VIENNA — Representatives from the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) visited the April 1 Maries County Commission meeting to discuss forming a committee to oversee the county’s funds from opioid settlements.

Last year, the county began receiving funds from lawsuits settled between Missouri and several opioid manufacturers. The payment requires the county to allocate at least 85 percent of the money to projects or causes related to the opioid crisis. The other 15 percent of the money may go to any other use.

Maries County has already spent some of the money from the opioid settlements. During the April 1 meeting, Treasurer Angie Stricklan said the county had put about $15,000 into the fund created for the 85 percent of the settlement that must go toward opioid-related causes. She estimated that the county would receive about $8,000 per year from the settlement. Some of the settlement money disburses for 18 years, which would last until 2040. Subsections of the settlement will end sooner. The county has until the conclusion of the 18th year to spend the money.

The county has spent about $9,000 of the settlement money. Last year, the county purchased educational materials about drugs and a tent to set up at events and share the materials with the public.

In January, Chief Deputy Scott John attended a county commission meeting to share information about an agreement the sheriff’s office had entered with Four Rivers Community Health Center in Rolla. The sheriff’s office used some of the settlement money to pay for the contract.

Through the agreement with Four Rivers, the sheriff’s office receives medications to give to inmates experiencing withdrawals from drug use. The sheriff’s office also schedules appointments for the inmates to visit Four Rivers’ doctors and potentially receive medically assisted treatment plans.

During the April 1 meeting, MRPC Executive Director Bonnie Prigge said that several of the eight counties that her organization serves had asked for guidance in handling the settlement money. MRPC can provide the service through a federal grant for opioid awareness and planning. Through the grant, the organization can help counties develop a committee and proposal process for spending the settlement funds, but handling the awarding of proposals, distribution of funds and tracking the money would come at the cost of MRPC’s contracted hourly rate.

MRPC’s recommendation was for counties to develop a process for selecting the highest priority projects to receive the settlement money. Then, the counties could take applications for funding recipients. A committee could then make recommendations for funding allocation to the county commission.

The committee would consist of community members who are stakeholders in the opioid crisis. MRPC Planning Manager Anne Freand outlined some of the people the commission may want to consider for a committee, such as doctors, lawyers, judges, health department employees, substance abuse recovery and support professionals, behavioral health professionals, people in recovery and law enforcement officers. After assembling the committee, the county commission would meet with those members and MRPC to identify gaps in opioid-related services in the county. Then, the county commission and committee could prioritize the county’s biggest needs.

MRPC provided templates for committee bylaws, instructions for applying for funds and a matrix for scoring applications. The bylaws would outline conflicts of interest and other regulations for how the group handles the designation of funds.

The formation of a committee is at the county commission’s discretion. It can choose to remain the only entity making decisions about the settlement funds. Prigge said if the county commission does not want to form a committee, it would still be beneficial to check with other programs in the area to ensure that the county’s allocation of funds is not duplicating a service that already exists within the county. Freand said the county could hold a planning meeting for the settlement regardless of if it formed a committee.

Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said he thought the county would be better off without a committee. He also recommended that the county work with MRPC to track the settlement funds.

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel said he thought there would be less confusion in taking that approach. Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman said he liked the idea of MRPC helping the county track the money.

Prigge also said she was working on clarifying some questions about the regulations on the funds, such as if sub-recipients would need to accept bid projects that meet the minimum threshold that the county would have to take bids for a project.

If the county elects to contract MRPC to track the money for the grant, the organization would submit annual reports to the Missouri Department of Mental Health on the county’s behalf. MRPC will also track the funds received, funds spent, grantees, award dates, description of programs and categories of allowable use.

Parking Lot

Former county commissioner Ronnie Thompson came to the April 4 meeting to ask a question to Fagre.

“When did we start grading private property?” Thompson asked. He said the county had been grading the parking lot at MFA Farmers Elevator Co.

“When they started letting us park there,” Fagre said.

“That’s not an excuse,” Thompson said.

“It is,” Fagre said. “Would you rather grade their driveway a couple times per year or drive that grader back and forth every day? Now, what makes more sense?”

Thompson said the taxpayers are paying for having the MFA lot graded. Fagre said it was saving the taxpayers money.

After Thompson left, Fagre explained the reasoning behind the decision to grade the parking lot.

“It’s 12 miles to the county shed,” he said. “If you’re grading here in town, you have to drive it 12 miles each way; 24 miles. I can park (the grader at MFA). They let us park there for nothing. We grade their driveway if it comes a big rain, two or three times per year. Now, which makes more sense? This is a business out here; everyone sees it. You aren’t hiding anything from anybody.”

New Graders

Fagre said Road One had ordered three graders for about $340,000 each. He plans to sell the old graders on the equipment auction website Purple Wave.

Land

Also at the April 4 meeting, the commission spoke on the phone with an employee of Gascosage Electric Cooperative about a small section of land at the intersection of Route DD and Maries Road 608. The man believed the county owned the land and wanted to know if it would be available for the company to obtain the land to put up a small building.

Fagre said he was unsure if the land belonged to the county or the state. He transferred the call to the assessor’s office so the company could learn more about the land.

Motor Vehicle Revenue

Stricklan shared March’s motor vehicle revenue. Road One and Road Two split revenue from each 55-45, respectively.

Motor fuel tax totaled $37,119.36, which was a 1 percent decrease from the previous March.

Motor vehicle taxes totaled $7,695.01, which was an 18 percent decrease from the previous March.

Motor vehicle fees totaled $3,615.85, which was a 7 percent increase from the previous March.