Mount Vernon — Skagit County officials on Wednesday presented city council members with a proposed regional approach to spending opioid settlement funds that would concentrate roughly 80% of current money on shared, countywide services and hold 20% for city-level uses. The proposal aims to seed the STAR Center, create short-term detox “bridge” housing and expand recovery housing.

Northstar and Skagit County officials framed the plan as a way to make a larger impact by pooling resources. Monica Negrila, director of strategic initiatives for Northstar, told the council “we are here to seek your direction, for the proposed regional collaboration, utilizing opioid settlement funds.” George Kosovich, manager of community services for Skagit County Public Health, described the three priority areas and said the county and cities were coordinating to avoid duplication: “The first is what we're calling detox bridge housing … a really short term stay, we think about two weeks while you're waiting on that treatment bed.”

The nut graf: The plan would allocate about $2.6 million available as of late June across the county and participating cities, with start-up and two-year commitments for bridge and recovery housing and a one-time allocation to support the STAR Center’s opening and initial operations. The STAR Center — a 48-bed facility operated by Pioneer Human Services that includes crisis stabilization, detox and treatment beds — is scheduled to open in February with a tentative ribbon-cutting in December.

Council members praised the priorities but asked for more detail before approving an allocation. Council member Richard said the list of priorities came from a June joint meeting of mayors and commissioners and task force input, but asked: “What is the grand strategy here? Should we spend a third of our money in the first two years?” Negrila said a draft recovery task force report documenting gaps is nearly complete and will be provided to the council in the coming weeks.

Multiple council members requested a focused work session to review the funding formula, program design and startup details. Council member Andrew said he wanted to “make sure that things that are already in operation are well funded,” while another council member urged safeguards so that startup grants to the STAR Center are metered and tied to operational milestones and billing expectations.

Skagit County staff said the proposed funding split reflects a formula that considered population and indicators such as overdose deaths and criminal-justice data. The county’s column represents about 62% of the funds in the materials shared with cities; Mount Vernon’s allocation was shown at roughly $440,000 as of June 30, with additional settlements expected.

No formal motion was taken Wednesday. Officials asked the council for direction and to schedule additional review. Monica Negrila and George Kosovich invited the council to a September 30 joint meeting to discuss a possible interlocal agreement to formalize the Northstar partnership and to a planned work session to dive deeper into allocations and safeguards.

Ending: Council members expressed broad support for the three focus areas — STAR Center, bridge housing and recovery housing — but asked for a detailed work session, a draft of the recovery gaps report, and operational milestones tied to any funding commitments before returning with a formal recommendation or agreement.