City Council discusses camera equipment, opioid settlements

Published 2:24 pm Monday, March 20, 2023

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The March 13 City Council meeting was full of new business for Greenville. The Council meets every other Monday evening at 5:30 in the City Hall meeting room  in downtown Greenville. This week, the council approved a new security camera system for the Greenville Fitness Center, located at 177 Academy Drive.

Master Technology Solutions will provide 30 drop mounted cameras inside the building which formerly housed the Greenville YMCA. The service provider will also mount two 43-inch television monitors inside the property to view the various security cameras. This expenditure will cost $8,536.20

Electronic Supply Company will also provide 40 more cameras and recorders for this property at a cost of $9,810.78.

Email newsletter signup

Dee H. Blackmon, the City Clerk andTreasurer, also addressed the council to describe the National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA).

“[Resolution 2023-06] allows the city to join the NCPA,” Blackmon said. “It doesn’t cost us anything to join. First, we check with the State of Alabama and they send us a letter agreeing to the joining and we put that letter in our minutes.”

Resolution 2023-10 authorizes the City of Greenville to join the State of Alabama and other local governments as participants in current and future opioid settlements.

The Resolution states that the opioid epidemic continues to impact communities in the United States, the State of Alabama, and the City of Greenville. It confirms that the city of Greenville has suffered harm and will continue to suffer harm as a result of the opioid epidemic and explains that the State of Alabama and other local governments have filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Greenville Mayor Dexter McLendon asked Blackmon to explain current and future opioid settlement agreements.

“We were part of the opioid lawsuit and these are just companies that we will be eligible to get more money from,” Blackmon said. “We’ve already received about $60,000 from the first lawsuit and we’ll be getting money for about 10 years for that.”

While Alabama and cities like Greenville have entered into various settlement agreements, the resolution states that it is likely that Greenville will enter into even more.

The sign-on agreements detail the allocation of Settlement funds. 

“The City of Greenville finds these funds acceptable and in the best interest of the community,” McLendon said.