City approves signing of opioid settlement agreements
Holyoke City Council heard from Phillips County Board of Commissioners chairman Terry Hofmeister regarding the opioid settlement at its Oct. 19 meeting.
He told council members that the county had signed the necessary documents to get the process moving earlier that day, and he asked the council to do the same.
Council members unanimously approved allowing Mayor Orville Tonsing to sign the documents, which included the state of Colorado opioid memorandum of understanding, the Johnson & Johnson subdivision settlement, the distributor subdivision settlement and the Colorado subdivision escrow agreement.
Hofmeister told council members that he has been part of a group working with the attorney general on the opioid settlement for the last year.
Colorado is divided into different regions for the distribution of opioid settlement funds. Phillips County is part of 10-county Region 4, which also includes Sedgwick, Logan, Yuma, Washington, Morgan, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Elbert and Cheyenne counties.
Hofmeister said he had attended a Region 4 startup meeting earlier that day, and he requested the city’s presence at a meeting they are going to try to have in the first week of November.
The map of the regions was changed drastically from the original plans through working with the attorney general, and Hofmeister was happy to say that the northeast Colorado counties remain together as one region.
Noting how pleased he has been with the attorney general throughout the process, he added that the commissioners of the 10 counties all know each other and work very well together.
He said that the 10 counties are in agreement and that the agreement of all the cities and municipalities inside those 10 counties is needed. For Phillips County, that includes Holyoke, Haxtun and Paoli.
Colorado needs 95% of counties and municipalities to sign off across the state or the settlement amount is almost cut in half, he said.
“We’ve got one opportunity to do this right,” he said, pointing out that it is an 18-19-year settlement and the region’s board needs to be sustainable after that, too. “We can’t do anything if we don’t work together. We have to work together.”
Hofmeister then presented an initial plan that is not set in stone but outlines the possible composition of the region’s board.
As far as voting members go, the board will possibly consist of five commissioners from the region — two from the north, two from the south and one at large; four representatives of the municipalities in the region — two from the north and two from the south; and one law officer from the north and one from the south.
Nonvoting members could potentially be two people in the mental health field, two from public health and two from human services.
He pointed out that the funds can only be used for prevention, treatment or harm reduction.
While nothing has been decided yet since the board is not set up, Hofmeister said the money for the 10 counties and their municipalities will go into one fund. He added that the region received a $20,000 grant to potentially hire a consultant to help set things up.
Council hears reports
City Superintendent Mark Brown reported that the golf well, which went down due to mechanical failure on Monday, Sept. 27, is working normally as of noon on Tuesday, Oct. 19.
Brown followed up with council members on the status of connecting the wells of Riley Dubbert and Gayln Einspahr to the city’s water supply, which the council approved at its Aug. 17 meeting.
A permit from the state is necessary to put a water line under Highway 385 and then turn north to run under Highway 23, and Brown reported that the state wants engineered plans for the project.
Council members approved hiring Lou Harmon to do the engineering for the bore under highways 385 and 23, and Dubbert and Einspahr will reimburse the city.
Brown told council members that a preconstruction meeting for the airport relighting project was held Monday, Oct. 18, and the airport will likely be closed for the project beginning Monday, Oct. 25.
He reported on two power outages. The first occurred Wednesday, Oct. 13, in the 300 block of South Phelan Avenue due to a squirrel on the transformer, taking out power to the block. The second occurred Monday, Oct. 18, on County Road 41 when a goose clipped the lines and took out a fuse.
Brown said a pole broke in the 600 block of South Belford Avenue in the severe weather on Tuesday, Oct. 12. City personnel held it in place with a truck until it could be replaced Thursday, Oct. 14.
Later on Oct. 14, a tree fell through a service drop and hit a house in the 200 block of West Jules Street, which had city crews working well into the evening.
Electric crews have finished setting up service in the new building at 136 W. Denver St. and have also been helping the street department with the concrete project in the alley behind the post office.
Holyoke Police Chief Doug Bergstrom reported that HPD handled or generated 60 calls for service from Sept. 30-Oct. 14, including five animal complaints and two municipal code violations under code enforcement. Bergstrom also reported that Officer Wyatt Bishop has resigned.
Recreation director Victoria Dunker reported that she received the final bill for the parks master plan from Ripley Design. The ending total was $18,082.17, and Ripley Design will still be available to assist with Great Outdoors Colorado grant applications.
Once she has met with the Recreation Advisory Committee and stakeholders, she will present the plans to the council.
She also said that a father/daughter dance is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 28, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Phillips County Event Center.
Other business
In other business at the Oct. 19 meeting, council members:
— Approved a special events permit for Phillips County Pheasants Forever No. 371 on Saturday, Nov. 13.
— Held an 11-minute executive session for a conference with the city attorney for the purpose of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions.