Recovery services board, health department seeking renewal levies

ZANESVILLE − The Muskingum Area Mental Health and Recovery Services Board is seeking a 1 mill renewal levy for 10 years in Muskingum County, as is the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department.

The mental health and recovery services board provides funding for local mental health and addiction recovery services. The board serves six counties in Southeast Ohio, but levy money from each county funds programs in that county. Levies will be on each county's ballot on a rotating basis.

"We are responsible for providing and developing funding for mental health and addiction services in each community we have jurisdiction over," said Misty Cromwell, the board's executive director. "We plan, develop and create programs and services, and fund contract organizations to do the work, and ensure the services are available in our community."

In Muskingum County, the board funds services provided by Allwell Behavioral Health, which provides mental health services, and Muskingum Behavioral Health, which provides addiction and treatment programs for those struggling with substance abuse, as well as recovery support services.

The organization also funds forensic diagnostic services for those going through the legal system, as well as residential treatment services for both mental health and addiction. It also helps subsidize sober living facilities and apartments for those struggling with mental illness, Cromwell said, including Naomi House in Duncan Falls, which helps women in recovery who have newborn children or who are pregnant.

The board also has a number of prevention programs and provides support to local domestic violence shelters.

Cromwell said no aspect of society has not been touched by the impact of opiates in our community. "I don't believe there is any sector in our community that hasn't felt the impact of either mental illness or substance abuse because of the impact drugs have had. It impacts every member of our community." Drug abuse, overdose deaths and suicides have long-term ripple effects on the community, she said. The board also works with a number of community organizations, including schools, on prevention programs.

"We want to equip as many people as possible to know the signs and symptoms (of drug abuse and mental illness) and how to access help," she said.

"We have been extremely fortunate to have the support from our community as many years as we have," she said. "We are grateful and thankful the community recognizes the importance of these services."

The health department provides a wide array of services, said Muskingum County Health Commissioner Corey Hamilton. While the department was at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic in the county, Hamilton said most of the time the department's work goes unnoticed.

Department inspectors make sure restaurants follow a number of protocols to ensure the food they serve is safe, and plumbing inspectors make sure the area has a safe water supply. Hamilton said the department worked closely with the City of Zanesville's water department during a recent large water line break.

"We do home visits with new moms, first time pregnant mothers, we do it with families who are not hitting their development targets," Hamilton said. "You don't know what you don't know when you are raising a child, we teach developmental milestones and foster development," she said.

The department also has programs for healthy eating, disease prevention and to help residents quit smoking, among others. The department is also responsible for things like birth and death records.

"If public health is working the way it is supposed to work in the community, we tend to be the best kept secret in the community," Hamilton said.

Other Muskingum County levies

∎ Village Of Philo, additional 7.25 mills, roads ands streets, five years

∎ Harrison Township, renewal, 1.6 mills, fire protection, five years

∎ Harrison Township, renewal, 1.2 mills, parks and recreation, five years

∎ Highland Township, renewal, 1 mill, fire protection, five years

∎ Licking Township, additional 3 mills, fire protection, five years

∎ Madison Township, renewal 2 mills, fire protection, five years

∎ Madison Township, renewal 1 mill, fire protection, five years

∎ Muskingum Township, renewal, 3.75 mills, fire protection, five years

∎ Salem Township, renewal 1 mill, fire protection, 5 years

∎ Salt Creek Township, renewal, 1 mill, fire protection, 5 years

∎ Springfield Township, renewal, 1.8 mill, fire district, 5 years

∎ Wayne Township, renewal, 1 mill, roads and bridges, 5 years

Question/options

Falls Township natural gas aggregation

Perry County Precinct, Par Mar Oil Co Sunday Sales Wine And Mixed Beverages Liquor Option

New Concord Precinct, local option, 5-D-1 Sunday Sales Liquor Liquor Option

New Concord Precinct, local option, 5-D-3 Sunday Sales Wine And Mixed Beverages Liquor Option

New Concord Precinct, local options, 5-C-B Wine And Mixed Beverages Liquor Option

New Concord Precinct, local option, 5-C-C Liquor By The Glass Liquor Option

New Concord Precinct, local option, 5-A-2 Beer Liquor Option

Perry County

∎ Village of Shawnee; 4 mill renewal operating levy, five years

∎ Madison Township; 2 mill additional levy, fire and EMS, five years

∎ Reading Township; 1 mill renewal levy; roads and bridges, five years

∎ Pike Township, 2.3 mill replacement levy; ambulance service via New Lexington FD, permanent

∎ Pike Township, .5 mill replacement levy; ambulance service, permanent

∎ Pike Township, .4 mill replacement levy; fire department, permanent

∎ Village of New Lexington, 2 mill replacement levy; fire department, permanent

∎ Village of New Lexington, 1 mill replacement levy; fire department, permanent

∎ Village of New Lexington, 6 mill additional levy; police department, permanent

∎ Village of Corning; 5 mill additional levy; police department, five years

∎ Saltlick Township, 1 mill additional levy; cemeteries, five years

∎ Saltlick Township, .5 mill renewal levy; cemeteries, five years

∎ Village of New Straitsville, 5 mill additional levy; police department, five years∎ Village of Somerset, 1 mill replacement levy; operating levy 5 years

Question/option/school

∎ Village of Somerset, Hole in the Wall Sunday sales

∎ Northern Local School District, Perry, Licking and Fairfield counties; additional 4.75 levy, school operations, permanent.∎ Three Perry County towns to vote on marijuana decriminalization.

Three villages in southern Perry County have the opportunity to decriminalize marijuana possession this November. Hemlock, Shawnee and Corning residents will vote on The Sensible Marihuana Ordinance, which reduces the fines for possession of small amounts of the drugs to $0, according to ballot language. The ordinance, the same for all three precincts, was taken from the home page of The Sensible Movement Coalition, which aims to reduce fines and jail time for marijuana use across the state. It lists a number of sensible cites on its website, including several in Southeast Ohio. The organization touts the use of home rule for local control of laws, including marijuana possession.

Morgan County

∎ Union Township, renewal, 15 mill, fire protection

∎ Windsor Township, renewal, .5 mill, cemetery∎ Village of McConnelsville precincts A, B, C, renewal, 1.5 mill cemetery

∎ Bristol Township, renewal, 1 mill, cemetery

∎ Deerfield Township, renewal, .25 mill, cemetery∎ Deerfield Township, renewal, .4 mill fire protection

Option

Stockport Village/Windsor Township, local option, Par Mar Store 147, liquor sales

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Recovery services board, health department seeking renewal levies