Appointed Committees

COMMITTEE ON ADDICTION July 5, 2017 Page 1 Committee Members Present: Mayor Barney, Paul Stroklund, Dennis Lindahl, Patti Eisenzimmer, Shannon Straight, Jason Olson, Robert Barnard, Mark Schaefer, Val Potter, Mark Vollmer, Lisa Clute Members Absent Dr. Jeffrey Sather, Stephan Podrygula, Chris Ray, Laurie Gotvaslee, Lisa Tankersley Mayor Barney called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Community Addiction Issues Overview Chief Olson distributed a draft of information he compiled listing the resources available in Minot and what entities are affected by the opioid epidemic. The document will be further researched and revised in order to provide an adequate road map for those in need. He introduced Steve Hall, of the Department of Corrections who briefly explained the Justice Reinvestment initiative. He said, during the last legislative session, several laws were passed to deal with drug related crimes by moving the focus toward addiction treatment and away from long term incarceration. The committee discussed how to work together with Human Services and the program administrators to create a community to treat mental health and addiction. Through cooperation, services will be set up to deal with housing, employment, treatment, and to help transition back into the community. The Mayor said the committee can work to match those services to provide them for those who are not in the criminal justice system. Mayor Barney appointed Steve Hall to the Committee on Addiction pending approval at the August 7th City Council meeting. Bloomberg Philanthropies 2017 Mayors Challenge Chief Olson explained the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge, which invites Mayors across the country to compete for a grant by developing innovative ideas to solve a problem in their city. Awards range from $100,000 to $5 Million. The Mayor suggested scheduling a meeting for the following week to discuss the viability of applying. Dr. Vollmer said the application process needs to be aggressive, will require a significant amount of data and intensive writing. He offered to help. Mark Schaefer said he has existing materials from writing a previous grant that may be beneficial to the Bloomberg Challenge. Lisa Clute gave an update on the grant that was submitted in July. A decision should be made later in the week to award the grants. She said the application described a lot of issues that would be brought to the committee for discussion. Upon questioning by the Mayor, Paul Stroklund described his visit with Governor Burgum. He said, they COMMITTEE ON ADDICTION July 5, 2017 Page 2 discussed the Recovery Reinvented Event taking place September, 26th at the Bismarck Event Center. There will be experts from around the U.S. for a full day of seminars pertaining to innovative ideas, family services and building a roadmap to lead someone through the process. The Governor welcomed communication. Sub-Committees The Committee discussed the sub-committees suggested by the Mayor and assigned a Chairperson for each one. The Committee members shared their individual interests and are welcome to participate in whichever sub-committee(s) they prefer. Education/Outreach: Paul Stroklund Family Services: Patti Eisenzimmer Treatment: Mark Schaefer Aftercare: Mark Vollmer Health & Safety: Lisa Clute The Mayor explained, each sub-committee should reach out to the community for input and can meet independently to hold public meetings to discuss specific topics. He said the goal is to have a community wide effort to change the way we think about addiction. Other Business Nancy Bommellman, asked Dr. Vollmer if a presentation could be set up to allow parents to speak to high school students about the opioid epidemic. She shared her experiences and explained how healthcare in Minot has not been successful. Dr. Vollmer said to set up a meeting the following week to discuss the idea. He added, school starts soon and it would be beneficial to focus on a roadmap of services that he could share with parents dealing with these issues. Val Potter said, she made a resource guide which she distributes to everyone who comes through drug court. She also mentioned the Ward County Drug Task Force who present annually and invite schools to attend. The Committee discussed a campaign to safely dispose of unused medications and listed several take back locations in Minot. Chief Olson said he would contact the Public Information Officer to work on ways to emphasize the program. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:42 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Kelly Matalka City Clerk