Tribe agrees to buy Grand Ronde site from Willamina School District

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has agreed to buy the soon-to-be vacated middle school facility on the east side of Grand Ronde Road from the Willamina School District.

The cash-strapped school district is in the process of consolidating its student population at the Oaken Hill facility in Willamina and put the middle school facility up for sale.

At its May 17 meeting, the Willamina School Board approved its 2011-12 budget, which includes $1.2 million from the anticipated sales of two properties, including the Grand Ronde site.

The Tribe is buying the middle school property, which was part of the Tribe's original reservation given to it in President Franklin Pierce's 1857 Presidential Order, for $675,000.

Before construction of current Tribal facilities, the Grand Ronde Tribe held many powwows and other events in the middle school's gym following 1983's Restoration.

The Grand Ronde Tribal Council voted to approve a purchase and sale agreement for the middle school property at its May 25 meeting.

Tribal member Jan Reibach, Tribal Lands manager, said the agreement follows weeks of internal strategic meetings and evaluations, as well as negotiations with the Willamina School District.

The main structure on the eight-acre parcel contains 27,443 square feet. The property also has multiple paved parking areas and a playground.

"This property marks a great year for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in moving toward the recovery of lands lost from our Termination," Reibach said. "The school property lies within the original reservation boundaries and holds a great zoning classification that allows for a wide variety of uses."

The property is zoned Grand Ronde Public Assembly by Polk County.

Reibach said the purchase price is under a recent appraised "as-is" value.

"We appreciate the consideration that this land once belonged to the Grand Ronde people," Reibach said. "Our Tribe has a very conservative approach to land acquisition, with a policy to purchase lands at a fair market value rate."

Reibach said his department is responsible for a wide range of Tribal Realty services, including fee-to-trust conversions, leases, easements, rights-of-way, record keeping, water right facilitation and lands management.

Even though land acquisition is only a proportionally small part of Reibach's job, it plays a very significant role in maintaining Tribal sovereignty and developing a secure future for the Tribe, he said.

"Programs like housing, culture, natural resources and government services could not exist without the physical land to support them," he said. "This is a win-win deal for the Tribe."

Options for future Tribal uses of the middle school property will be further examined and discussed with Tribal Council by the Tribal Executive Office staff.