Opioid advisory committee: awardees selected but contracts delayed; committee needs appointments and guidance on roughly $1.4M in settlement funds

Representatives of the Penobscot County opioid advisory committee updated commissioners that awardees for the first funding cycle have been chosen but contracts remain unsigned because legal review is not complete.

"We are glad to be able to share with all of the awardees that they have been selected for award," Jamie Beck said, and added that the committee is "still waiting on the contracts to come back from our lawyer" so funds cannot yet be released. Committee members said they were more than a month behind schedule on finalizing contracts and asked county staff for assistance to move the paperwork forward.

Committee members reported several resignations, including a lived-experience representative and the sheriff's delegate, and noted county policy requires a law-enforcement representative on the committee. The committee requested assistance identifying county-level people with law-enforcement backgrounds who could fill those slots.

The committee also asked for guidance on how much of the settlement account to make available for the next RFP cycle. Beck cited roughly $1,400,000 currently in the account and requested direction on how much to issue for the coming funding round so the committee can narrow priorities and measure outcomes.

Committee members proposed greater coordination with other counties and with statewide events; they noted the governor’s opioid conference will be held in Bangor this year and suggested sharing best practices across counties.

What happens next: county staff and the administrator will work with the committee to accelerate contract finalization, recruit required committee appointees (including a law-enforcement representative), and provide guidance on the amount to be made available for the next RFP. The transcript does not identify the exact meeting date or provide final dollar allocations for the next round.