HOLLY POND — Federal protections will allow Chain Breakers Ministries to continue its plans to open a new faith-based reentry center in the town of Holly Pond despite the efforts of one council member to block the program.

The Guy Hunt Library was as humid and spirited as a summer Southern Baptist revival tent Monday evening, when nearly 50 people came to address the Holly Pond Town Council after it was reported last month that councilmember Julie Ray had been seeking a way to prevent Chain Breakers from opening its “Christ centered,” reentry facility on Brooklyn Road.

Ray had expressed concerns about the facility’s close proximity to residential neighborhoods on two previous occasions. Last month, she was joined by Victory Christian Fellowship Church Pastor Jeremy Collier, who reiterated his concerns of where the facility is located, saying that God told him that the program’s organizers “were not ready for this.”

“It’s not about not helping somebody. It never was about that, all that got taken out of context. It’s about the location. It’s always been about the location,” Collier said.

Town attorney Dan Willingham said that because Holly Pond does not have any type of zoning ordinance or regulations, there are technically not any residential neighborhoods within the town limits from a legal perspective. Willingham also said that recovering addicts are considered a protected class under both the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, meaning that even if the council unanimously consented to block the facility, it would be doing so in violation of federal law.

“First of all if you [the council] pass an ordinance that is even just facially discriminatory — that is to say that you’re going to treat these people differently than the other residents — you’ve already violated federal law,” Willingham said. “You may never even mention the words, but if it is even implied … let me just say this, the fact that we are having this meeting and this was brought up would almost make any ordinance de facto discriminatory.”

Willingham’s clarification did little to prevent the nearly hour and a half public hearing which followed. Ray’s uncle, James Sampson, who also spoke in opposition of Chain Breakers last month — said he had been led to believe that there would be a window of opportunity for an ordinance to be passed which might prevent the center from opening. This statement was made by Ray at the previous meeting. He told the council that he believed they should prioritize the town’s residents over allowing the program to continue.

“You guys should represent Holly Pond and Holly Pond only. You know, I’m glad everybody gets clean and sober, but you know what, it comes from within. It doesn’t come from anything we’re doing. If their family couldn’t take care of them, then the community ain’t gonna be able to do any better. We’re going to have problems if that place goes in,” Sampson said.

Burton Sampson, a relative of Ray, said he had previously worked with work release inmates while employed by the city of Athens.

“You can’t trust them. I don’t care what anybody says,” he said. Burton said he wanted to see things which progressed the town forward and that the presence of the center would have the opposite effect.

Council member Deborah Holcombe said she agreed that recent events led her to believe attitudes in the town had been regressing. She said she could remember when Alabama schools reluctantly integrated during the 1960s. She said she was the first white student to attend T.S. Boyd Elementary School and was now reminded of Alabama’s attitudes towards the Civil Rights movement.

“Yes sir, I agree that we are going backwards. This is just me, I’m not speaking for the rest of the council, but I think we are going back to the 1960s. We had bus service where we let Rosa Parks ride the bus as long as she sat in the back. Our buses were good, that’s what everyone keeps saying, ‘Oh, this program is good, we just don’t want it beside us. Go sit in the back,’” Holcombe said.

Holly Pond resident Peggy Delenne responded to Holcombe’s analogy saying she felt as though the city of Birmingham had only declined since the Civil Rights Era and was fearful that Chain Breakers’ presence in Holly Pond might have the same effect.

“This is not with the intention of sounding like a racist, but this goes back [to Rosa Parks]. Look, we gave them everything that they wanted. We tried to do what was right and look at Birmingham now, I can’t even drive down the street,” she said.

Speakers in support of the program however, outnumbered its opponents by at least two-to-one. Those providing a testimony of how their lives had been personally changed for the better by similar programs were frequently interrupted by shouts of “Amen” by others in attendance. Other speakers said the community’s fears were not necessarily unfounded, but that they should be redirected.

Thomas Odeneal said he had been a resident of Holly Pond for more than 20 years and that for 15 of those, he was a habitual drug user. Odeneal said Chain Breakers was attempting to be a solution to an already existing problem within the community.

“For 15 years I smoked weed. I sold weed. I smoked meth. I took pills. I went to other people’s houses and did meth. Nobody was worried about that. Nobody came and asked me what I was doing. This is out there. People are doing drugs next door to you, passing you on the road,” Odeneal said. “At least [Chain Breakers] is ministering to those people and they have supervision. I had no supervision. I would drive everywhere high. I would smoke my weed going to school and I would smoke it coming home, passing your kids on the side of the road. I mean, who knows what could have happened?”

Ray stayed silent for the majority of the meeting, but as the public comments section was called to a close and the majority of the program’s supporters had exited the building, she addressed the program’s primary organizer, Doug Canter.

Ray said she felt as though Canter had mislead the council when he said he had spoken to law enforcement about the program. Ray said she contacted Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry, who said he was unaware of the program. Canter clarified it was CCSO Clerk Betty Johnson who he spoke with.

Ray also accused Canter of lying about his agreement to purchase the property where the center will be located. Ray said she was led to believe the property had been purchased outright, but Canter stated that he had reached a rent-to-own agreement with the previous owner.

“My house is mine. There is a difference. You are working toward that property, but I asked if you owned the property. You do not own it,” Ray said.

Ray also asked if residents were already being housed at the center, but Canter was told by Willingham and Mayor Carla Hart that he did not have to respond to Ray’s questioning. She then said she had recently “seen cars turning around” in the center’s parking lot and witnessed drug deals take place before Chain Breakers occupied the building.

Hart put an end to the discussion as tensions began to escalate. She told Ray, “This is not the town’s business, this is a personal thing.”

Canter invited the public to attend the center’s grand opening scheduled for April 6.