Witnesses testified about possible renovations and safety standards at a proposed drug-and-alcohol rehabilitation center as a hearing before the Ephrata Township zoning officials resumed Dec. 15.

Teen Challenge Training Center has applied to transform a commercial building formerly used to house a missionary organization into a 24-bed induction center with an additional 12 beds for potential patients in "crisis." The move is opposed by many neighbors who live near the site, in the heart of a residential area bordering Akron Borough.

The Rev. Joe Batluck, executive director of the corporation's Rehrersburg center, took the stand again on Dec. 15, following nearly three hours of testimony he gave at an initial hearing in November. At that time, Batluck said his company's facilities rarely need police assistance.

But Batluck clarified those statements after an article in this newspaper quoted a police chief in Rehrersburg who said the main center had been the scene of at least two violent incidents, including a rape.

Batluck said he had failed to remember a serious incident several years before he was hired by Teen Challenge and had since interviewed staff at all of the corporation's centers in Pennsylvania, New York and North Carolina about other violent situations. He said in the current "institutional memory," the rape, a more recent stabbing and the theft of a car that led to a police chase are the only serious crimes at his facilities.

He said the former patient convicted of rape was admitted to the Rehrersburg center before Megan's Law made it possible to track sexual offenders online. After the hearing, Batluck said every applicant is "absolutely" checked against those databases now.

But under cross examination by attorney William Kluck, an attorney for resident Ed Pohl, Batluck said that the company still does not pay for state police background checks to determine each applicant's criminal record.

"We do it on an as-needed basis, just like we do with urinalysis," he said, noting the $10 expense that would accompany each check. "We have to have reasonable suspicion."

Another issue Kluck focused on was Teen Challenge's license for its induction center at Rehrersburg. Batluck said the license would transfer to the Ephrata site. That license allows up to 80 men, and Kluck questioned whether the corporation would eventually seek to house more than 26 in Ephrata.

After the hearing, Batluck said his company would plan to stay within the confines of its zoning application.

"That's it," he said. "That's exactly where we stop."

Tentative plans, presented by architect Robert Beers of Beers & Hoffman, show the 36 beds in two separate living quarters divided by a large multipurpose space, classrooms and administrative offices. The outside of the building will not change, and Beers spent much of his testimony describing current entrances and exits and how they might be secured.

"We will review the security for this entire space," said Beers, who added that doors could be rigged with panic alarms. He also said the entire building would be equipped with fire sprinklers if the new use is approved.

The board continued the hearing after Beers' testimony, noting that the testimony of Rev. Jamie Santiago, who would direct the Ephrata facility, would be lengthy.

The hearing will resume at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 265 Akron Road.

The continuation means a decision is unlikely until at least February. The board typically issues rulings a month after a hearing ends.