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Urbana holds public hearing on proposed Opioid Settlement Relief Grant Program
Summary
At a Sept. 16 public hearing, Urbana officials described a proposed grant program to distribute opioid settlement funds via the OneOhio mechanism; city staff said about $100,000 has been received so far and that awards would require quarterly reporting and audits.
Council President Paul opened a public hearing Sept. 16 on Ordinance 4628-25, which would establish the "City of Urbana Opioid Settlement Relief Grant Program" and declare an emergency.
Mark Feinstein, the city’s director of law, said the OneOhio memorandum "was set up to provide a mechanism to spend the settlement money," allowing the city to make awards either internally or through outside entities so long as the funds are used to combat opioid use and are kept separate. He described the ordinance as the administrative framework to allow organizations to apply for grants.
Matt Wellbaum, the city’s director of finance, said the City currently has "approximately $100,000," with additional payments expected to trickle in as settlements are received. Wellbaum told Council the current plan is to conduct one round of grant distributions per year.
Council members asked about timeframes and outreach. Feinstein said the settlement terms constrain authorized uses of the money but do not impose a strict deadline for spending; he also said notification to potential applicants would follow the Council process and informal outreach rather than broad paid advertising. Feinstein added that grant awards will include quarterly reporting requirements and that audit procedures through the fund will obligate periodic reporting by city staff.
During the public hearing and at the ordinance’s second reading later in the meeting, no public speakers offered objections and no substantive policy criteria (for example, first-come/first-served versus proportional distribution) were finalized. Mrs. Collier asked how award decisions would be made; Feinstein said no specific selection parameters are yet in place and that the City has not determined whether competing applications would be handled on a first-come or evenly divided basis.
Ordinance 4628-25 received its second reading; Councilmember Mr. Scott moved to put the ordinance on the floor and Mr. Thackery seconded. The ordinance requires three readings to be adopted and will return to Council for further consideration and any vote required by the City’s ordinance process.
The hearing record shows the City intends to track grant recipients with quarterly reports and audits and to run the program through a single annual application round under the parameters discussed.
