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AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATOR TO ACCEPT THE MATERIAL TERMS OF THE ONE OHIO SUBDIVISION SETTLEMENT PURSUANT TO THE ONE OHIO MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING AND CONSISTENT WITH THE TERMS OF THE JULY 21, 2021 NATIONAL OPIOID SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND THE DECLARATION OF AN EMERGENCY
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WHEREAS, the City of Groveport, Franklin County, authorizes the Administrator to execute the Participation Agreement for the OneOhio Subdivision Settlement with McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Corporation (“Settling Distributors”) pursuant to the OneOhio Memorandum of Understanding regarding the pursuit and use of potential opioid litigation settlement funds and consistent with the material terms of the July 21, 2021 proposed National Opioid Distributor Settlement Agreement available at https://nationalopiodsettlement.com/; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Groveport, Ohio (herein “Municipality”) is a municipal entity formed and organized pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the State of Ohio; and,
WHEREAS, the people of the State of Ohio and its communities have been harmed by misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance committed by certain entities within the Opioid Pharmaceutical Supply Chain; and,
WHEREAS, the State of Ohio, through its Attorney General, and certain Local Governments, through their elected representatives and counsel, are separately engaged in litigation seeking to hold Opioid Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participants accountable for the damage caused by their misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance; and,
WHEREAS, the State of Ohio, through its Governor and Attorney General, and its Local Governments share a common desire to abate and alleviate the impacts of that misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance throughout the State of Ohio; and,
WHEREAS, the State and its Local Governments, subject to completing formal documents effectuating the Parties Agreements, have drafted and the City of Groveport hereby adopts the OneOhio Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) relating to the allocation and the use of the proceeds of any potential settlements described; and,
WHEREAS, the MOU has been collaboratively drafted to maintain all individual claims while allowing the State and Local Governments to cooperate in exploring all possible means of resolution; and,
WHEREAS, the City Council understands that an additional purpose of the MOU is to create an effective means of distributing any potential settlement funds obtained under the MOU between the State of Ohio and Local Governments in a manner and means that would promote effective and meaningful use of the funds in abating the opioid epidemic throughout Ohio, as well as to permit collaboration and explore potentially effectuation earlier resolution of the Opioid Litigation against Opioid Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participants; and,
WHEREAS, nothing in the MOU binds any party to a specific outcome, but rather, any resolution under the MOU requires acceptance by the State of Ohio and the Local Governments; and,
WHEREAS, a settlement proposal is being presented to the State of Ohio and Local Governments by distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal, and McKesson (collectively the “Settling Distributors”) to resolve governmental entity claims in the State of Ohio using the structure of the OneOhio MOU and consistent with the material terms of the July 21, 2021 proposed National Opioid Distributor Settlement Agreement; and,
WHEREAS, Groveport City Council wishes to agree to the material terms of the proposed National Opioid Distributor Settlement Agreement with the Settling Distributors (the “Proposed Settlement”).
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GROVEPORT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO, A MAJORITY OF ITS MEMBERS CONCURRING:
Section 1: That the Administrator is hereby authorized to accept the Proposed Settlement on behalf of the City of Groveport, pursuant to the terms of the OneOhio MOU.
Section 2: That it is found and determined that all formal actions of the Council relating to the adoption of this Ordinance were adopted in an open meeting of this Council, and that all deliberations of this Council and any of its committees that resulted in such formal action, were in meetings open to the public, in compliance with all legal requirements.
Section 3: That this Ordinance is hereby deemed an emergency measure necessary for the preservation of the health, safety, and general welfare of the community to the extent that this legislation must be enacted in a timely manner in order for the City to ensure prompt pursuit of funds to assist in abating the opioid epidemic throughout Ohio; WHEREFORE, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect after passage by Council and signature of the Mayor.
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Lance Westcamp, Mayor
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Ruthanne Sargus Ross, CMC
Clerk of Council
Approved as to form:
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Kevin C. Shannon, Law Director