Advisory committee urges quick release of opioid-settlement awards as contract review continues

The advisory committee overseeing Penobscot County’s opioid-settlement grants agreed Thursday to move award contracts forward and issue checks to grantees as soon as the county’s lawyer completes a final review of the contract template.

“We move those contracts forward to get those checks out,” said Speaker 3 during the meeting, arguing the paperwork should not delay funding. Speaker 1 told the group she had asked Mackenzie for a template, handed it to the interim administrator to send to the county lawyer, and that the lawyer had “written to me this morning … and is looking at it today.”

The committee discussed competing goals: honoring a public photo or presentation at a county-commissioner meeting versus delivering money promptly to organizations that have already begun work. Speaker 2 urged releasing payments quickly rather than making grantees wait for a commission meeting appearance.

Members reviewed the committee’s accounting and reporting status. Speaker 1 reported a prior-year MAT (medication-assisted treatment) expenditure of $181,099.98 and said the ledger showed approximately $1,483,527.44 unspent in the fund. Speaker 2 noted the Maine Attorney General’s public figures showed $1,632,546.37 received to date for the county. Speaker 1 also reported total project spending of $201,007.32, including $24,004.86 to a recovery home; a further payment to a county MAT program mentioned in the transcript was unclear and is therefore not specified here.

Committee members flagged interest income and account transparency as priorities. Speaker 2 cited the Maine Recovery Council statute (Exhibit E) requiring that the council use interest earned on settlement funds for allowable purposes, but noted municipalities and counties may not be held to the same exact standard. “It would be nice to know how much is coming in every year, how much is approximate interest,” Speaker 3 said, pressing for clearer reporting of interest flows. Speaker 4 added that whether the funds sit in a separate account or are commingled in broader county accounts will affect traceability.

As next steps the committee authorized staff to finalize contract language and sign via DocuSign once the county lawyer completes review; members also agreed to prepare a brief public statement and invite grantees to a later recognition event rather than delay payments. The committee plans to raise account- and interest-tracking questions with the county commissioners at a Feb. 4 agenda slot and to reconvene on Feb. 10 to report back on the commissioners’ response.

Authorities cited in the meeting included the Maine Recovery Council statute (referenced as Exhibit E) and the Maine Attorney General’s public receipts posted on the AG website; the committee asked staff to confirm account and interest accounting directly with county finance staff and commissioners.