Plan for stabilization center sparks controversy

Carmel Hamlet residents are up in arms over a proposed stabilization center in their neighborhood, a community crisis hub where adults and children can meet with professionals to address issues ranging from mental health to substance abuse.

On Thursday, Nov. 13, the Planning Board held a public hearing on the application, which seeks to place the agency at a currently unoccupied office building at 1071 Stoneleigh Ave. The hearing was held before a standing-room-only crowd at Town Hall, where overflow attendance extended into the lobby.

The idea for the Putnam County Crisis Stabilization Center was first introduced in 2021 in cooperation with People USA, which also operates such a center in Poughkeepsie, when MaryEllen Odell was county executive.

The county set aside $2.5 million in ARPA funds (federal COVID-19 relief money) to pay the center’s operating costs for the first two years.

After two sites for the center fell through in 2023 (including one in Southeast), the site at 1071 Stoneleigh Ave. in Carmel Hamlet was selected.

In a prepared statement, Commissioner of Mental Health and Social Services Sara Servadio said the benefits of such a program for Putnam County include significantly reduced preventable hospital ER visits, inpatient admissions and re-admissions and reductions in overall healthcare spending while creating what she called a “welcoming gateway to Putnam County’s broader health and human services system.”

Servadio said increasing rates of mental health issues, the opioid epidemic, social isolation, economic stress, housing instability, suicide and trauma created by lives lost due to COVID-19 had placed a tremendous burden on her department.

Servadio said dangerous individuals will not be treated at the facility.

“People will not be going to the center unless they desire to,” she said. “Community chatter that the center will drain first responders is not true. Law enforcement will be able to use the center as an option for people in crisis.”

Craig Paeprer, Planning Board chair, told the audience that the purpose of the hearing was to garner public feedback, but no decision would be made at this point. He said that for those who could not attend in person, the town would allow public comment to continue another week via email. He also noted that People USA would not need any variances from the ZBA for this project as it is a permitted use for that Stoneleigh location.

The first speaker of the night, and perhaps the most compelling, was a Carmel Hamlet woman named Donna, who shared her story of being attacked while jogging on the Putnam Trailway, which runs not too far from the proposed center.

“I am not opposed to having a stabilization center in Putnam County. I don’t think anyone is questioning the need for mental health services,” she said. “I am here to ask the Planning Board to consider an alternative location. The Hamlet is already doing its part in the fight against substance abuse and mental health.”

Donna recounted her Oct. 19 assault while on the bike path, which led to the arrest of James Regan, age 35. Police said Regan was living rough in the area and had an extensive police record.

“It was terrifying. I was chased, held down and punched repeatedly. I was lucky I got away,” she said. “I stand as a voice for safety and reason in the hamlet of Carmel. I have no doubt a stabilization center will help those in crisis. However, within one mile of the center, we have the county jail, CoveCare Center and Arms Acres inpatient and outpatient clinic. This methadone clinic sits 100 feet from the Trailway and 500 feet from the most utilized shopping plaza in the hamlet. Adding another facility for people in crisis so close to homes, local businesses, senior communities, and the trail is not appropriate.”

Tony Bustamante, a resident at the Retreat, a 55-and-over community located near the proposed stabilization center, agreed that it shouldn’t be allowed in Carmel Hamlet.

“It’s not the proper place. I think we would have an awful lot of problems,” he said. “We are a senior citizens’ community. We moved here because we were told it’s a nice, safe town. We objected to this, we think it’s wrong.”

Jack Addesso, who lives on Blair Heights, said he lives close to Arms Acres, which offers inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment, and had to put up a chain-link fence to keep its residents off his property.

“You can’t allow this place to be there because once it is here and people are going into it, you can’t do anything about it,” he said. “We have a picture of someone sleeping in front of the Starbucks in the Plaza. This is what’s going to happen if you allow this.”

Yet not all the speakers opposed the facility. Kristin Cacal, a Brewster resident, said the county is in desperate need of this service and that more compassion is needed.

“I stand here in support of the stabilization center, and I would like people to remember that ‘these people’ are also kids and that’s a piece that is also lacking in Putnam County,” she said. “Our community needs to do better; the county needs to do better. I understand that no one wants something in their backyard. I do get that. But we have an epidemic of mental illness among our children. If you’ve never had to take your child to Putnam Hospital or Four Winds Hospital [for mental health treatment] consider yourself lucky. It is the worst thing a parent has to do.

“I would ask you to move forward with this project because the kids need it,” she added. “The schools are struggling. For families in crisis, the last thing they need to do is to try and figure out what to do. I’d bet money that most people brought to this center will be kids and that’s a very sad statement.”

Dr. Todd Carlin, a psychologist who has worked with the stabilization center in Dutchess County, said that, indeed, many of those seeking services at the center would be children.

“Children are a major component and a massive use of the center,” he said. “The stabilization center fills a gap that no one else can provide. The evidence model for the state shows it is the best way to help kids in crisis.”

Carlin addressed the bike path attack, and said it was “horrible,” but said people like the attacker are already in the community.

“They need help, and I would say the stabilization center could provide that support,” he said.

Karen Able, a lifelong Carmel resident, responded that the hamlet has been unfairly burdened with too many of these types of agencies.

“Carmel is not the town I grew up in. I’m not proud of it anymore. It’s not the same,” she said. “And speaking of kids, we are here to protect our own kids as well. I’ve been burglarized twice since I’ve been here, and I was told by police it was likely a drug addict looking for money.

“If we have to have one in Putnam County, why can’t it be in Brewster? Why can’t it be in Mahopac or Philipstown?” she added. “Carmel has done more than its fair share to help these people.”

Ashley Brody, who has lived in Brewster, Carmel and Mahopac, and has worked in the mental health field, told the board, “If I thought for a moment that the introduction of a stabilization center would increase the likelihood of these things happening I wouldn’t be here this evening.”

Brody said the country is in the middle of a mental health crisis in “and this region is not exempt.”

“Individuals who are struggling are already in this community,” he said. “Hospitals are not the best place to get these types of emergency services. The stabilization center serves many children and adolescents who are struggling in a kind and caring and humane way. All of the evidence we have today shows that a stabilization center does not add crime to a neighborhood or introduce more drugs or more blight. It does just the opposite.”

Jack Duncan, a commandant for the Putnam County Marine Corps League and a MHS grad who currently lives in Brewster, said that as a disabled veteran and a former coordinator for Putnam County’s Vet2Vet program, he knows how important this project is to area vets.

“We would love to have had this center somewhere in Putnam County,” he said. “I know when we had a veteran and their family in crisis, they had very few places to go. This is the type of place they should be going to. We have to have this somewhere. It will save lives in the veteran community.”

Breanna Pileggi, born and raised in Carmel, told the board she is quite familiar with the resources that Carmel has to offer but they are not complete.

“I can speak about the resources we have here because I grew up in foster care,” she said. “I was 4 years old when I started going to CoveCare and now as an adult I have two degrees. I am a registered nurse and have never touched drugs in my life.

“There are people in this community who need this help, and we are those people," she continued. "We are normal people—we just need extra help.”

Lois Slaughter, a resident of the Retreat, summed up the opposition’s argument.

“No one is arguing that, yes, these people need services. What we are opposed to is simply the location,” she said. “And most of the people opposed to this location are Carmel people. The only ones who say, ‘Yeah, we need it,’ are from Brewster—and Brewster turned it down.”

In his State of the County address earlier this year, County Executive Kevin Byrne said the county was “continuing to support our partners at People USA to open the mental healthcare facility…for those who need mental health support.”