Ho. Co. Commissioners Approve Opioid Settlement
Court Decides Against Burn Ban
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – The Houston County Commissioners Court met in a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday morning, Oct. 26 in a session highlighted by discussions on an opioid settlement and burn bans.
Once several routine matters had been taken care of by the court, the commissioners adjourned into executive session to discuss a settlement agreement with Johnson and Johnson as a part of the opioid litigation Houston County is involved with.
After approximately 30 minutes behind closed doors, court was reconvened to consider the matter. With no public discussion, a motion was made to accept an offer of $22,968. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
According to the website www.opioidsettlementtracker.com, “Over 2,600 of these cases by plaintiff cities, counties, and tribal sovereign nations against dozens of big pharma defendants are lassoed together in the opioid multi-district litigation (MDL): MDL 2804, In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation. MDLs are an alternative to, and not a type of, class action, and are used to procedurally streamline cases with similar questions of facts before trial. Though many cases brought by local governments or tribal sovereign nations exist outside of the MDL, the MDL contains the bulk of them.”
Prior to the opioid discussion, the matter of issuing a burn ban in the county was brought forward by County Judge Jim Lovell.
“There is rain in the forecast. Hopefully, we will get it. It’s dry and it’s probably as dry as when we had our last burn ban,” he said.
The judge also asked Emergency Management Coordinator Heath Murff for his take on the matter.
“Our call volume has been moderate to low as far as grass fires. I think right now people are figuring out they need to be careful as far as their outdoor burning, with it being so dry. We have as much danger of a naturally occurring fire as we do from individuals staring a fire. Hopefully, we will get some rain in the next few days, and it will be a little safer. We can come back with an emergency order if we need to,” the EMC said.
A motion was made to not initiate a burn ban at the current time. It was seconded and unanimously approved.
In other matters brought before the court:
- The commissioners approved the minutes from previous meetings.
- Budget amendments were approved by the court.
- The payment of bills and expenses incurred by the county were approved.
- The Houston County Treasurer’s and Compensatory Reports were received as information by the commissioners.
- Salaries for new and/or transfer employees were approved.
- A job description for a facilities administrator and the position on the pay scale was approved.
- Hotel Occupancy Tax funding was approved for the Piney Woods Fine Arts production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol event scheduled for Dec.6; the Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce’s tree decorating contest held between Nov. 20 and Dec. 25; the CoC’s Christmas in Crockett event held on Nov. 20; and the CoC’s Annual Shop Local/Shop Late event to be held on Dec. 9 and Dec. 16.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
