Alexander County will receive additional opioid settlement funding to support the county’s efforts to curb the opioid epidemic and resulting overdoses. At the September 8th meeting, the Alexander County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to enter into opioid settlement agreements with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, along with eight generic opioid manufacturers.
According to County Attorney Ben Faulkenberry, a revised Purdue/Sackler settlement is expected to result in approximately $150 million in additional funds for North Carolina over the next 15 years. Also, settlements with eight generic opioid manufacturers (Alvogen, Amneal, Apotex, Hikma, Indivior, Mylan, Sun Pharma, and Zydus) are expected to generate approximately $23 million for the state over the next 10 years.
Faulkenberry said 85 percent of the settlement funds will be distributed to local governments for opioid abatement and remediation activities.
“The funds will be deposited into the county’s existing special revenue fund created for opioid settlement dollars,” said Faulkenberry. “There is no spending deadline, and staff continue to evaluate strategies to ensure the greatest impact in addressing the opioid crisis.”
More than 41,500 North Carolinians lost their lives to a drug overdose from 2000 to 2023. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated the economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in the United States to be $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.
“Certain counties and municipalities in North Carolina joined with thousands of local governments across the country to file lawsuits against opioid companies, manufacturers, pharmaceutical distributors, and chain drug stores to hold those companies accountable for their misconduct,” said Chairman Marty Pennell. “These settlement funds will help Alexander County fight the opioid epidemic by supporting prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts. This is about saving lives and restoring hope in our community.”
In other business:
• Commissioners approved a resolution to support a North Carolina Department of Commerce Building Reuse Grant for Urgent Care of Mountain View’s new location. David Moose, Consolidated Human Services Director, said the state awarded $175,000 to the county to assist with the renovation of a facility located at 50 Macedonia Church Road, which is owned by Catawba Valley Medical Center. The grant requires a 5 percent local match from the county, totaling $8,750.
Chairman Pennell said he recently toured the facility and doesn’t believe a lot of modifications will be necessary, so he hopes the project will move swiftly so residents will once again have walk-in and after-hours medical care.
• Commissioners approved a budget amendment, which resulted in a $21,215 net increase in the general fund. The amendment increases the budget for the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs state grant to match the funds available to spend in fiscal year 2025-2026; increases the sheriff’s office budget for the NC Association of Chiefs of Police Performance and Wellness Grant program which will cover the first year of a personnel management software program; and increases the human resources department budget for speakers on wellness topics, wellness fair, and employee appreciation events with funds received from an insurance rebate.
• Commissioners approved the consent agenda, which includes: tax refunds of $1,537.95 and tax abatements and adjustments of $23,784.82; minutes from the August 4, 2025, regular meeting; board and committee appointments to CVCC Board of Trustees – Larry Yoder, 4 years; Juvenile Crime Prevention Council – Nicky Harmon, 2 years; Animal Control Advisory Board – Dr. Hannah Shaffer, Billie Walker, Mark St. Clair, Mike Deal, Garrett Davis, Maggie Dahlstrom, and Shakira Ballin – 2 years; Jury Commission – Dale Fox, 2 years; Consolidated Human Services Advisory Committee – Vance Carrigan, Dr. Jonathan Goodnight, Lauren Kiziah, and Chris Howes – 2 years; two line item transfers; amendments to the fire prevention and protection ordinance to change payment location from the Clerk to the Board to the Fire Marshal’s Office; proclamation for 2025 Alexander County Preparedness Month; and renewal of annual contract with Alexander County Schools to provide school nursing services.
Consolidated Human Services Board meeting
Following the regular meeting, commissioners convened a meeting of the Consolidated Human Services Board.
• Billie Walker, Health Director, presented the health department’s quarterly update. An engineer has been approved to serve on the health advisory board and the department continues to seek an ophthalmologist for the board. Walker said they are accepting applications for a Behavioral Health Licensed Clinical Social Worker, but are not rehiring for two positions due to federal funding issues. A new School-Based Dental Health Coordinator started on August 18.
Walker then provided an accreditation update. The NCLHDA (North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation) dashboard is changing, which will begin with Alexander County in the fall of 2026. She said the state decreased the number of benchmarks from 147 to 45.
Emily Vick, Communicable Disease Nurse, presented the communicable disease report for calendar year 2024. She said prevention and control of communicable diseases is one of the most important functions of public health. The top sexually transmitted diseases in Alexander County in 2024 were chlamydia (54 cases) and gonorrhea (18 cases), while salmonella was the top food-borne illness (9 cases). The health department continues to provide educational outreach via schools, social media, clinics, and community events. She said individual COVID-19 cases have not been counted since the end of the public health emergency in May 2023, but cases linked to outbreaks in congregate living facilities are still investigated and reported, with four COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities in 2024. There have been 1,431 confirmed measles cases in 42 states, including one case in North Carolina. Vick said the flu vaccine is recommended for everyone ages 6 months and older, and the health department will begin taking appointments on October 1.
Walker said the health department is very active in the community and will have representatives at numerous events throughout the year.
• The DSS update was presented by David Moose, Consolidated Human Services Director; Keri Jerrell, DSS Director; Trena Riddle, Economic Services Program Administrator; and Lakeshia Feaster, Child Welfare/Adult Services Program Manager. Feaster said HB 612, which is known as the Fostering Care in NC Act bill, was signed into law on June 26, and the department is still learning the ramifications of the new law. Jerrell said proponents of the bill believe counties need more supervision in certain areas of foster care, and it is supposed to give foster parents more rights.
Feaster said the department’s employee vacancy rate has been 7 percent for the past month, and qualified child welfare and adult services social workers are being sought. Currently, there are 49 children in DSS custody, eight children in Links, and four children in the 18-21 program, with 10 foster homes in Alexander County. There are five adoptions in process. For adult protective services, there are 11 wards. The Partnership and Technology Hub for North Carolina (PATH NC) went live in Alexander County on August 11, which enhances interagency communications, comprehensive case management, data accessibility, and more.
Riddle provided an adult/children Medicaid update. She said the One Big Beautiful Bill may affect Medicaid cases, but they are still monitoring the situation. Moose said DSS doesn’t have a lot of information yet about the bill, so they must wait to determine the local impact. Riddle said there are 10,000 Medicaid cases in Alexander County.
• Kristy Hunt, Senior Center Director, provided an update. The center’s annual craft fair was held on July 19 with almost 300 people in attendance. Senior activities continue with sewing and crochet classes, card games, book club, computer classes, musicians’ jams, exercise classes, ice cream socials, candle-making class, and more. The center hosted a MedAssist event on May 30 with 684 participants, which is believed to be a MedAssist record in North Carolina. The center continues to offer Diamond Tours trips, with a trip to Vermont scheduled this month. The overnight trip for 2026 will be a nine-day adventure in Ireland. The center also offers popular day trips. Medicare open enrollment is October 15 through December 7. In 2024, the center assisted more than 400 people with savings of over $1.5 million. Open enrollment will kick off on October 10 with a “Hoedown.” Average daily attendance from January through July 2025 is 97.98 people, which is a 17 percent increase compared to 2024.
The next meeting of the Alexander County Board of Commissioners is set for Monday, October 6, at 6:00 p.m. at the CVCC Alexander Center for Education (room #103). Regular meetings are recorded and can be viewed on the county’s Government Channel on Spectrum channel 192 or the county’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/alexandercountync. Meeting agendas, minutes, videos, and more are available on the county’s website at https://alexandercountync.gov/commissioners.