The Dobson Board of Commissioners met recently and was presented from Town Manager Laura Neely with an update on the national opioid settlement. Neely presented information about the Memorandum of Agreement that is being considered by county and municipal governments.
A $26 billion settlement was reached between North Carolina, amongst other states, and four companies. The agreement includes Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen – the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors – and Johnson & Johnson, who manufactured and marketed opioids.
This settlement comes because of investigations by state attorneys general into whether the three distributors fulfilled their ethical duty to refuse to ship opioids to pharmacies that submitted suspicious orders and whether Johnson & Johnson deceived patients and doctors about the addictive nature of opioid drugs.
McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen are expected to pay a combined $21 billion, while Johnson & Johnson pays $5 billion.
About $24 billion of that goes to state and local governments to address the opioid according to a fact sheet from the N.C. attorney general’s office and the N.C. Association of County Commissioners (NCACC).
“While no amount of money will ever be enough,” Attorney General Josh Stein said, “this settlement will force these drug companies to pay a historic amount of money to bring much-needed treatment and recovery services to North Carolina communities and to change their business practices so that something like this never happens again.”
North Carolina’s share of the $24 billion could be as much as $850 million, according to the fact sheet. This money would come over a period of 18 years, with larger amounts in the first three years.
The proportional share of the settlement is based on a formula that considers a state’s population, number of overdose deaths, number of residents with substance use disorder and number of opioids prescribed.
“We’re (locally) not really guaranteed to get any money out of the litigation, but it could help if all the municipalities go in together and sign this. Then we could help the state get some more resources to fight the opioid crisis,” Neely told the board.
“There is nothing we could lose by going in together with the county and Mount Airy to sign this.” The board asked and was told Elkin and Pilot Mountain have signed on to the non-binding agreement already
Commissioner Todd Dockery wanted to make sure there would be no costs associated with this action in form of attorney fees that may get passed back to the town or the citizen. Neely was confident, “We would not be responsible for that. This is really just to help the state.”
The memorandum was adopted unanimously by the board.
In other Board of Commissioners news:
-Marlene Lopez gave a report on Dobson’s financial status citing healthy revenue versus expense numbers for the town’s general fund as well as the water/sewer fund for the board to consider. She also advised the board the town has over three million dollars in the bank at this time.
“Property taxes are still coming in really well, and our sales tax is coming in well too,” Town Manager Neely added to the Lopez report. Commissioner J. Wayne Atkins had specific questions on franchise tax collections on when the next franchise tax would be collected. Lopez advised the town had just collected franchise tax and sales tax and she presented the most up to date numbers.
-Misty Marion lightened the mood with a report back on the Dobson Halloween Fiesta, which she reported was a rousing success. “The fiesta was a big hit,” she said while also recounting vendors running out of food.
Surry County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Mark Marion had similar praise for the Fiesta, “I think it was the most people I have ever seen in Dobson,” he said at the Board of Commissioners November 1 meeting. “You could not find a place to park, that’s a good sign.”
Next up for the Town of Dobson will be a hefty lineup of holiday events and Misty Marion laid out the holiday calendar thusly:
Monday, Nov. 29: Lighting of the Dobson Christmas Tree will be held at Dobson Square Park, 110 South Crutchfield Street, with Santa visiting with kids in the amphitheater from 5 – 6:25 p.m. In a special treat the Jolly One himself will also be managing the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree at 6:30 p.m.
Make your list, check it twice and make plans to be there on Monday to see the Christmas tree and Santa, but dress in layers and plan to linger just a little longer. On that same evening Santa will have delivered his first gift of the season: Skating in the Square will open for the season.
Ice skating in the park will be available starting Monday 5 – 8 p.m. during the holiday event. Then it will be open Thursdays and Fridays from 5 – 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 – 6 p.m. It will remain open until February 13 for skaters of all ages and abilities.
Five dollars will get you 45 minutes of ice time and the skates but cannot help if you are a questionable skater. Reservations for rink time can be made through the Town of Dobson website.
Two holiday parades are set for Dobson this year as well. The new community parade will be traveling through neighborhoods in town spreading joy. The parade will leave from the park at 6:45 p.m. on November 29. The parade will feature police cars, fire trucks, and Santa throwing candy during the parade as it weaves among neighborhoods. A route of the parade will be posted on the Dobson website showing the streets it will travel.
This is a new event that started last year because of COVID-19. The participants had such a fun time they wanted to continue with the event. Dobson’s community parade will help those who are housebound, or otherwise unable to attend the traditional parade to get a little Christmas cheer.
The traditional parade is being held December 4 along Main Street in Dobson beginning at 2 p.m. and everyone is invited to attend.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com