Attorney Pleased With County’s Opioid Funds Planning
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Attorney Jack Garvey is now using Ste. Genevieve County as a model for how government entities should disperse opioid settlement money.
Garvey, who first made the Ste. Genevieve County Commission aware of a pending lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and 46 other entities for their roles in the Opioid addiction crisis in August 2018, told Associate County Clerk Michele Gatzemeyer he was “very impressed” with how the county has set up aboard to disperse the money and the type of programs it has chose He told her the county is “far ahead of everyone.”
The group put together to disburse the money includes Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital, county health department and University of Missouri Extension personnel on it and has been at work well over a year, devising various programs and resources to help those caught up in opioid addiction.
The Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, manufacturers of OxyContin, agreed to pay $6 billion in the settlement. That includes $183,200,000 that will go to localities within Missouri, over an 18-year period.
One of the programs being put on, by Resources to Recovery, is a substance use disorder maternal and childhood health educational conference, Aug. 2 at the Progress Sports Complex.
POOL TO CLOSE FOR DRAIN WORK
The indoor swimming pool in the community center will be closed for about two weeks in late July. The roof drain system is being redone, which will necessitate the indoor pool being closed for safety reasons while the work is taking place.
Meanwhile, cleaning of condensation stains on the community center roof continued.
The commissioners held a conference call with Grayco Roofing Consultants and Bade Roofing on June 26, concerning the issue. The commissioners were assured the problem would be rectified, without the county being out any additional money.
The stains didn’t appear until after work was done on the roof this year.
Notes
- Trapper Joe’s Nuisance Wildlife Control still had not prepared workman’s compensation information to the county. Gatzemeyer said a contract was ready to send to him, for ridding three county buildings of unwanted wildlife.
- First District Commissioner Karen Stuppy reported on the recent Southeast Missouri County Commissioners Association meeting held at the Cape Girardeau airport. She said State Representative Rick Francis reported on the state budget and bills being passed and that representatives of Jason Smith and US Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt were also there.
- On County Emergency Management Director Felix Meyer’s advice, the commissioners declared a public safety advisory, urging the public not to burn items or set off fireworks until further notice Meyer noted that the city of Ste. Genevieve had issued a burn ban and that the July 2 fireworks displays had been canceled, due to the dry conditions.
“We commend them,” Ruzicka said of the decision to call off the fireworks. “That was a tough call.”