Meeting primer: Sturgis City Commission
Commissioners will consider whether the city should join the new national settlement with Purdue and the Sackler family. Funds are first allocated to states and then distributed to participating local governments.
On Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at 6 p.m., the Sturgis City Commission will meet at City Hall to consider Doyle Community Center membership changes and whether to participate in a new national opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma.
Commissioners will consider a 5% across-the-board rate increase at the Doyle Community Center and a membership restructure: eliminate the 3 and 6 month options; add a 1 month, auto-renewing tier; and include 24-hour Iron Mill access with full-service and 12-month plans (with a 10$/month add-on available for the 1-month tier). If approved, changes take effect October 1, 2025.
Commissioners will also consider whether the city should join the national settlement with Purdue and the Sackler family. Funds are first allocated to states and then distributed to participating local governments.
“Based on information related to the settlement, Michigan is estimated to receive up to $154,921,056.26; roughly 50% of this is distributed to a local government share, with the City of Sturgis allocated approximately 0.036%. While exact estimates are not available, we expect this amounts to around $25,000 over a period of 16 years,” or about $1,500 per year, according to City Manager Andrew Kuk’s report.
The settlement follows lawsuits alleging Purdue and the Sacklers fueled the opioid crisis by aggressively marketing OxyContin while downplaying addiction risks. Under the agreement they will pay up to $7.4 billion for treatment, prevention, and victim compensation, according to The Associated Press.
Other items include a second reading of a 30-year franchise ordinance granting Michigan Gas Utilities rights to operate in city streets and easements (correcting a 1994 action that wasn’t codified); consideration of dedicating a 17-foot strip on North Clay Street as public right-of-way for a sanitary sewer that will serve four new duplexes; and consent items including $1.96 million in bills and approval for the Sturgis Gridiron Club’s Jan 31, 2026 “Bingo Night” fundraiser at the Doyle Community Center.
The meeting is in City Hall, 130 N. Nottawa St., Wiesloch Raum.
Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice
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