Smyth County backs regional Project Pathfinder opioid‑abatement grant, authorizes county as fiscal agent

Smyth County supervisors voted unanimously to support Project Pathfinder and allow the county administrator to sign grant documents and serve as fiscal agent if the proposed regional application to the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) is awarded. County Administrator Shawn Utt read the resolution and outlined the county’s commitment to partner with neighboring jurisdictions and nonprofits on a Region 3 cooperative application. He said the county would set aside $10,000 of its direct distribution OAA funds for fiscal year 2025 to support the regional effort. "Smyth County joins other Southwest Virginia counties who have committed to work together to develop and jointly submit an application for regional cooperative partnership funding from the OAA for Project Pathfinder," the resolution states. The proposal asks the OAA to fund a regional program run by Southwest Virginia Legal Aid to support mitigation, treatment and prevention efforts across partner counties. The cooperative application is designed to leverage local direct distribution funds and allow the partnership to meet the OAA's "Gold Standard" requirements for an increased funding multiplier where applicable. The Board also approved a related resolution authorizing acceptance of a direct regional award and giving the county administrator authority to sign all documents if an award is made. Director of Southwest Virginia Legal Aid Joey Carrico thanked the Board for the support and noted that the OAA had encouraged regional partnership applications that cross county lines to coordinate services. The vote followed staff briefings and Planning/Budget Committee consideration earlier in the year. Supervisors emphasized that the county’s role as fiscal agent would be administrative — to receive and disburse funds under a formal agreement — and that program governance and service delivery would remain the responsibility of the nonprofit partners and participating localities. The Board recorded unanimous support for the two cooperative partnership resolutions and for a later, county‑specific direct distribution allocation used to seed the regional application.