KEVIN HALPERN, Courier Co-Editor
Saturday, January 14, 2012 2:58 pm

Not in our neighborhood.

That was the message a group of Hill Creek Rd. residents delivered to the Cannon County Commission Saturday regarding an addiction recovery center that is in the process of establishing a facility in an established residence on the road.

About an equal number of people turned out in support of Spring 2 Life, including Cannon County citizens who have or are currently benefitting from the program at its facilities in Rutherford County.

While there are apparently no steps the County Commission can take to prevent Spring 2 Life from providing its services to people who want to attempt to overcome their addiction here, Commissioner Kevin George rather bluntly assessed the situation when he stated, “Anything new scares us (Cannon Countians).”

Pastor Erik Hines, president of Spring 2 Life, tried to sooth the concerns of area residents.

“We have two homes in Murfreesboro and we have had no complaints or problems with neighbors in six years,” Hines said.

Hines said the Christian addiction recovery program is from 4 to 6 months in length and that it does not accept sex offenders or violent offenders. Residents are not allowed to leave the home without supervision during the course of their treatment.

“We are prepared to address complaints,” Hines said. “We want to be good neighbors.”

Residents of Hill Creek Road are concerned about safety issues associated with having so many (up to 15 at a time) recovering drug and alcohol addicts living in their vicinity, increased usage and possible contamination of well water, and additional traffic on the road.

“(911 Director) Roy Sullivan said this increase in traffic on such a narrow road will be a danger to us all,” Melanie Pitts said.

They also fear the recovery center will decrease the value of their property.

Bob Davenport said he hoped the County Commission would continue with its efforts to implement zoning laws and building codes so that citizens are not presented with situations of this nature in the future.

“It saddens me a wonderful community like ours has to pound the pavement to press our county commissioners to keep these kind of people out of our neighborhood. Our area is not the right place for this type of facility. I do hope (zoning) changes will be made."

According to its website, "Spring 2 Life is a faith based discipleship program that specializes in biblical addiction recovery. S2L helps people discover freedom from substance abuse, peace in their family and rediscover a passion for living again. S2L desires to show people how much joy is found in living as a true disciple of Christ.

As one of the fastest growing Christian Addiction Recovery Centers in the Mid South, Spring 2 Life works with families and individuals from all walks of life in finding true peace and lasting FREEDOM from addiction and life controlling behaviors."

EDITOR'S NOTE: The discussion about Spring 2 Life came at the end of Saturday's quarterly commission meeting. See next week's Cannon Courier for a full report on the meeting.