Madison town officials are considering purchasing the property at 2 Old Point Ave., shown April 22, that a behavioral health provider was previously eyeing for a treatment center. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

MADISON — Town officials are considering purchasing the property in the center of Madison that a behavioral health provider was previously eyeing for a treatment center.

The Board of Selectmen is expected to discuss the town’s possible acquisition of 2 Old Point Ave., formerly Taylor’s Drug Store, at a special meeting Monday night.

The meeting, which will also include a public hearing, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Old Point Avenue school meeting room. A remote participation option is available; to join via Zoom visit the town’s website, madisonmaine.com.

The select board’s agenda also includes an item to approve a special town meeting warrant article to authorize the town’s acquisition of the real estate. If approved, the article would go before voters at a special town meeting set for Oct. 22, when voters will review an ordinance on outpatient substance use disorder treatment programs and another on medical marijuana retail sales.

The potential move comes as town officials have responded for months to concerns about the proposed location of the treatment center operated by Tennessee-based Acadia Healthcare.

Acadia was under contract to buy the building and planned to open a clinic offering a variety of treatments and services, including medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder using methadone and Suboxone, a combination medication containing buprenorphine and naloxone, a representative said at a select board meeting in April.

More than 200 residents signed a petition asking the town and Acadia to reconsider the location, and at Madison’s annual town meeting in June, residents approved a moratorium on applications for such facilities to give the town’s Planning Board and Board of Selectmen time to draft a proposed ordinance restricting locations of such clinics.

“The town officials heard the townspeople when they complained about the possibility of it being a methadone clinic and (said) ‘Why didn’t the town just buy it?’” Town Manager Denise Ducharme said in an interview Wednesday. “We are looking at that possibility and saying, ‘Why don’t we just buy it?’”

The town has no set plans for the property should voters authorize its acquisition, Ducharme said.

An environmental study of the town’s buildings, most of which are aging, is underway, Ducharme said, which could inform future decisions about the property.

A draft of the special town meeting warrant article asks voters to authorize the town to finance the purchase by borrowing up to $595,000. That is the asking price of the property’s owner, Ducharme said, and the town has not participated in negotiations so far.

According to 2024 town tax records, the property is owned by Larry R. Caldwell, who has a Winslow address listed.

The building and land were assessed at $209,900 and taxed $3,379.39, according to the tax commitment.

Ducharme recognized buying the property would take it off the tax rolls but said it would not be a “substantial loss” in town revenue.

Madison town officials are considering purchasing the property at 2 Old Point Ave., shown April 22, that a behavioral health provider was previously eyeing for a treatment center. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

“We’re trying to do what’s in the best interest in the town of Madison to maintain the appropriate level of safety and security within the town village proper,” Ducharme said.

Officials at Acadia, the health care provider, have said their company is no longer interested in purchasing the property, according to Ducharme

Acadia has continued to consider another location in Madison that fits within the proposed ordinance to restrict the location of outpatient substance use disorder treatment programs, which is going before voters at the Oct. 22 special town meeting.

“They are serious in their statement that they want to be good neighbors to the town of Madison while servicing the clients that need to have this treatment,” Ducharme said.

The proposed ordinance, approved by both the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen, would limit such facilities to the eastern portion of the Madison Business Gateway — a business park off Route 148 — and certain parcels on the approximately 2.5-mile stretch of U.S. Route 201 between White School House Road and the Skowhegan town line. It also sets other requirements for the treatment programs to operate in Madison.

In response to concerns from the public, town officials originally said a moratorium or restrictive ordinance were not possibilities, based on initial legal advice. After seeking more information, they learned that restrictions could be legally effective, though any decision could be subject to challenge.

Ducharme said the possibility of a lawsuit by the property’s owner against the town did not factor into the decision to pursue the town buying it.