"We can build," he said, "and they can still argue about it."

The company will have spent approximately $1 million on the purchase of the building and renovations.

"We're spending a sizeable chunk of money there to do this place over, to make sure it's a very nice place," Ertel said.

Firetree has obtained a sewer permit, and is receiving bids for a sewer project. Workers have removed asbestos and completed much interior renovations.

The company plans to renovate bathrooms, install new plumbing and heating, and is looking into providing solar heat and making the building as environmentally friendly as possible.

Within the next couple of months, it will be hiring and training for up to 30 positions, including nurses, counselors, counselor assistants, maintenance workers and cooks.

The Beaver Springs facility will house a wide spectrum of drug and alcohol abusers from a detox program. The abusers' stays will be from a few days to a week, or up to 90 days. The facility will hold 50 to 55 beds.

Opposition dies down,

but fear remains

Local residents are a little quieter and reserved now than this time last year, but their concerns are just as big as ever when they talk about Firetree.

"There's nothing you can do about it," Beavertown resident Joe Sperka said Thursday. "They'll be here anyway."

Sperka signed a petition last year to keep Firetree from moving in, citing security issues as a concern.

A lot of people were against the project when it was first announced in 2008, Spring Township Supervisor Doug Garrison said. But recently, there hasn't been much talk about the issue.

After all, there's nothing anyone can do.

"We're not zoned here," Garrison said. "If we would have been zoned, we could have stopped it."