Present, County represented
Blaine Arbuthnot, Crowley
Wendy Buxton-Andrade, Prowers
Felix Lopez, Las Animas
John Galusha, Huerfano
Meagan Hillman, Kiowa
Shawn Mobley/Rob Oquist, Otero
Eppie Griego/Steve Bryant, Pueblo
Rose Pugliese, Facilitator
Guests
Michelle Wiseman, Pueblo County Attorney’s Office
Rob Miller, SafeSide Recovery
Marisa Stoller, City of Pueblo
Michelle Francis, Charities of Southern Colorado
Jack Patterson, CO AG’s Office
Call to Order
Wendy Buxton-Andrade calls the meeting to order at 3:00 pm.
Discussion on Agenda Items –Rose explained that she put Health Solutions on the agenda for an action item, but had not heard back from them before the meeting today. They have submitted a request to make a change in their grant scope of work.
Approval of Agenda
Felix Lopez motioned and Eppie Griego seconded the approval of the agenda – Agenda approved.
Approval of Minutes
Rick Butler and Steve Bryant moved and seconded the approval of the minutes – Minutes approved.
Facilitator Update
Rose wrapped together agenda items 5 and 6. Wendy and Rose have been working with Pueblo County’s accounting office along with Sarah Long and Michelle Wiseman from Pueblo County’s attorney’s office to certify first year funding expenditures. They thanked Sarah for her work. We do not have the numbers quite yet, but we will get the final numbers out to the Board as soon as we get them put together. Sarah gave a brief overview on where Pueblo is on the numbers, but because of illness, there is a slight delay in getting the final numbers together and answering all the questions we had during the review. Sarah also updated on the contracts and the RFP’s that Year One funded. All of the regular RFP contracts are back with the exception of Crossroads Turning Point on their Harm Reduction contract; just waiting on the signature back from Crossroads and Pueblo is following up with them. Southern Colorado Harm Reduction contract is currently in for signature with Pueblo County Manager and should be in force soon. SafeSide Recovery contract is already in force. All of the Mini-Grants are in force, with the exception of Huerfano and it is in with the Pueblo County Manager, waiting for signature. Pueblo County’s Mini-Grant is in with Pueblo County’s Health Department manager and is waiting for their signature. Both of those should be in force very soon. The remaining funds will be then transferred over to Crowley County with the exception of the $6,000 to pay for Rose for November and December. It was determined that Pueblo will pay the $6,000 out of the Year One funding while Crowley County waits for the Year Two funding to arrive. Pueblo will be double checking on all the funding sources have been captured and all the accounting is completely correct before the final check is cut to Crowley County. Sarah said she would be happy to come to the January meeting, if we need her there, to answer any questions the Board may have on the final numbers. Rose asked Sarah about extension of times on some of the Mini-Grants since they all have just been put into effect. Sarah said that Pueblo will work with anyone needing extension. Counties can reach out to Rose or Wendy if their County is in need of an extension so it can be brought before the Board. Sarah said that all of the agreements were done with a timeline that corresponds to the time of the execution of the contracts. Felix Lopez asked for an outline of the agreement for the Mini-Grants. Sarah was checking to make sure that the contracts were written just like the minutes. Felix also asked about reconciliation of paperwork, would it go back to Pueblo or go to Crowley? Sarah explained that all the reporting will need to go back to Rose and she will be reporting it all back to the State. Modifications will have to go back to Pueblo County for an amendment of the contract, after the Board approves the modifications.
Rose did a brief update on the Year Two RFP for Prevention and Education. The RFP went out on November 15th and the responses are due by the 15th of December. There were many inquiries into the RFP and outreach by the Board is definitely helping to add people to the RFP list. The interest is coming from all the Counties in the region. The Board is definitely spreading the word. After the holidays, the RFP Committee will get together and evaluate and share their recommendations to the entire Board. The current RFP is only for the second-year funding amounts; it does not include any carry-over from First Year funding. The Prevention and Education second-year funding is $1,586,272.16. Rose updated on the revised Year 2 budget, based on the new facilitator fee and adding the savings back into the formula for the RFP’s.
VOTING ITEM: AMENDED 2023-2023 BUDGET FOR 2ND YEAR FUNDING.
With the new numbers and contracts in place for the second year funding:
SECOR, Region 19
2023-2024 Amended Budget
Year 2 Funding Total Amount:
$4,663,206.18
Year 2 Budget
2 Year-Plan Allocations:
Crowley County Administration Costs=$25,000.00
Facilitation and Legal Costs=$84,000.00
Website Maintenance Costs=$12,000.00
Conferences and Travel=$10,000.00
Prevention and Education (35%)=$1,586,272.16
Treatment (30%)=$1,359,661.85
Recovery (17.5%)=$793,136.09
Harm Reduction (7.5%)=$339,915.46
Criminal Justice (10%)=$453,220.62
Total=$4,663,206.18
Rose noted the change in the percentages that the Board agreed to for Year 2 funding.
The motion to approve the amended Second-Year funding budget was made by Rob Oquist and seconded was by Felix Lopez – Motion approved.
Wendy stated that she will begin working on the business card design for the QR code to give to law enforcement and providers. This will drive traffic to the website and help people find the resources in the region for help and information. The website has been lives for about a month now.
VOTING ITEM: COLORADO HEALTH NETWORK BUDGET MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION.
Matt Fischer, Colorado Health Network, joined the discussion to explain the budget modification and extension request of their contract. He explained that they are needing a two-month extension of the contract to April or May so they have the opportunity to use the full grant. This is due to a slow start on getting someone hired for the program. This extra time will be used to execute the deliverables of the grant. Rose asked them to explain the budget modification of the grant. They have added a 560-hour Peer Specialist to the staff and reduced the travel and conference expenses to accommodate the change in personnel to accomplish the scope of work they set out in the RFP. Felix Lopez asked a clarification question about the yellow highlight (in budget spread sheet). Matt explained that it is a reduction and the green highlight is an increase in the line item and the two-month extension is for no additional funding; just a time extension and the shifting of line items in their budget.
A motion was made by John Galusha and a seconded by Meagan Hillman to approve the modification of the budget and the extension of the contract – Motion approved.
VOTING ITEM: HEALTH SOLUTIONS SCOPE OF WORK CHANGE
Health Solutions was not able to make the meeting. Rose will continue to follow-up on this item.
A motion to table the item was made by Felix Lopez and seconded by Eppie Griego – Motion approved.
Other business
The next meeting will have updated budget information for Year One, RFP recommendations from the RFP Committee and four lived experience speakers. If anyone has additions they would like to the agenda for the January meeting, they just need to get them to Rose and Wendy, so they can be added to the agenda.
The next board meeting will be 01/08/2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Adjournment
Rob Oquist moved to adjourn, Blaine Arbuthnot seconds adjournment – Motion approved. Adjourned at 3:25 pm.
Next meeting:
Monday January 8, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.