Vernon County committee empowers director to approve first six-month grant extension after Next Steps for Change request

The Vernon County Opioid Prevention and Steering Committee on Jan. 14 reviewed a request from Next Steps for Change to extend a grant period because referrals were slower than anticipated. Grants Administrator Amy Oliver told members the program had expended almost $10,000.

Dr. Martha Karlstad moved to approve a final six-month extension for Next Steps for Change. Committee discussion then turned to whether staff should have authority to approve limited extensions without returning to the committee. Oliver proposed delegating authority for a single first extension; Dr. Karlstad moved and Dr. Duane Koons seconded a motion to allow the community development director to approve a first six-month extension at their discretion, with any additional extensions to return to the committee.

The committee voted in favor of delegating that administrative authority and recorded the motion as passing unanimously. The minutes show the change is intended to limit multi-year extensions that stretch past the end of a grant period and to expedite administrative processing of modest, one-time extensions.

The committee did not record a separate final vote in the transcript approving a six-month extension for Next Steps for Change; the administrative delegation means the community development director may approve a first six-month extension without the full committee, and further extensions would require committee review.