BERRIEN COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

ST. JOSEPH – With a state deadline looming for eligible municipalities to join one of the state’s opioid settlements with national drug companies and chains, Berrien County officials are already talking about how they want to spend the money they will be getting.

The county joined the opioid settlement earlier this year and will be getting at least $4.4 million over 18 years. Other entities eligible to join the settlement include Cass and Van Buren Counties and municipalities such as Benton Township, Niles Township and the city of Niles.

The subject of how to spend the county’s opioid settlement monies came up at a recent Berrien County Board of Commissioners meeting. Commissioners Teri Freehling and Julie Wuerfel are members of the Berrien County Opioid Settlement Taskforce along with other county officials and spoke about the taskforce’s work.

Other task force members are the Berrien County Corporate Counsel, Berrien County Sheriff, Berrien County Prosecutor, Berrien County Medical Director, Berrien County Health Department staff and representatives of community agencies affected by the opioid epidemic.

They reported to fellow commissioners that Berrien County Undersheriff Chuck Heit is proposing spending $180,000 from the settlement funds for the pilot of a drug treatment program for the jail. The Medication Assisted Treatment program has been used in other parts of the state to help inmates with an opioid addiction recover while in jail.

Freehling, Wuerfel and County Administrator Brian Dissette reported that the county’s Opioid Settlement Task Force will be presenting information to the county board in the next month or so on the jail drug treatment program proposal and other programs where the money can be spent. The county board has to approve all the settlement expenditures.

Dissette said the jail program is one of the items being considered for funding. “We will be bringing forward a proposal to provide treatment services running through the jail,” he said. “It will be a jail program. This is something the Sheriff has been very passionate about. It’s something that will bring very positive attention to Berrien County.”

Dissette reported earlier that the public will be able to follow the work of the task force on a webpage being created by the health department. The webpage will in addition provide resources for individuals recovering from opioid addiction and give the public a chance to ask questions and provide feedback.

Information provided by the Berrien County Health Department late last year showed that the number of opioid overdose deaths in the county have been climbing in recent years and that the average age of first-time use of illegal substances is 11 years old. Statewide, Berrien County has had the 12^thhighest overdose rate death per 100,000, they said.

They noted that the funds provided by the opioid settlement will provide the department with more resources for education, prevention and treatment.

As for the state deadline, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel reported last week eligible municipalities have until Sept. 6 to participate in the Walgreens National Opioids Settlement that will bring up to $338 million to the state over 18 years.

“This settlement puts Opioid remediation dollars directly into affected communities all across Michigan to combat the devastating Opioid epidemic, but only if the local governments sign-on to participate,” Nessel said.

“In this way we are able to hold accountable a company responsible for harm to our families and communities, who reaped the benefits of this epidemic by putting profits over people. I encourage every eligible municipality to participate in the settlement so that their residents can receive the much-needed funds for Opioid use prevention and remediation.”

Nessel reached a $338 million settlement with Walgreens earlier this June. She sued Walgreens in the Wayne County Circuit Court for Walgreens’ role in Michigan’s Opioid epidemic, alleging that Walgreens created a public nuisance and violated the Drug Dealer Liability Act.

Michigan’s Walgreens settlement requires that Michigan join the Walgreens National Opioids Settlement. The settlement allows 278 local units of government in Michigan – called subdivisions in the settlement agreement – to participate.

Eligible subdivisions that have not completed participation forms may email the Department for additional instructions before the September 6 deadline to participate and receive direct payments.

Michigan stands to receive up to $338 million over the life of the settlement, which is dependent, in part, on the participation of local governments. Spending priority would be placed on treatment and prevention.

Nessel has prioritized combatting the Opioid epidemic since taking office. To date, AG Nessel has joined seven other nationwide Opioid settlements, resulting in over $1.5 billion to Michigan governments.

County Commissioners are also continuing to work on how to spend another big pot of money. The county is getting nearly $30 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds and has committed to spending at least half of it on infrastructure projects.

The county is working with a Berrien Springs firm, Bacchiocchi Construction, to coordinate the infrastructure work. The company is helping the county oversee the project work and prioritize what should be done.

A board resolution approved in late July caps the dollar amount to be spent on infrastructure projects at $18.2 million with any additional funding requiring the approval of the county board. Of the $18.2 million, $15.8 million will be spent on actual work and another $2.4 million on construction management.

Projects being funded include the replacement of the roofs at the South County Courthouse in Niles and the County Jail in St. Joseph as well as those involving life and safety issues, code violations, deferred maintenance, operational change and improved experience.

Specific projects on the schedule to be done include the installation of a bullet resistant system in the County Administration Building, sidewalk and parking replacement work at the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph and a variety of deferred maintenance work at the courthouse, the health department and the south county building.