nonprofit group in the city, but, he added, that is going to change, citing ongoing negotiations with High Point President Daniel Mumbauer.
The Plymouth town manager said she has had no problems with the drug treatment center in her town.
"High Point has kept a relatively low profile," she said.
Middleboro residents have voiced concern about a drug addiction treatment center in the downtown and fear it will lower the values of their homes.
In south Plymouth many neighborhoods have grown up around High Point, and Arrighi said she hasn't seen a drop in property values.
The two-story brick hospital where High Point will be located sits on 3.5 acres in the heart of Middleboro's downtown and was built in 1925. The hospital closed its doors in the early 1990s and has been vacant ever since.
Jeffery DeMarco said his company, Campanelli Companies, will renovate the Middleboro site and expects to start work in May. It will take about a year to complete the $12 million project, and DeMarco said local subcontractors will be given first preference in hiring.
Mumbauer said more than 100 jobs will be filled at the Middleboro center and the positions will include nurses, doctors, counselors, administrators, maintenance workers and security personnel. He said Middleboro residents will be given first preference in hiring.