By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Two men who hoped to open a psychiatric drug rehabilitation center in the former Williston Middle School have withdrawn their request for voluntary annexation into the city but said they were bitter about the way they were treated by the city.

            Williston City Council President Debra Jones, responding to a question by an audience member at Tuesday’s board meeting, said Oaktree Addiction & Recovery, LLC withdrew its application for annexation and was refunded its money but harshly criticized her and City Manager Terry Bovaird for the way they handled a public workshop meeting concerning their proposal.

            Residents of Williston attending the workshop were unanimously opposed to the drug addiction and recovery facility moving into the former Williston Middle School and didn’t spare Ali Mirza, the managing partner, from feeling their wrath. Mirza in turn withdrew the application and didn’t spare Jones and Bovaird from his thoughts about how badly he thought the workshop was handled.

            “I just want to say publicly City Manager Bovaird and I got extreme criticism from the people that came and did the presentation,” Jones said. “They thought we were very biased and that we did not conduct a proper meeting because we let the public speak. I can tell you that’s what the purpose of the meeting was for – we wanted to know how the neighborhood felt. I’m sorry that every single person that stood up was against it. That’s just the way it was.”

            She added that the only thing she would have changed about the way the meeting was conducted would have been to set up two podiums instead of one. She would have allowed Mirza to stand apart from the people opposed to his proposal as he responded to their questions and comments.

            Jones said the city got a written statement from Mirza confirming he was withdrawing his application. He was refunded the money he paid in connection with filing the application for voluntary annexation. Williston Middle School isn’t located within the city limits. It is situated in the unincorporated area of the county just a stone’s throw from the city limits.

            “As far as we’re concerned it’s a dead issue unless he goes through the county and I think he got the message. The neighborhood did not want it, which is what we wanted to know from you all,” Jones said.

            Mirza, an Oxford-educated financial expert, and Dr. Sayed Zaidi, a psychiatrist, were the partners in the proposed drug treatment and psychiatric treatment center. They had proposed using horses, art, and music as some of the therapies they would use to help veterans and others being treated at the facility.

            Williston Middle School borders a predominantly black neighborhood and residents of that community turned out in force to express their opposition to the drug rehabilitation center being located where they lived. There were also white people who lived near the school that were just as strongly opposed to the voluntary annexation.

            Black residents formed a long line from the meeting chambers of the Williston City Council into the lobby of Williston City Hall waiting for their turn to speak. There were so many speakers that not all could reach the podium in the allotted time, but those who did were absolutely opposed to the psychiatric drug rehabilitation center operating near their homes.

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City of Williston Regular Meeting February 7, 2023; Posted February 10, 2023