York County ready to give $2.5 million in opioid settlement funding to local groups

York County is set to approve the use of proceeds from the nationwide settlement of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

If approved, 11 grant recipients will receive more than $2.5 million from the opioid settlement fund, effective Friday. Approval is on the agenda for Wednesday's commissioners' meeting.

The county will receive roughly $21 million in funds from the settlement over the next 18 years. Funding applications are now closed until 2024, according to the county's opioid settlement website.

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The organizations and the amounts they are set to receive are:

The recommendations for which groups will be getting funding were made by the county's Opioid Advisory Board. Members of that board include County Coroner Pam Gay, York and Adams County Drug and Alcohol Commission Director Audrey Gladfelter, Spring Grove Ambulance EMS Chief Jackie Heffner and Dr. Matt Howie, York County's health strategist.

York County first sued 25 drug manufacturers and distributors in 2017 for misleading the public and downplaying the risks of using opioids such as oxycontin, fentanyl and Percocet, becoming the fourth county in the state to do so at the time.

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Broadband contract to be approved: York County is also set to approve a contract with Comcast Business for its broadband initiative.

If approved, the county will pay Comcast Business $16,830 per month for 61 months, or a little over five years. That equates to a total contract of just over $1 million.

Earlier this year, York County approved several planned work items for York-based technology firm Business International Group for broadband initiatives.

"The urban wireless is designed to provide broadband for the more urban areas of York City, West York, North York and Hanover," BIG president John Dolmetsch told The York Dispatch in July. "They are now moving forward into what we call the build phase of the project."

The first phase, which was to begin July 31, is a "proof of concept," Dolmetsch said, and will see Wi-Fi devices placed on street light poles that will feed into routers near the York County Judicial Center, the York City YMCA and the Terrace Avenue water tank area in Hanover. That phase is expected to take four to eight months and cost around $900,000.

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Phase 2, expected to cost around $3 million, will run about 12-18 months and will see 11 emitters placed in the York City area and three emitters placed in Hanover for about $3 million.

CASA: Not on the agenda? Anything to do with the settlement with Latino civil rights organization CASA over its lawsuit alleging the county did not do enough for Spanish-speaking voters.. Acting solicitor Deirdre Sullivan said last week the Board of Commissioners would need to approve the settlement due to financial considerations.

Chief Clerk Greg Monskie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Board of Commissioners meets at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the second floor meeting room at the York County Administrative Center, 28 E. Market St., York. The meeting is available for streaming on the county's YouTube page.

— Reach Matt Enright via email at [email protected] or via Twitter at @Matthew_Enright.