A Bangor committee held its first meeting Wednesday to evaluate how to spend the $3.4 million the city has started to receive as part of national opioid settlements.
“I know that there’s a lot of feeling this money has been sitting,” said committee member Lisa Williams, who is the clinical director of residential services at Wellspring Treatment Center and is in long-term recovery from addiction.
“My hope is that we can try and come up with something utilizing the strengths in the community that we already have, without necessarily reinventing the wheel, and [try] to get something moving along.”
Recovery advocates have criticized the city for the delay in spending these funds, and committee members expressed a desire to act quickly and focus on projects where the funds can be used immediately. Bangor began receiving money from the settlements in 2022 and already has about $1 million, but had spent less than $20,000 of the funds as of April 2025.
The committee has nine members and plans to meet twice a month through the end of December. About half of its members are affiliated with the city, including City Manager Carollynn Lear, Police Chief Mark Hathaway, Jamie Comstock from Bangor Public Health and Community Services and City Councilor Susan Hawes, who chairs the committee but is not a voting member.
The other members are Williams, Scott Pardy of Fresh Start Sober Living, Jason Hunt of Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness, mental health professional Scott Knowles and Shelly Yancowsky, who lost two sons to fentanyl overdoses. At least four of the committee members have experiences with addiction, either personally or within their families.
The committee does not have final say in how the money will be spent, but will provide recommendations to City Council on how to use the funds “in a manner that is transparent, fair, and equitable,” according to the order establishing the group.
At the start of the brainstorming session, members suggested a variety of ideas, such as implementing a safe injection site, distributing Narcan, funding housing programs, opening more detox centers, mitigating the local HIV outbreak and supporting families and children of people experiencing substance use disorder.
Many members were in favor of establishing a grant process for local organizations to apply for a portion of the funds.
Many also expressed interest in finding ways to support and expand existing programs so that the funds can be spent immediately while also being sustainable in the long term.
Hawes reflected on feedback she’s heard from constituents, noting, “They haven’t seen any movement, and I think they’re concerned with that. They really would like to see something happening with that money.”
