Mineral expecting opioid settlement dollars soon
Dec. 13—KEYSER, W.Va. — Mineral County officials said Tuesday they are expecting to receive about $500,000 in opioid settlement funds by the first of the year.
"A check will be issued by the end of the month," said Luke McKenzie, county administrator, at the regular meeting of the Mineral County Commission.
McKenzie said the West Virginia First Foundation, which was created by the state to handle distribution of the settlement funds, has had a rocky start getting organized.
"On a state level, they are still trying to figure things out but they have been told that the checks need to go out by the end of the month," he said.
It was announced in the spring that West Virginia would be awarded $1.2 billion in a settlement agreement with pharmaceutical companies, with funding being disbursed to counties and municipalities across the state that agreed to participate in the litigation.
Charles "Dutch" Staggs said the installment coming later this month will be the first in an extended round of funding, which could reach $1.2 million for Mineral County.
"The first check will be the biggest and then they will go down from there," said Staggs. "The process could stretch out over 14 or 15 years."
Pharmacy corporations involved in the litigation will pay the settlement in installments. Some of the corporations have filed bankruptcy, further complicating the process, according to officials.
Jerry Whisner, president of the commission, said the funding is supposed to be used for combating addiction, including opioid abuse education.
In recent days, news outlets have reported some jurisdictions may consider using the fund to pay for the high cost of prisoner incarceration commonly referred to as the monthly "jail bill." Mineral County's jail bill has exceeded $40,000 some months.
Whisner said Wednesday that was unlikely for Mineral County.
"We probably won't be using any of the funds for (the jail bill)," he said. "We will use it more to combat the drug epidemic. I believe (the jail bill) is an allowable expenditure, but I don't think we will get the most bang for our buck doing that.
"I would rather reach out and do some educational programs in our schools. Something that would really make an impact. Using (the funding) for the jail bill would help the county finances but it won't fix the problem."
In October, Mineral County officials created a committee to develop ideas for investing the funding.
The commission subsequently approved five people to serve on the committee: Melissa Clark, associate director of AHEC (Allegany Health Education Center) West; Jason Whitlock, director of Youth With a Mission; Eileen Sindledecker, Mineral County emergency management coordinator; Katie Gattens, real estate agent; and Karen Donato, coordinator of the Travis Phillip Moreland Foundation.
The commission voted Tuesday to stagger the terms of the committee members. Clark and Sindledecker's seats will be up for renewal in 2025 with Whitlock and Donato serving until 2026 and Gatten's seat up for renewal in 2027.
Staggs will serve as a non-voting member.
Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.
