Penobscot commissioners approve application process to spend roughly $400,000 in opioid settlement funds

Penobscot County commissioners on Sept. 24 approved a grant application and scoring process to distribute approximately $400,000 in opioid settlement funds, authorizing a one-year round of awards aimed at prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction.

The commissioners’ approval followed a presentation by Pat Sybil, who introduced the application and the committee’s plan for community outreach and scoring. "We are approximately looking at about $400,000 and we have 3 tiers that we're looking at in distributing that money," Sybil told the board, describing a straightforward application aligned with the settlement's Exhibit E requirements and scored with help from the Moss Center.

The committee’s proposal requires applicants to show how their projects fit one or more of the settlement’s four pillars — prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction — and asks whether…