Beckley Council discusses Fruits of Labor lease options

Apr. 29—The city of Beckley is considering use of its $2 million in opioid settlement funds to support a lease with Fruits of Labor.

As discussed Monday night during a Beckley Common Council workshop, the proposal which received the most interest from Beckley Council members was to offer Fruits of Labor a five-year lease, setting rent at $3,000 a month.

In lieu of paying rent, the city would provide Fruits of Labor with $200,000 from its opioid settlement funds over the next five years to meet its lease obligations, which would likely include paying for the building's utilities.

Beckley Councilman Cody Reedy, who proposed the option, said this would still leave the city with roughly $1.8 million in opioid settlement funds to dedicate to other projects and initiatives.

"I really would like to see the $2 million personally spent back into the community because that's the reason we have the money for either rehab or prevention programs," Reedy said.

In reviewing the guidelines for the settlement funds, Beckley Recorder/Treasurer Billie Trump said the city could also use the funds to reimburse itself for roughly half of what the city paid for the building, which would be around $400,000.

Trump said the option is available because the city bought the building to lease it to Fruits of Labor, whose programs target people in recovery.

Councilmember Tom Sopher also suggested offering Fruits of Labor a three-month lease for $1,000 a month, which could be in place while the city finalizes a lengthier lease agreement.

When Beckley Mayor Rob Rappold turned to Fruits of Labor President Tammy Jordan to ask what she thought of the discussed options, she said she didn't feel it was her place to tell the council how they should spend their settlement funds.

"I think you all need to figure out what's going to work best and present that, and then I can come back with questions from there," Jordan said. "I think navigating from your-all's perspective what works best for the city of Beckley, what works best for the recovery community, what works best with the opioid settlement funding. I think that's where that nature needs to come from you all to me, and then I can ask questions."

Beckley Attorney Bill File said he would begin crafting the lease in the coming days based on the council's discussions during the workshop.

As no decisions can be made during workshops, Rappold asked council members to email File their preferences on the lease.

File said he was unsure whether he could craft a lease before council's next meeting on May 7.

The city's lack of a lease with Fruits of Labor has been a topic of contention since the city purchased the building but has boiled over in recent months, with many in the public voicing their concerns during council meetings.

Fruits of Labor was originally established in Greenbrier County and offers a culinary training program to people recovering from substance abuse disorder. As part of the training, those participating in the program work at one of several Fruits of Labor's restaurants located mainly in southern West Virginia.

Fruits of Labor opened its Beckley location on Neville Street in August 2022, where it operates a restaurant, coffee shop and pizzeria.

The three-story building it occupies in Beckley was initially purchased by the city in July 2021 for around $1 million.

Rappold said he's held off on finalizing a lease with Fruits of Labor because he believed the city would be able to utilize opioid settlement funds.

However, he previously stated that he did not anticipate it taking this long for the city to receive settlement funds.

During the Monday workshop, Trump said the city received roughly $2 million in opioid settlement funds in early 2024.

He added that the city could potentially receive more, but he did not know how much, if any, it could expect.

West Virginia opioid settlement funds are around $1 billion. They are the result of several lawsuits with drug manufacturers, distribution companies, pharmacies, and other companies with roles in the opioid business, according to The Associated Press.

A fourth of those funds go directly to local communities like Beckley, while the majority of the remaining funds are to be overseen by the West Virginia First Foundation board.

The ways in which the settlement funds would be distributed and used are detailed in a memorandum of understanding, which local governments had to agree to before receiving funds.

Beckley Recorder/Treasurer Billie Trump said he reviewed the memorandum and consulted with the state's attorney general, who crafted the memorandum.

He said both the proposed lease option and the reimbursement option fall within the memorandum's guidelines.

"According to the state attorney general, council has a lot of latitude within here to do what they think is best for the community because they're more familiar with the community than the state," Trump said.

He added that any spending of Beckley's opioid funds has to be approved by council.

Switching the conversation from the Fruits of Labor lease, council members began talking about other ways they would like to use the opioid settlement funds.

Some suggested giving some of the funds to Brian's Safehouse and Sparrow's Nest, two faith-based residential recovery programs. Other suggestions included funding for Beckley's newly reestablished DARE program or other social service agencies that have been overburdened by the opioid epidemic.

Before committing funds to programs outside city limits, Trump suggested council contact the Raleigh County Commission, which received even more funds than Beckley.

The Raleigh County Commission has thus far received roughly $3.7 million in opioid settlement funds.

Counties and municipalities are also able to apply to use funding overseen by the West Virginia First Foundation board.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com