SOUDAN- A proposal to convert the Vermilion Park Inn to an adult “sober house” prompted more than 40 residents here to turn out for a special meeting of the Breitung Town Board on June 14, with many expressing concerns about the plan.
Cathy Harvieux, originally of Aurora, said she has more than 40 years of experience in substance abuse treatment and is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor who has designed more than a dozen treatment programs over that time. She said she is hoping to finish her career by opening a new adult treatment facility on the Iron Range and she has an agreement in place to purchase the Vermilion Park Inn for that purpose.
Harvieux’s for-profit company, Care Crossings, would offer sober housing and outpatient treatment for men 18 or older, with a maximum capacity of 20. She said it could be open as early as September.
That may be optimistic, however, as Harvieux had yet to apply for a conditional use permit for the facility from St. Louis County as of late last week. Interim St. Louis County Planning Manager Donald Rigney stated that the inn, located at 30 Center St., in Soudan, is zoned RES-12, which would allow a licensed treatment center as a conditional use.
Harvieux seemed unaware at the meeting of the need for a conditional use permit and acknowledged she had not yet applied for one. Rigney confirmed that he had to receive an application from Harvieux.
Township residents sound off
Several Breitung residents asked questions and raised concerns about the proposal, while others spoke in favor of the program. Former Breitung Supervisor Greg Dostert said that such services in the area are currently inadequate and noted that he had worked alongside people in a similar program and found them to be excellent workers. “Don’t sell this program short,” he said. “When we had Parkside here, we had all kinds of people in there. I lived three houses from Parkside at the time, never once was I afraid of anybody that walked there.”
Parkside was a group home for mentally ill adults, which was later closed due to restructuring of the state’s mental health placement system. It later became the Vermilion Park Inn.
“I’m happy to see a proactive program,” said Mary Batinich, the current owner of the inn, who is planning to live next door to the facility in a former garage at the inn, since converted for housing. In a later interview, Batinich said she was a bit dubious when first approached by Harvieux but became more amenable to the proposal as she learned more. “This kind of help and intervention is so important, it helps the whole community,” she said.
Others in attendance shared concerns.
Angela Zavodnik asked if someone with a history of sex offenses would be allowed to stay there. Harvieux explained that they only take level I sex offenders, which are at the lowest risk to re-offend. Zavodnik asked if the clients were expected to remain sober while they’re there, and Harvieux said yes and that any suspicious activity is met with breathalyzer or mouth swabs and, if positive, they would have an intervention and action specific to that client.
Others questioned whether Soudan was the right location for such a facility, given the lack of job opportunities in the almost-exclusively residential community.
Another resident asked if the clients would have cars. Harvieux responded that most would not and would not be allowed to use them until Phase 3 of their program. She said staff would drive the clients to their jobs most of the time.
Board member Matt Tuchel, who also serves on the Tower Area Ambulance Service, said he agreed that there’s a need for this kind of treatment facility but he questioned if Soudan was the right place for it. “Typically, you don’t put a treatment center in a small town and the reason being is that we have limited resources, we have a volunteer ambulance service that may or may not cover a second call, you may be waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance. We don’t have 24/7 law enforcement and there was a period of time we had no law enforcement here. I agree it’s needed, 100-percent, but is Soudan the right place to put this? I don’t think so personally.”
Several of those in attendance expressed support for Tuchel’s comment.
“In the last year and a half that we’ve been working with these sober houses I’ve not had any police calls to these houses that I’m aware of. I’ve not had ambulances to any of the clients that we’ve had in those houses,” Harvieux said later.
Others had concerns about the potential risk to children. “A lot of people here have young kids, we’re worried about young kids,” said another resident. “This is the center of our town, where all the kids go,” said one resident.

 “It’s right next to the candy store,” another responded.
Will it be a locked facility?” asked another resident.
“No, the facility is not locked.” Harvieux said.
Dan Wiirre asked how security is dealt with in-house. “We do 15 minute rounds and checks on people, so we know at all times where people are,” responded Harvieux. “The doors aren’t locked, people will walk out and we will handle that.”
