Common Council to administer over $1.3 million in opioid relief, replace water mains

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The Syracuse Common Council approved agreements to administer over $1.3 million in opioid relief settlement funds from the Opioid Settlement Program toward services that aid communities impacted by the opioid epidemic.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has collected over $2.6 billion in funds from settlements reached in lawsuits against numerous companies involved in manufacturing, distributing and selling opioids, such as Johnson & Johnson, CVS and Walgreens. All of the settlement funds are intended for “treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts,” according to the Attorney General’s website.

Onondaga County saw 113 unintended opioid-related deaths between January and September 2023, according to data from the Onondaga County Health Department. The program looks to use these funds for treatment and prevention programs that “address the root cause of this crisis and support with dignity our community members living with and/or recovering from substance abuse disorders,” according to a September city of Syracuse press release.

The Neighborhood Preservation (Homeless and Housing Vulnerable) Committee met Monday morning prior to the afternoon Common Council meeting to discuss the agreements.

The city began allowing requests for fund proposals in September after receiving its first initial disbursement of $1.1 million in state funds, according to the city’s press release. The Council reached two-year agreements with the following programs, according to the agenda, in which the city will invest the following funds:

• $784,126 to Helio Health’s Syracuse Crisis & Intervention Prevention Program (SCIPP)
• $100,000 to Center for Justice Innovation’s West Community First Enhancement Treatment Program
• $188,000 to Onondaga County Health Department’s SubstanceUse Initiatives
• $240,000 to Rescue Mission’s Connections to Care/RM Case Management Treatment Program

The statewide Opioid Settlement Program, in addition to funding prevention programs, aims to amend the practices of major drug distribution companies such as Purdue Pharma, McKinsey & Company, McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, according to its website. These practices include detecting suspicious drug orders and prohibiting opioid shipments with evidence that opioids are being diverted outside of legitimate perceptions.

An initial settlement agreement by the three latter companies was announced in February 2022, where AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson would be responsible for paying up to approximately $6.1 billion, $6.0 billion and $7.4 billion, respectively, over an 18-year period.

The companies maintained that they “strongly dispute(d) the allegations made against them,” but attributed settling to “delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States that have been impacted by the opioid epidemic,” according to the press release.

The Common Council also voted to authorize the Water Main Replacement Project on behalf of the city of Syracuse’s Department of Water, which would dedicate $8 million to replacing aging water mains as well as to purchasing pipes and materials throughout the city.

“Water main replacement will improve water service reliability of water distribution and service to customers throughout the system,” Commissioner of Water Joseph Awald wrote in an email to Patricia McBride, Syracuse’s city clerk. “This project will reduce leakage, improve service to customers, and reduce maintenance costs associated with emergency repairs.”

Miranda Fournier | Design Editor

According to Open Data Syracuse, there were 231 confirmed water main breaks in 2022 — the fourth-highest mark since 2004 excluding 2020, when the data was not collected. The city has had an average of 193 water breaks per year since 2004, according to the same data.

A water main break Saturday left some commercial and apartment buildings in Syracuse without water, according to syracuse.com.

Other business

• The Council authorized the Onondaga Greenhouse Improvements Initiative, a project to renovate the greenhouse in Onondaga Park. The cost is $1,000,000 for improvements such as “replacement of the aging roof and truss system to improve structural integrity and energy efficiency,” according to the city’s website.
• The Council accepted $10,000 from the New Jersey Community Capital in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The funds will be used towards the Proud Places Project, an initiative aiming to “strengthen investment in city neighborhoods through citizen engagement, beautification, and community stewardship,” according to Monday’s meeting agenda.