A crowd of nearly 200 packed the Turlock City Council chambers on Tuesday, filled two overflow areas, lined the hallway in between, and debated for nearly three hours on the topic of a planned behavioral health facility slated to operate at the site of the former Las Palmas residential care facility for the elderly.

For its part, the city took issue with the county’s plan to secure more residential placements in Turlock for patients with mental health and substance abuse disorders. During a meandering 30-minute opening statement, city attorney George Petrulakis at times berated the county and A&A Health Services — the company contracted by the county to provide residential at the site — for not being more forthcoming about their plans.

“Basically, I think the county and (A&A) have been very on point, I’d say,” said Petrulakis. “The messages they’re each sharing are very similar. It’s basically that’s it’s about the same use, it’s been there for decades, there’s no change in use. For me, it’s become a little repetitive and boring, but that’s the approach they’ve taken.”

Earlier Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors’ weekly meeting in Modesto, District 3 Supervisor Terry Withrow apologized for any misunderstandings between the government entities.

“To some extent, I feel like I didn’t do my job,” said Withrow. “I just expected this was no big deal. I’m so happy that we’re having these facilities. It’s everything that we need right now to deal with our homeless individuals and getting people off the streets. The state is finally coming around and allowing us to do more to get these individuals the services needed and change their lives, and basically save their lives. …

“So, I’ll carry some of this what’s happened here with Turlock and I apologize if there appears to be some misinformation out there.”

Four members of the city council — Kevin Bixel, Rebecka Monez, Cassandra Abram, and Pam Franco — as well as city manager Reagan Wilson were at the supervisors’ meeting, though none rose to speak during the public comment period.

Petrulakis and Mayor Amy Bublak said they watched the meeting online.

District 2 Supervisor Vito Chiesa, whose district includes Turlock, was one of the first speakers to rise at the city council meeting.

“I think most people in the neighborhood — I spoke with some individuals sitting here today — and they talked about it being a behavioral health facility,” said Chiesa. “I think you’ll hear that there were behavioral health consumers inside that building receiving treatment. We can sit and argue about the zoning or about what was legal there — I don’t know, I’m not a legal expert — but we’ve placing patients there and that’s a fact.”

After the three-minute time limit expired, Chiesa was cut off mid-sentence by Bublak, which didn’t seem to sit well with the supervisor.

Supervisors Buck Condit (District 1), Mani Grewal (District 4) and Channce Condit (District 5), as well as county counsel Thomas Boze, and Tony Vartan, director of the county’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, also were in attendance.

Turlock Police Lt. David Shaw addressed the council and detailed the results of a conversation he had with a law enforcement counterpart near an A&A facility in San Pablo.

“When they first opened up, in the first few months, they were responding to over 300 calls per month,” said Shaw, who pointed out that the San Pablo facility has about 235 beds, nearly three times as many proposed for the Turlock facility. “They were going out there seven or eight times a day.”

The law enforcement official went on to tell Shaw that after working with A&A, calls were reduced to about 30-40 per month.

Betty Dominici, CEO of Alamo Senior Living Management (A&A), made brief comments about her displeasure with how she was treated by the city, and later passed on the opportunity to give a closing statement.

Turlock Unified School District superintendent Dana Trevethan spoke in opposition of the project, stating that 4,752 students from 3 to 18 years old go to school within a mile of the facility.

“We are respectfully requesting immediate action and collaboration occur with local, county and state officials to secure a different location that is not within close proximity to our schools and young people,” Trevethan said. “Five of our 15 schools in Turlock Unified are one mile or less from the renovated Alamo facility.”

All told, more than 30 speakers rose to voice their opinion on the facility, with the vast majority speaking against the plan.

Candace Peterson reminded the assembly not to forget the main reason for the debate in the first place — a behavioral health facility, regardless of where it ultimately operates, is needed in the city of Turlock.

“I’ve heard from parents, I am a parent,” said Peterson. “I’ve heard from neighbors. I am a neighbor. I live within about a quarter mile,” Peterson said. “But one group has not yet been addressed and I’m a member of that group. I’m a patient. I was at Modesto Psychiatric once upon a time, in a locked facility, which would not let me out. That was part of the rule. When I was released, I was released back home, which was four houses down from Crowell (Elementary) School. Obviously, I survived, and I thrived, and I’m here now. … Do something for this other group also in need, also desperate, also being victimized, also not getting the help they need. Please, do something for us as well.”

Toward the end of the public-comment marathon, former councilmember Andrew Nosrati stepped up to the podium and took city leadership to task.

“It’s very clear that we’re not sitting down and discussing and collaborating and having a fruitful relationship with the county to address what these underlying needs are,” said Nosrati. “When I look at the agenda as to what we’re doing, it’s another agenda where it’s entirely talk and no action. This is what the city of Turlock is when it comes to addressing this crisis.”

Nosrati’s final comments were directed specifically toward Bublak and Petrulakis.

“It’s incredibly inappropriate and unprofessional that you would give an elected official a three-minute cutoff,” Nosrati said to the mayor. “He was actually presenting facts in attempt to clear up any confusion. Meanwhile, we had an attorney talk for 35 minutes and nobody knew what was said.”

In closing comments, Bublak, Franco and Monez each said they couldn’t support the project at the current site, while Bixel and Abram conceded that though site is problematic, and the will of the people seems clear, more information is needed.

The council took no official action.