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Owasso council approves participation in new round of opioid‑related settlements, revenue restricted for opioid response
Summary
The Owasso City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city to participate in a new round of opioid‑litigation settlements and to execute participation forms for settlements with Purdue and multiple manufacturers and distributors.
The Owasso City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city to accept and participate in a series of opioid‑litigation settlements and to authorize the mayor or the mayor’s designee to execute required participation forms.
Julie Lombardi, presenting the item, said these settlements are part of the multidistrict opioid litigation and represent another round of proposed agreements that would allow participating municipalities to recover funds tied to opioid response costs. Lombardi said prior rounds of settlements have produced receipts for the city and that the funds must be used for purposes tied to opioid education, prevention or response under the city’s governing resolution.
Lombardi told the council that the city’s settlement account currently holds just under about $751,000 from earlier settlement receipts and that future settlement proceeds will be subject to the same restricting language established in the city’s 2019 resolution guiding use of opioid settlement funds. She said 75% of the funds in the national allocation framework go to cities and 25% to the state, and that council staff and city legal counsel recommend approving participation in the newly proposed settlements.
The resolution listed participation in settlements and agreements with Purdue and multiple generic manufacturers and distributors named in the meeting materials; Lombardi said litigation counsel is authorized to negotiate and enter into a state subdivision agreement with the state attorney general on the city’s behalf for the generic and secondary manufacturer settlements. Council members voted to approve the resolution on the meeting record with no public speakers signed on the item.
Lombardi said staff will return to the council at a later date with proposals for expenditures that comply with the restricting language, and suggested the city may convene a work session and engage local stakeholders who have experience using opioid settlement funds in other jurisdictions to develop spending options.
