Council Oks Belton Police Pact, 4 Opioid Fund Projects
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson County Council moved ahead on a proposal for the Sheriff’s Office to take over law enforcement duties for the City of Belton. The request was made by Belton City Council to help create better continuity in the policing of the city.
The goal was to assure a cooperative effort to provide a Sheriff’s Office substation in Belton with around the clock coverage.
See details in an earlier Observer story.
“I live in the City of Belton and am comfortable with this agreement,” said Anderson County Councilman Greg Elgin. “This is net zero for the county and the deputies will be dedicated to the city of Belton.”
Belton Mayor Eleanor Dorn said the city is “100 percent committed” to the new arrangement with county law enforcement.
Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns said two other municipalities are also considering a similar arrangement, but declined to identify those townships.
Also on Tuesday night, the county council approved four new projects in the county totaling more than $1.1 million of the county’s opioid settlement funds. These are:
· $525,000 to AnMed for treatment of indigent persons with opioid use disorder.
· $94,380 to expand services of FAVOR (Faces And Voices Of Recovery) Upstate at the AnMed Medical Center.
· $183,720 to FAVOR for Community Recovery services. This funding would provide for one full time Community Engagement Specialist who would be responsible for Community Outreach and Education. In addition, the funds will provide for two part-time Recovery Coaches/Peer Support Specialists and two part-time Family Recovery Coaches who will facilitate family support groups, educate families in need, deliver one-on-one family coaching services, coordinate interventions for families in crisis and distribute Harm Reduction materials.
· $350,342 to Love Well for a Residential Center Program. The program is a duration of four months for each woman admitted with referral from Anderson County Drug Court, Public Defender’s Office, Detention Center, and the Solicitor’s Office.
“We have multiple places for men who need help to go, but the number of places for women is limited and we hope to address that,” said Burns of the Love Well Center.
Funding for the projects will come from the $5.5 million in opioid settlement money from a variety of pharmacies including Walgreens. The funds will be received slowly between now and 2038. In 2021, Anderson County also received just over $190,000 as part of the settlement money given to South Carolina. The funds are being used for helping stem addiction as well as providing funding for the drug court in the county.
To date council has funded four projects from the funding, PlaySafe’s education program to address opioid addiction among high school athletes, the County Coroner’s
D.E.A.D. (Drugs End All Dreams) education program in the public schools, and scholarships for Shalom House Ministries and The Bridge ministry.
Council also approved tax incentives for “Project Marine,” an Finnish family-owned business which employs 1,900 worldwide. The company will bring a $3 million investment with 66 full-time jobs in Anderson with an average wage of $37.63 per hour.