The Huntsville City Council is expected to give $2.4 million from a national opioid lawsuit settlement to three local agencies at its Thursday night meeting “for projects aimed at reducing the harm of the opioid epidemic on the community.”

“This is not about us receiving a big windfall,” Mayor Tommy Battle said Wednesday. “These funds will be distributed over a period of several years because this problem will not be solved overnight.”

The settlement totaling almost $6 million must be spent on opioid issues, Battle said. One example is buying Naloxone, a medicine carried and used by city emergency responders to reverse opioid overdoses.

First Stop, Inc. ($810,000), Wellstone, Inc. ($750,000) and the Huntsville Hospital Foundation ($850,000) will get the first distribution of funds, according to resolution before the council. The council will also hear plans for spending the money at the meeting.

Battle said Wednesday that the city “looked long and hard before we got into the opioid settlements. We were looking at (opioids’) effect on our community, what it cost our community and should we be in this litigation.” After talking to health care and drug treatment providers, Battle said, “It was obvious this opioid crisis had cost this community a lot of money.”

He said 105 people have died by opioid overdose in Madison County since 2021. “That’s 105 people who aren’t walking our streets today,” Battle said.

Also last year, more than 1,800 county residents enrolled in substance abuse treatment programs, he said. “That’s why it’s important for us to support front line organizations who get to the root of the problem,” Battle said. “We thank these organizations for the work they do each day to give people a new lease on life.”

First Stop is an organization that “encounters the homeless where they are, connects them to critical services and support and empowers them toward independent sustainable living,” its website says.

Wellstone treats children, adolescents and adults facing mental illness, substance abuse and “a broad range of obstacles to health and well-being,” its website says.

The Huntsville Hospital Foundation works with philanthropic organizations to invest in medical technology and programs.

The city met each of the three agencies to identify the rules and procedures in each agreement, the resolution says. Projects submitted for funding were reviewed for compliance with rules for spending the settlement. Battle will also sign memorandums of understanding with each recipient.