By Tim Gardner
The Avery County Government (Board of Commissioners) will be hosting two more public input sessions about the National Opioid Settlement on Tuesday, February 20 in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the State of North Carolina and Local Governments. These sessions will be held to hopefully ensure that Avery residents and business owners and their other representatives have an opportunity to learn more about the settlement and the County’s efforts to address substance use disorder. Those attending can offer their comments about both topics if they so choose.
The first (morning) session will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon in the Commissioners Board Room on the second floor of the County Administration Building, located at 175 Linville Street in Newland. The next (evening) session will be held from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the Avery County Morrison Public Library, located at 150 Library Road in Newland.
The Avery County Board of Commissioners includes: Chairman Tim Phillips, Vice-Chairman Dennis Aldridge, Martha Hicks, Wood Hall (Woodie) Young, Jr., and Robert Burleson.
The County of Avery is set to receive $3,108,715.00 through 2039 as part of the national opioid settlement. In July 2021, a national opioid litigation committee agreed on terms for a nationwide $26 billion settlement to resolve litigation brought against three of the largest opioid drug distributors – McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, and one opioid manufacturer – Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., along with its parent company, Johnson & Johnson (J&J). This initial settlement is commonly being referred to as “Wave One Settlements.”
In December 2022, another national $21 billion settlement was released with CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Allergan, and Teva. These “Wave Two Settlements” will provide $600 million to North Carolina over the next 15 years. In addition to “Wave One” and “Wave Two,” there have also been several other settlements and bankruptcies that will add funding to North Carolina through the state budget and via local government settlement payments. Local governments across the state receiving opioid settlement funds were required to sign onto the agreement which details the mandates by which they must adhere.
On April 24, 2023, Avery County held its first public input session to consider the goals and spending plan of the settlement funds. In accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement between the state and local governments concerning proceeds relating to the Settlement of Opioid Litigation, all municipalities in Avery County were invited to attend the public input session. As a result of that first public input meeting, the consensus by the commissioners was to follow Option A as laid out in the Memorandum of Agreement, with its focus for Avery County being on: 1) Prevention and 2) Rehabilitation.
The commissioners also decided to solicit proposals from qualified external agencies to carry out projects within the County to advance the prevention and rehabilitation efforts. To accomplish those goals, they developed a competitive grant application and selection process to ensure agencies were sufficiently qualified, that proposals would meet eligibility requirements, and that funds would be leveraged for worthwhile projects.
The commissioners next adopted a 2023-2024 resolution at their December 4 meeting to direct the expenditure of Opioid Settlement Funds and also authorized the expenditure of $100,000.00 through June 30, 2024 for two non-profit organizations. High Country Community Health will receive $50,000.00 to conduct evidence-based Addition Treatment and Naloxone Distribution, while Freedom Life Ministries will receive $50,000.00 to conduct Collaborative Strategic Planning and Reentry Programs.
Avery County Manager Phillip Barrier, Jr. said it’s the County’s goal to “certainly not have any drug abuse cases here.” He added: “Our county commissioners, myself, and all our other county officials want to help those suffering from drug abuse defeat it as they recover from the bad decisions they made and then hopefully lead productive and progressive lives.”
Other agencies in Avery County interested in obtaining Opioid Settlement funds can contact the County Manager’s office by calling (828) 733-8201 or visit in-person to obtain an Opioid Grant Application. Individuals or groups may also contact the County Manager’s office for additional details about the public input sessions.
For more information about the National Opioid Settlements and bankruptcies, log onto the Internet’s More Powerful North Carolina (NC) website at: morepowerfulnc.org.
Additionally, those desiring more details concerning the payout schedules for these settlements, to review resources on approved strategy-specific solutions, or to see the updated Local Spending Plans, can access them on the Community Opioid Resources Engine for North Carolina (CORE-NC) website by logging onto: ncopioidsettlement.org.
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