Colville City Council passes 6-month moratorium after rallies opposing behavioral health facilities

The Colville City Council passed a six-month moratorium on behavioral health facility applications Tuesday evening.

Community members held rallies in downtown Colville over the past month with guest speakers, including a former nurse, local business owners and ex-addicts, expressing opposition to behavioral health facilities in the area.

The rallies were responding to the Washington State Department of Commerce providing a $2 million grant to the Northeast Washington Alliance of Counseling Services for a crisis stabilization facility in Colville. The six-month moratorium won’t affect the grant, however, since the alliance already has a permit.

“It is not retroactive and will not affect the grant that Northeast Washington Alliance Counseling Services received,” Colville Mayor Jack Smith said.

The alliance has said the money would go to upgrade an existing facility, not build a new one.