(Cass Co.) The Cass County Board of Supervisors approved the Willow Heights lease this morning.
The county-owned residential building, located in a rural area south of Atlantic, has been closed since 2021. The building was listed for sale at the same time as the county farmland auction, but did not sell. Since the closure, the county has been searching for a tenant.
Supervisor Mark O’Brien said this is a two-year lease with Zion Integrated Behavioral Health Services for a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.
Billie Butler, Director of Zion Integrated Behavioral Health Services in Atlantic, had previously explained that the organization has operated a men’s residential substance use disorder treatment facility for many years in Clarinda at the former mental health facility owned by the Department of Corrections. Typically operating under a three-year lease, Zion was recently asked to move to a one-year lease, which was set to expire at the end of June. As a result, the organization began exploring other options. Butler said Willow Heights offers a more centrally located site that allows Zion to continue providing services and potentially expand in the future.
