The Board of Carroll County Commissioners on Thursday terminated a lease signed last month with Access Carroll Integrated Healthcare of Westminster for a respite facility in downtown Westminster.

Commissioners voted unanimously to cancel the lease agreement at their meeting Thursday after opposition mounted for weeks with elected officials publicly stating that Westminster is not the right place for such a program. The short-term care facility was planned for homeless individuals from Carroll County and Sinai Hospital in Baltimore with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Commissioners also voted to form a workgroup to discuss a way to move forward with the project. The workgroup would include elected and law enforcement officials, and representatives from Access Carroll and Lifebridge Health.

“Hopefully we can find a better way to get there together,” District 3 Commissioner Tom Gordon III said. “We need to have a serious collaborative conversation. Not just this body, not just Lifebridge, not just Access Carroll. Bring in law enforcement and those other community partners and do what Carroll County does best, work together.”

Gordon originally called on his colleagues to stop the project after concerns were recently raised by Westminster Mayor Mona Becker, the Common Council, Carroll County Sheriff James DeWees, Carroll County State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker and the District 5 Carroll County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly.

“We can point fingers, we can argue all day long on what it’s going to do, what it’s not going to do,” Gordon said. “I don’t want to get into that nonsense. Let’s do what Carroll County does best. … I don’t think any of us are going to let this [respite facility] fall through the cracks.”

A nine-page commercial lease agreement was signed Jan. 30 between Carroll County staff and Access Carroll Integrated Healthcare of Westminster.

Access Carroll had planned to partner with LifeBridge Health to open a Carroll respite facility on the first floor of the Distillery Building in downtown Westminster, specifically for homeless individuals with mental issues and who are addicted to such high-potency drugs as fentanyl and heroin.

The facility was to be funded with a $5 million grant from Sinai Hospital. It was to include 16 beds, with the potential to expand to 20 beds. Patients would come from both Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and Carroll County. Opposition to the facility has centered on plans to take in some individuals with mental health issues and substance abuse directly from Sinai Hospital.

The 30-year lease states the 7,848-square-foot respite facility was to be located at 10 Distillery Drive in downtown Westminster and would provide medical services for low-income and at-risk residents.

District 1 Commissioner Joe Vigliotti said it’s the job of the board to listen to all concerns.

“Part of our decision-making process is to hear concerns from the public,” he said. “The debate isn’t about the need for the service, only the process and the method by which it is being done.”

Commissioners have said that the lease agreement signed by county staff and Access Carroll was not discussed at a meeting on Oct. 17, 2024. Commissioners said what they did at that meeting was to vote in favor of a letter of support for the facility.

District 5 Commissioner Ed Rothstein, who has supported Access Carroll’s plans to open the respite center, wants discussions on a new plan to begin.

“I just want this to move forward,” he said.

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