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In a close vote, the Albuquerque City Council agreed to allocate about a fifth of the opioid settlement funds the city has received so far toward developing a transitional recovery housing campus featuring pallet homes.
The $5 million allocation passed in a 5-4 vote at an April 15 meeting. Councilors Joaquín Baca, Klarissa Peña, Brook Bassan, Nichole Rogers and Dan Champine voted in the affirmative. Councilors Tammy Fiebelkorn, Louie Sanchez, Dan Lewis and Renée Grout voted against the measure.
Read about what else city councilors decided at the meeting here.
The city’s planned campus would include 50 pallet homes to be used for temporary housing and treatment for those experiencing addiction and homelessness. The site is located at 3401 Pan American Freeway NE just north of Candelaria Road — a former state Motor Vehicle Division site. City officials said Bernalillo County allocated another $800,000 in funds for the project.
City officials and advocates say the demand for transitional recovery housing — sometimes referred to as sober living housing — is critical. Many in need of such services end up at already strained overnight shelters that don’t offer addiction treatment — such as the city’s Westside Emergency Housing Center.
Pallet homes, or shelters, are typically 8-by-8 foot units that are prefabricated and shipped on a pallet. The city said the homes would be occupied by individuals, not families.
City Councilor Baca represents District 2 where the campus will be located.
“When I walk out my front door I see people dealing or using [drugs] — it’s one of the big issues in our city and across the country,” Baca told City Desk ABQ before the meeting. “There’s serious addiction issues in the city. We have to do something. We need things yesterday.”
Funds for the project were requested by the city’s Health, Housing and Homelessness (HHH) department and Mayor Tim Keller’s administration in mid-March. Baca carried the bill on behalf of the administration.
“Absent these facilities, persons seeking transitional recovery housing facilities may end up staying at temporary overnight shelters or continue to be unhoused,” HHH said in an analysis sent to city councilors.
Concerns, timeline
Some city councilors were frustrated with the amount of money requested and that it is being allocated before a city and county joint agreement on how to spend the settlement funds is complete. The city and county entered into a contract with global health organization Vital Strategies in February for its recommendations on the best use of opioid settlement funds to be released later this year.
Read more about the city and county contract with Vital Strategies here.
Albuquerque has received about $25 million in settlement money so far, while the county has received about $22.5 million. The funds come from historic settlements between states and companies like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and others, due to their alleged involvement in the opioid epidemic.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to be surprised when they hear that I’ve been very frustrated by this bill, because when I was first approached by the administration it was $1 million; and then it was $10 million; and then it was $4 million; then it was $2.5 million, and now it’s $5 million,” Fiebelkorn, said prior to the vote. “I’m totally for trying innovative solutions; I understand the need, but I also understand the opportunity that we have and I want to make sure that we’re using this money wisely.”
The city said the $5 million figure estimates the cost of the pallet homes, site preparation, and two years of operations. While the city now has the green light to move forward on the purchase of the pallet homes, an amendment passed unanimously requires a formal contract for opioid treatment services that details specific treatment protocols and provider agreements before residents could move in.
The city’s chief administrative officer, Samantha Sengel, told city councilors that the city would eventually issue a request for proposals for an addiction recovery operator at the site.
“Our goal is that we are moving them into permanent housing through the process of having the support and wraparound services,” she said. “Our intent is to move with haste on this. We have been told that pallet homes can be sent from the manufacturer anywhere between six-and-nine weeks.”
