County counsel presents ordinance to designate CCMH as local drug and alcohol planning committee; board to seek CCMH input

County counsel presented a draft ordinance to create a local drug and alcohol planning committee and to designate Columbia County Mental Health (CCMH) as the county’s designated entity for that function, explaining the action is intended to satisfy state statutory requirements.

Counsel said Oregon law (cited in the discussion as ORS 433.42) requires county governing bodies to appoint local planning committees for alcohol and drug prevention and acknowledged that statute allows counties to appoint either a county-created committee or to designate an existing body to serve that function. Counsel recommended designating CCMH as the county’s local drug and alcohol planning committee while allowing CCMH to use its existing substance-use-disorder (SUD) planning group if that group meets the statute’s membership and organizational requirements.

Counsel summarized statutory and administrative requirements: membership must represent geographic areas of the county, include minority representation “to reasonably reflect the proportion of need for minority services,” and include at least 20% consumers — defined in the ordinance as people who have received or are receiving mental-health, addiction, or substance-use-disorder services. Counsel also told the board that the committee must comply with public-meeting laws (cited in discussion as chapter 192) and therefore may need training on public-meeting requirements; counsel noted public-health staff would co-facilitate and assist.

Duties outlined in the draft ordinance mirror statutory language and include coordinating grant activity, setting local priorities, and producing an annual plan. Counsel clarified that the ordinance does not give CCMH authority to spend opioid-settlement funds; those funds are county budget items and public-health staff are preparing recommendations to the board on their use.

Counsel proposed correcting a typographical error in the draft and sending the ordinance to CCMH for input; after CCMH review the ordinance would return to the board for first and second reading. Counsel also included an emergency clause in the draft to allow immediate effect upon adoption if the board chose that route so CCMH could meet statutory deadlines for completing required plans.

No vote on the ordinance occurred at the meeting; the board directed staff to obtain CCMH input and return a finalized ordinance for formal consideration.