Present, County Represented
Meagan Hillman – Prowers
Troy Bishop, Aaron Shiplet – Baca
Jennifer Scofield – Bent
Rob Oquist, Donna Rohde – Otero
Meagan Hillman. Audrey Johnson – Kiowa
Karl Sporleder – Huérfano
Felix Lopez – Las Animas
Miles Lucero, Steve Bryant – Pueblo
Call to Order
Meagan Hillman called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m.
Approval of Agenda
Felix Lopez and Troy Bishop moved and seconded the approval of the Agenda – Agenda approved.
Approval of Minutes
Rob Oquist and Troy Bishop moved and seconded the approval of the minutes – Minutes approved.
Public Comment
No public comment at this time.
Facilitator Update
Rose gave an update in regards to a press conference and talked about the success of it and the press coverage that it generated. She is recommending moving directly into business, because there is a lot on the agenda and her update was just about the agenda items.
Financial Manager Report
Wendy gave a brief update, that there was couple new deposits for the month of June, bringing the deposit amount to $995,000 for June.
DISCUSSION Item: Criminal Justice Funding for Detention Facilities
Meagan stated that she feels like the detention facilities should apply for the funds, just like everyone else and the same process should be used as we do for every other RFP. Rose educated everyone about the AG’s office stance on supplanting funding and the region will need to be very aware of that clause and how it cannot be done or money will have to be repaid. Donna also agrees that a lot of discussion on application is the best route to make sure that the money is used correctly and that we protect the integrity of the settlement. The consensus was from the board to proceed with the regular RFP process and if counties want to apply for the funding, they will all have to apply through the established RFP process. Rose will resend the RFP draft again and make sure the board has it and ok’s the wording.
VOTING ITEM: Criminal Justice RFP
Vote was delayed until next meeting and everyone can read the RFP with new wording.
DISCUSSION ITEM: Harm Reduction
Rose updated and asked if RFP needs to get changed to include needle exchange. Rose talked on the one year to spend money in the award. Donna would like it spelled out in the RFP. Felix talked on data collection. Meagan read the Harm Reduction wording from the settlement and MOU documents. Lots of discussion on the community needs around this process. Miles would like needle exchange left in the RFP because of the signed MOU’s and staying with the purpose of the funds per the national settlement guidelines. Donna like it also. Karl asked about success rates of syringe exchange. Felix would like the ability to exclude counties on the syringe programs. There was a large amount of debate that was had on striking the language from the RFP. Jennifer commented on the needle exchange program that information provided to the board was old data from 2011 that was collected from very large cities. There was no data for rural small communities. Felix and Jennifer would like to see some data from small rural communities and would find that beneficial to making decisions regarding harm reduction and needle exchange.
Miles Lucero and Meagan Hillman moved and seconded to strike the words excluding needle exchange and include it in the RFP and counties can choose to opt out or those services. A roll call vote was made, the motion passed with a 5 to 3 with one absent vote.
Baca – Yes
Bent – No
Crowley – Absent
Huerfano – No
Kiowa – Yes
Las Animas – No
Otero – Yes
Prowers – Yes
Pueblo – Yes
VOTING ITEM: Health Solutions five-month extension on Treatment funds.
LeAnna Paceco from Health Solutions said that July 7th is the date they have for coordinator job and will need to extend the job until December 7th to enable them to fulfill the program.
Miles Lucero and Rob Oquist motioned to extended the contract by 5 months. Roll call vote was taken and the motion passed with a vote of 8 to 0 with one absent.
Baca – Yes
Bent – Yes
Crowley – Absent
Huerfano – Yes
Kiowa – Yes
Las Animas – Yes
Otero – Yes
Prowers – Yes
Pueblo – Yes
VOTING ITEM: Colorado Health Network extension.
Izzy Pike from Colorado Health Network spoke on the extension from October 24th in regards to overdose prevention work to December 31, 2025 to maximize their work in this field.
Miles Lucero and Troy Bishop motioned to extended the contract to December 31, 2025. Roll call vote was taken and the motion passed with a vote of 8 to 0 with one absent.
Baca – Yes
Bent – Yes
Crowley – Absent
Huerfano – Yes
Kiowa – Yes
Las Animas – Yes
Otero – Yes
Prowers – Yes
Pueblo – Yes
Other Business:
Felix talked about data on the website and wanting the website to start posting the clients served and how they were served. This is being worked on and will hopefully be ready for publishing, the state’s website does have this listed and can easily be duplicated to the SECOR website.
Adjournment
Troy Bishop and Felix Lopez moved for adjournment. Adjournment was at 3:50 p.m.
Next Meeting:
Monday, July 21, 2025 at 3:00 p.m.