Westfield board agrees to join additional opioid-settlement tranches; approves 25-year PILOT for nonprofit hospital

City legal advised the Board of Public Works and Safety that municipalities may opt into additional tranches of opioid settlements beyond the state-level case and that doing so requires both Board and council approval. Julie (city legal, standing in) said the cumulative tranches are approximately $97 million, noting the city's decision at the meeting places Westfield in line to receive a share if and when distributions are allocated; the board voted to participate.

Separately, Janelle Fairman, executive chief of economic and community development, presented a tri-party pilot payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement for a nonprofit hospital tower being constructed in the city’s allocation area. Fairman described a ramp-up payment structure over a 25-year term with an opportunity to negotiate renewal at the end of that period; the board approved Resolution 26-121 to authorize collection of the PILOT payments from the nonprofit hospital portion of the development.

The transcript does not specify the city’s expected share from the opioid settlement tranches nor the exact dollar schedule of PILOT payments; both items were approved to allow staff to proceed with the necessary administrative steps and to place the city in position to receive settlement proceeds or to implement the PILOT structure.