MONTICELLO –– Legislators called for an emergency meeting on Thursday, unanimously voting to opt-in to an opioid settlement agreement involving Allergan and its subsidiaries.
By entering into the settlement agreement, the County will receive a one-time payment of $377,784.

County Attorney Michael McGuire explained that 50 percent of that money will be unrestricted, but the other half must be used for opioid programming.

Legislators Joe Perrello and Nadia Rajsz expressed support for 100 percent of the funds going towards combating the opioid crisis and for mental health services.

The resolution passed by legislators states that the County will also be eligible for additional funds, through grants from the State’s share of settlement proceeds.

The County had opted into additional opioid settlement agreements this past September.

CDBG Grant
During Thursday’s Planning, Community Development, Real Property, Capital Planning and Budgeting Committee meeting, legislators approved a resolution authorizing the Division of Planning to apply for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), through CDBG’s Economic Development Program, on behalf of Healthy Kids Extended Day Program, Inc.

Healthy Kids has submitted a proposal for the CDBG Economic Development program funds and has requested assistance to secure funding for development of a childcare facility in Liberty.

If awarded, the Division of Planning would administer the $180,000 grant through the CDBG Economic Development program.

Coroner’s update and a special tribute
At Thursday’s meeting of the Public Safety and Law Enforcement Committee, County Coroner Albee Bockman said last month was the busiest month of the year and the busiest December they’ve had in 10 years.

Over the last two months there have been a total of 51 deaths in the County with 23 autopsies performed.

Bockman reported that five of those deaths could be attributed to the opioid crisis. He said it once again keeps pace with the 10-15 percent of deaths the County sees from the opioid crisis each month.

On an unrelated topic, at the end of that committee meeting, Bockman, who is the founder of Mobilemedic EMS, returned to the podium to pay tribute to well-respected EMT and member of the Mobilemedic EMS family, Erica Vilaca, who died in a motor vehicle accident last month in Neversink. She was only 30 years old.

Wearing her stethoscope around his neck, and later showing legislators and the public a framed photo of her, Bockman, legislators and meeting attendees had a moment of silence in her memory.

“She was an adorable, sweet, kind and talented EMT,” said Bockman. “We miss her in our company and are really devastated by her loss.”

ERs and COVID
During the Public Safety and Law Enforcement Committee meeting, E-911 and EMS Coordinator Alex Rau reminded the public that emergency rooms should not be used for COVID-19 testing.

“Our emergency rooms are very backed up and we have to keep them clear for emergencies,” said Rau. “So just because you or a resident have COVID, [it] is not an automatic sign that you need to go to a hospital. We’re seeing with this Omicron variant, just a lot of cold-like symptoms. Yes, you may have some mild difficulty breathing, but in a lot of cases that could be expected with this virus. So please use our emergency rooms only for emergencies.”