January 22, 2025 Minutes

Weld Regional Opioid Council Meeting

Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment, Room 103
1555 North 17th Avenue, Greeley CO 80631
January 22, 2025 @ 9:00 am to 11:00 am

Council Members in Attendance:  Aaron Lopez (delegate for Kim Mihm)- Town of Windsor; Chris Cross (delegate for Zo Hubbard)-City of Fort Lupton; Bob McDonald- WCDPHE; Mike Knee (delegate for Matt Elbe)-WCSO; Michael Zeller- Greeley PD; Amy Anderson- Ault PD; David Angelo- Firestone PD

Advisory and Non-Council Members in Attendance:  Kelley McCandless-WCDPHE; Cathy Hoover- WCDPHE; MJ Jorgensen- North Colorado Health Alliance; Dana Johnson- North Range Behavioral Health; Dayna DeHerrera-Smith- PorchLight Health; Anessa Minner-Lee- Antelope Recovery; Shawn Parker- New Season; Danielle Willis- Colorado Health Network; Victoria Garcia- North Colorado Health Alliance

Minutes

1. Introductions and Opening Remarks: Bob McDonald
2. Review and Approve Minutes and Agenda from October
   • Motion: Chief Angelo, second Commander Lopez, unanimously approved.
3. Fiscal Agent Update: Bill Fritz
   • Invoicing currently taking place
   • State expenditure report due 2/7/2025
   • Bob McDonald: suggested that support staff begin monitoring whether organizations are consistently asking for more funding than they’re able to use.
4. Coordinator Updates: Kelley McCandless
   • State has officially allocated ~$1.6 million in settlement funds for Weld County in 2025, which will be used to fund the projects approved for 2025.
   • Weld County Drug Task Force funding pending Colorado Opioid Abatement Council (COAC) approval, expecting to hear back in early Feb.
   • Discussed Exhibit A (used historically) vs Exhibit E relating to approval of law enforcement projects- why projects that have been considered allowable in the past are no longer guaranteed to be approved.
   • Deputy Chief Zeller: asked a question/discussed the relationship between local council authority and state authority, reiterated need for local authority over decision making to reflect differences in regions.
   • Contracts and invoices: majority of 2024 and 2025 organizations have submitted appropriate documentation and invoices/contracts, respectively.
5. Discussion of RFP Survey Results: Kelley McCandless
   • Shared summaries of RFP survey that went to council members and grantees. See meeting slideshow for details.
   • Stated that feedback will be incorporated into future RFP processes.
   • Chief Angelo: suggested the inclusion of more specific timelines for spending and the stipulation that individual exceptions for rollover funds will need to come before council next year.
6. Discussion and Vote: WROC Logo
   • See slideshow for proposed logos.
   • Commander Lopez: stated the logos would look more cohesive if colors were reversed so that the ‘C’ in ‘WROC’ is red to match the Colorado flag. 
   • Amy Anderson: proposed combining elements of two suggested logos. 
   • Bob McDonald: suggested darkening the yellow in the logo to be a deeper gold- would show up better against white and look more like the Colorado flag. 
   • General preference for logo with mountains.
   • Motion to approve mountain logo with changes discussed: Bob McDonald, seconded by Chief Angelo, unanimously approved.
7. Discussion and Vote: Rollover of 2024 Funds
   • Bob McDonald: stated that council needs to approve the use of the funds, with two main paths forward
     • Option A: Allow organizations to use their leftover 2024 funds for a limited time in 2025, within the originally approved purposes of their SOW.
     • Option B: Unspent funds will be returned to the WROC general fund for future reallocation.
   • Bill Fritz: stated that both are doable from the fiscal angle.
   • Chief Angelo: asked how many organizations would need this.
   • Cathy Hoover and Bill Fritz: shared that it would be about five, totaling about $200,000.
   • Amy Anderson: asked if it’s fair to organizations that did spend their money in a timely fashion to give others more time.
   • Dana Johnson: stated that issues with spending funds are largely due to staffing/workforce problems, said that she isn’t certain her organization will be able to find nursing staff even with an extension.
   • MJ Jorgensen: said that personnel/hiring is a slow process, but that the current iteration of the RFP has helped.
   • Bob McDonald: shared that refusing rollover funding could increase issues with staffing because of uncertainty.
   • Deputy Chief Zeller: said he is open to rolling over funding but that he would like to see it used in <1 year with a concrete plan for spending it submitted by organizations.
   • Chief Angelo: suggested that, in the future, organizations be required to come before council and explain why they didn’t spend and what their plan is- case by case approval, recognized that this isn’t feasible for 2024 grant cycle.
   • Motion to approve Option A by Amy Anderson, with stipulation that any funds left unspent by April 30th, 2025 will be returned to the WROC. Seconded by Deputy Chief Zeller, unanimously approved with Bob McDonald abstaining due to WCDPHE’s position relative to the issue.
8. Discussion of Meeting Frequency: Cathy Hoover
   • Proposed that WROC members begin to consider whether six bimonthly meetings annually would be helpful for working through agenda, make council more robust.
   • Showed sample agendas of what is feasible for current quarterly schedule versus bimonthly meetings. Sample agendas available in slideshow.
   • Council opted to consider this in the future (delegates present hesitated to commit absent appointees to new schedule) and were open to a virtual vote if bylaw changes allowed it.
9. Discussion and Vote: Updating Bylaws
   • Bob McDonald: proposed two changes moving forward: the first is to appoint a cochair to ensure the continuity of meetings in the event of schedule conflicts, and the other was to allow for virtual voting.
   • Bob McDonald: shared that current meeting had been rescheduled due to unforeseen circumstances- bylaws do allow for a cochair but appointing one would help avoid conflicts. Also expressed that it can be challenging to find a delegate for last-minute absence (and some jurisdictions may not have anyone to send as a delegate) and virtual voting would allow for flexibility in case of an absence.
   • Council determined that prospective cochair would not be selected at that meeting due to absences and delegates.
   • Motion to approve two changes: Bob McDonald. Seconded by Chief Angelo, unanimously approved. Bob McDonald will work with County Attorneys on necessary revisions and will circulate a revised copy of bylaws to members.
10. Motion to Adjourn
    • Motion to adjourn meeting by Deputy Chief Zeller, seconded by Commander Lopez and Chris Cross, Unanimously approved, meeting adjourned.
    • Recording available by request: kmccandless@weld.gov

Next Meeting: April 15th, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. at 1555 N 17th Avenue, Greeley, CO, Room 103 or via Microsoft Teams