PIEDMONT – During its work session on Tuesday evening, the Piedmont City Council heard from attorney Luke Montgomery concerning a class action opioid litigation against pharmaceutical companies.
Montgomery represents Calhoun, Talladega, Clay and a number of municipalities in those counties. After going through a list of Alabama municipalities that have not filed a complaint in this case, Montgomery discovered Piedmont was one of those cities. He contacted Piedmont City Attorney Jake Matthews to speak with the council concerning the suit.
“I think it’s really important for you to file a complaint,” Montgomery said. “Even if you didn’t hire me, I would tell you to hire someone to file a complaint because if you’re a litigating entity, which currently you’re not, but Calhoun County is, they are going to get a direct payment, likely from any settlement.
“Based on the allocation framework that we’ve been looking at, Piedmont would be entitled close to 0.2 percent of Alabama’s distribution. It might not sound like a lot of money, but when you start multiplying that by hundreds of millions of dollars, which I believe the settlement for the state is going to be hundreds of millions of dollars. Obviously I can’t guarantee anything, but I would not have shown up here today. I would not waste your time or called Jake if I thought this wasn’t really worth your time.”
Matthews, who personally knows Montgomery and his family, said he had “no qualms about (Montgomery’s) firm or letting them handle this for us.”
“If the council approves this, I would recommend a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter the contract,” Matthews said. “It’s a standard contract. I’ve looked at it. It’s pretty standard in this type of litigation. The courts, whenever a settlement is reached, are going to set that. It could be lower than that, but that’s not as important as getting us in the game. If we don’t get a ticket, we don’t get in the game. I think it’s something the council should seriously consider.”
The council agreed to review the opioid litigation contract and plans to have it on the agenda for its next meeting, which is scheduled for March 16.
The council then heard an update from Piedmont Commercial Development Authority Chairman Lane Weatherby concerning the prospects of a licensed mental health professional locating an office within the city.
“There are very limited resources for mental health in the surrounding area. There’s a definite need for mental health and emotional health care in our community. Birmingham is a long way to travel simply for counseling,” Weatherby said. “The (COVID-19) quarantine we’ve all been going through, it’s causing some mental problems. To have a person immediately available within the community, it would be a wonderful addition.
“We have talked to this gentleman. He is very financially sound. He is licensed. He is practicing. He wants to come Piedmont. He has looked at a couple of sites. He likes Dr. (Dorothy) Nelder’s building.”
Weatherby said a proposition has been offered to the counselor, which he said was put together by Mayor Baker and City Projects Manager Carl Hinton.
“The proposition has been proposed to the counselor. It depends on what the city is willing to do,” Weatherby said. “He’s ready to go. It is a done deal if we can reach an agreement.”
Following the work session, East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission representatives Rajiv Myana and Tyler Ferrell showed the council a brief slideshow presentation concerning the painting and marking of the Piedmont Trail Loop.
Ferrell also spoke to the council concerning a rural business development grant through the USDA.
“This is really a fantastic grant opportunity. There’s no out-of-pocket expense for Piedmont on this,” Ferrell said. “We’ll be submitting this application, pending your approval, at the end of March. The grant ceiling is $500,000.”
The council agreed to proceed with the grant.
Next up on the council agenda was a proclamation for disability awareness. Retired administrative assistant with the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services Gloria Crider thanked the council for helping bring awareness to the cause.
“We do appreciate Piedmont doing a proclamation and helping out because it needs all the publicity it can get,” Crider said. “Intellectual and developmental disabilities, what we don’t realize is there is one in every seven Americans. This was new to me, and I have worked all my life in rehab. I had never even thought 7 ½ million Americans in this category. We have 342,000 cases in Alabama. There are 8,000 cases in Calhoun County alone. There may be folks in this room who this kind of hits closer to home. It did with me 24 years ago when my nephew Ryan was born. With autism, you learn a whole lot real quick.”
The council also recognized students attending Tuesday’s meeting from Spring Garden School Youth Leadership who were there to observe the workings of city government. Several of those students were also members of Spring Garden’s girls basketball team, who finished with a 32-3 record and were Class 2A Northeast Regional runners-up.
“We appreciate the year that you had,” Baker said. “You were just a few points short of making it to Birmingham in the Final Four. You had a great season. I know you’re not Piedmont High School, but we’re equally proud of you being Spring Garden High School and our neighbor. We always pull for Spring Garden. We appreciate you very much. Some of the best friends I have go to Spring Garden and I always like to see you do well in your sports and all areas of your school. Congratulations for a great year.”
Minutes from the last council meeting were approved, as were bills for payment totaling $549,814.76.