Making her case
Given the concerns, Harvieux took pains to make her case, noting the growing need for treatment service. “Substance abuse effects all of us, and it’s not getting any better. Unfortunately, it’s going to continue to be a part of our lives and it’s going to continue to touch us personally and it’s going to continue to cost thousands and thousands of dollars,” she said. Harvieux said there would be a live-in house manager, two additional live-in substance abuse councilors and would also employ peer recovery specialists. In a subsequent interview she said she would be living there as well.
Harvieux suggested it’s a misnomer that people in recovery from addiction are somehow dangerous. “What we see is that people take ownership of their home, on top of having staff live there,” she said. “It’s a family, they take ownership, they protect it, they tell on other people. It’s their house. We plan on putting a fence up around the place. We’re planning on more cameras, alarms and bells on the doors.”
Care Crossings has a three-phase program, according to Harvieux. During Phase I, clients are getting focused, acclimated and engaged in treatment. During Phase 2 clients are integrating into their jobs, and in Phase 3 clients are continuing employment, treatment and transitioning to their next place where they will be living. She said the support continues once people have moved out of the facility to make smooth transitions back into their communities. “The people who come to our programs are just like you and me,” she said. In addition, Harvieux said the clients in the facility will all be coming from northeastern Minnesota, not the Twin Cities.
Harvieux said she’s already begun forming partnerships in the area. In a later interview, she said she has been working with Wellbeing Development in Ely and the Ely Behavioral Health Network and is in the process of securing partnerships with area agencies including the faith community. “The majority of our staff are Christians and in recovery themselves,” she said.
While addressing the concerns of residents, Harvieux expressed confidence that her proposal could not be stopped due to local opposition. “I’m familiar with this process…we intend to move forward with this project. We intend to carry out what we’re going to carry out and utilize whatever means we might need to move it forward so we’ll go through due process and this kind of thing. We are well aware of the meetings we have to go through. It’s happening across the nation actually, where there’s sober homes being put up in communities that don’t want them and ultimately the precedence is ruled by a federal judge that they go up. 


“So, we have no voice?” asked two members of the audience.
“I’m just telling you what’s out there, I’m giving you the facts, so you’re not surprised. There was a township in Chicago in February that went up against the federal judge and the township paid $800,000.” Harvieux said she’d rather not have to go that route. “We’d rather just hear your concerns, be able to move forward, address what needs to be addressed. Certainly, there’s budget issues, things that we need to take a look at, safety concerns we need to take a look at, but we certainly don’t want to throw more money at this then we might need to, on both our parts.”
Town board chair Tim Tomsich didn’t dispute Harvieux’s point, but noted that the proposal is not a done deal until a conditional use permit is issued by St. Louis County. Residents chattered about drafting a petition and attending the St. Louis County hearing on the project, asking to be notified of when it would be. Clerk Dianna Sunsdahl confirmed she would post the information at the township’s three legal posting areas outside the community center, inside the post office, and at the Soudan Store.
The Vermilion Park Inn building has a long history as a medical facility. First built as the Soudan Miner’s Hospital in 1891 it was later Parkside Homes, a home for people with mental illnesses from the late 1960s until it closed in 2004. After several years of revolving ownership, the building was purchased and renovated in 2016 by Mary Batinich and Jane Turner and turned into a bed and breakfast. Harvieux had tried to buy the same building once before around 2008.
In other news, the Breitung Town Board:
• Raised the lawn mowing rate from $15 an hour to $100/hour. The charge is usually only given when a property that has already received an official warning about blight fails to resolve the problem themselves, then the township maintenance department will do it for them and send a bill. Tuchel said the cost reflects wages, unemployment, insurance or possible accidents.
• Passed a motion to allow Police Chief Dan Reing to hire B&B Remodeling to clean up a blighted house on Jasper St. so long as the quote is under $2,500. They have been notified, fined and have refused prior offers for help from several people.
• Heard that there are six more properties in Soudan that will receive blight warnings, mostly for unmowed lawns.
• Passed a motion to recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday. Supervisor Tuchel abstained.
The holiday will affect two union contracts as well as close township offices on June 19.