DORA – The Dora City Council recently voted on how to use funds received from two of the settlements from the Alabama opioid litigations, giving a substantial amount to the City of Lights Dream Center.
Dora has $3,877 in opioid settlement funds so far, and the council approved at its April 13 meeting to give $20,000 to the City of Lights, which is an intensive, inpatient rehabilitation program that works to effectively treat men and women 18 years of age or older who suffer from chronic substance abuse. The facility is located in the former T.S. Boyd Elementary School building in Dora.
“The City of Lights does a fantastic job in our community. It was a no-brainer that some of our opioid funds would go to them,” Mayor Randy Stephens said. “I would like to see more municipalities in Walker County to give some of their settlement funds to the City of Lights, because they help people across our county.”
Stephens said the funds will be used by the group to help build a new men’s treatment facility, the Mayberry Center.
The remainder of the opioid settlement funds will go to prevention and education against drug addiction.
“We wanted to see two-thirds if the funds to go to treatment of addiction and one-third to prevention,” Stephens said. “We want to use those funds towards a school intervention program to educate children of the danger of opioid addiction.”
In other business at the meeting, the council held a first reading of Ordinance #2-2023-Drummond Annexation. Stephens presented the petition from Drummond Company requesting annexation into the city limits of the City of Dora.
The land is the 50-acre Heritage Landing development of Exit 78 on Interstate 22. Stephens said the annexation stretches the city limits to I-22, which has been a goal for some time. He also added that anyone in that area would be welcomed to annex their property into the city as well.
