Lee County board backs memorandum to join regional recovery‑facility grant application

Dana Cronkite, Dickinson County director of economic development, presented a proposal to partner on a long‑term substance‑use disorder treatment project in the Red Onion area and asked Lee County to sign a memorandum of understanding to be a subapplicant on a $3.3 million Opioid Abatement Authority grant application.

Cronkite said Dickinson County has secured nearly $8 million to develop a 12‑month treatment program and partners with Addiction Recovery Care (ARC) to operate the services; the plan includes a 112‑bed men's facility with integrated life‑skills and workforce training and a planned women's facility in 2025. She said local allocations to Dickinson from opioid‑abatement funds have totaled roughly $333,000 to date and that the larger competitive pot requires cooperative localities to apply together.

Board members asked about ARC's outcomes and length of stay; Cronkite said ARC reports high success for stays of six months or more and that average stays vary. Cronkite asked the board to approve two documents (a memorandum of understanding and a subsidiary agreement) required by the Opioid Abatement Authority. The board moved to support the MOU and the transcript records the motion and an affirmative vote with no opposition called.

What happens next: Dickinson County will be the fiscal agent if the cooperative application is filed; Lee County's support is a required part of the application package. The transcript did not include details of the draft MOU language or commitments of local funds; those items would be part of follow‑up documents if the board chooses to finalize the MOU.