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MARIETTA -- The Washington County commissioners will proceed with entering into a multi-district litigation against manufacturers and suppliers of opioid pharmaceuticals after the county prosecutor agreed to a contract with local attorney Ethan Vessels Thursday.
At Thursday's weekly meeting, the board of commissioners signed a contract to retain Fields, Dehmlow and Vessels with additional language added by Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings:
"Under no circumstances shall Client (the county) be required to pay costs out of pocket. Client shall not pay costs in the event there is no settlement or judgment in this case, and Client shall not be responsible for payment of unpaid costs if the settlement or judgment is not large enough to cover both payment of the 25 percent attorney fee and costs incurred. Any unpaid costs which are not covered by the settlement or judgment amount will be paid by the attorney(s)," the statement read.
Commissioner David White reiterated that the county is not claiming the drug companies are guilty of any wrongdoing.
"But if they are found by the court to have done wrong and are found guilty, then we are signed on as a party to the compensation," he said.
Also at Thursday's meeting, Judy Mercer with the Highland Ridge Water Association said the organization is planning to build an additional 150,000-gallon water tank by applying for a critical infrastructure grant through the Community Development Block Grant program.
"We have two 150,000 gallon tanks right now but if we have a break, we're not going to have storage to serve our areas," she said.
The cost is estimated to be $931,800 and the location will be next to the office building at 1330 Highland Ridge Road in Lowell. The Highland Ridge Water Association serves 1,400 customers in Adams, Fearing, Lawrence, Liberty, Muskingum and Salem townships.
Mercer said the association is planning to apply for $500,000 and will seek the rest through an EPA loan.
The commissioners made a determination, after talking with Craig Barker, wastewater superintendent for the county's sewer department, that all new tie-ins to the sewer system will be required to have a backflow prevention device installed and current customers will receive a recommendation to have one installed. The decision came about due to an issue in Devola where the county incurred approximately $8,000 in costs for cleanup of three homes because of a backflow problem.
"It really isn't our responsibility but the homeowners are surprised by it because nobody expects to have a sewer back up so we have paid for cleanup. But it could have been prevented by people having a backflow preventor in place," White said.
Commissioner Ron Feathers said the county couldn't require current customers to put in the device, which is estimated to cost $500 for parts and labor, but they will attempt to encourage homeowners through letters in their monthly bill.
Barker added that he would like to include information on what should not be put down drains.