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Date: 11/7/2023
BELCHERTOWN — At its Oct. 23 meeting, the Select Board discussed creating a new committee that will oversee the opioid settlement funds the town is expected to receive from the state.
The Select Board approved making an opioid settlement advisory committee that consists of six officials, one town resident and Town Administrator Steve Williams as a non-voting, ex-officio member.
The six officials will come from a representative of the Health, School and Police Department or Drug Addiction Response Team along with a member of the Quaboag Hills Substance Use Alliance, Belchertown Overcoming Adversity Together and accounting staff.
The Select Board and committee will advertise for a resident looking to join the committee.
Williams added, “I feel very strongly that this is the group of must haves.”
At May Town Meeting, Article 15 was approved by residents to help Belchertown create a special purpose Opioid Settlement Stabilization fund.
Former Select Board member Jim Barry added that the article will create a legal framework to collect the money Belchertown expects to receive from the national opioid settlement.
Like other municipalities, Belchertown expects to receive annual funds as part of a settlement agreement.
The Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General and many other Attorneys General have settled lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers for their role in contributing to the epidemic caused by the opioid crisis in the state.
“The opioid fund has a specific goal of being used to supplement and strengthen resources supporting prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. Within those four groups, there is a whole list of different things about the program and various decisions that have to be made.”
Gov. Maura Healey said the first two settlement payments would reach Massachusetts in spring and summer 2022 followed by yearly installments from 2023 to 2038.
Each municipality are set to receive different amounts of funding, according to projections by Healey’s office.
Williams said, “The national opioid litigation is against all manufacturers of prescription opioids and based on the settlements we have been notified to date, I would expect that we are going to receive payments for 15-20 years if not longer so there is considerable amount of time and potentially that are going to be available. That is why we need to have a committee that is capable and in it for the long haul.”
Healey, who was the state’s attorney general at the time, announced last year that she would direct 40% of Massachusetts’ share of the settlement to be split among the 351 cities and towns.
The remaining 60% will be spent at the state level, on anti-addiction and anti-overdose programs.