Tribal Council OKs contract for Multnomah Greyhound Park demolition

By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council awarded an $888,777 contract to Konell Construction & Demolition Corp. of Sandy, Ore., on Wednesday, April 6, to demolish the structures on the 31-acre site in Wood Village that used to house Multnomah Greyhound Park.
The Grand Ronde Tribe purchased the site on Dec. 11, 2015, and is eyeing the property as a location on which to diversify its economy.
The property is located within the historic homelands of the Cascade and Clackamas Chinook Tribes, which confederated to Grand Ronde in the mid-19th century. The two Tribes ceded the land to the federal government in the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855.
Multnomah Greyhound Park closed in 2004 and the land has sat vacant and unused since then. At its height, the Greyhound Park attracted more than 611,000 spectators in 1987. The old grandstand facilities, which are in an advanced state of disrepair, are still standing.
Demolition will begin on the site during the week of April 11-15, said Tribal Engineering Department Manager Jesse White, with the start of asbestos abatement work.
White said it will take four months for the demolition to be complete with abatement taking approximately two months followed by about two months of actually tearing down of the grandstand structure to prepare the site for future development.
During the Sunday, April 3, General Council meeting held in Eugene, Tribal Chairman Reyn Leno said the Tribe has not defined plans for the site other than potentially building a hotel as a centerpiece on the property.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Approved an amended Funding and Participation Agreement at the Astoria Marine cleanup site on the banks of the Lewis and Clark River in Astoria. The Tribe is a Natural Resource trustee for the site;
• Approved an amended Restoration Credit Agreement for the Portland Harbor superfund site cleanup;
• Re-appointed Harold Lyon, Tracy Howerton, Eva Simmons and John Lillard to the Fish & Wildlife Committee;
• Re-appointed Gladys Hobbs, Bernadine Shriver and Patti Tom-Martin to the Health Committee;
• Re-appointed Shelby Maerz and Tammy Cook to the Education Committee;
• Re-appointed Faye Smith, Margaret Provost, Sarah Ross and Marcus Gibbons and appointed Veronica Gaston to the Culture Committee;
• Re-appointed Bob Mercier, Jonathan George, Shonn Leno and Mel Holmes to the Timber Committee;
• Re-appointed Janel Lara to the Powwow Special Event Board;
• Re-appointed Deanna Johnston to the Election Board;
• Re-appointed Marline Groshong and Shonn Leno and appointed Steve Rife to the Ceremonial Hunting Board;
• Re-appointed Reina Nelson, Raymond Petite and Wink Soderberg and appointed Albert Miller to the Veterans Special Event Board;
• Adopted an amendment to the Tribal Council Operating Procedures that will move Tribal Council scheduling of meetings to Friday instead of the current Monday;
• And approved the enrollment of three infants into the Tribe because they meet the provisions outlined in the Tribal Constitution and the Enrollment Ordinance.
Also included in the April 6 Tribal Council packet were authorizations to proceed to:
• Authorize the Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department to purchase body cameras for use by its police officers, as well as vehicle cameras;
• Authorize the Natural Resources Department to accept $6,570 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for telemetry tags to be used for the Lamprey Translocation Project;
• Approve a memorandum of agreement between the Tribe and the American Red Cross;
• Instruct the Tribal Attorney’s Office to research means by which Smoke Signals would operate independently of the control and influence of Tribal government and prepare draft documents that would establish Smoke Signals as a newspaper with editorial independence;
• And direct the Tribal Attorney’s Office to revise the Fiscal Management and Public Records ordinances so that audited financial statements could be mailed to Tribal members.
Tribal Council member Jon A. George joined Culture Department employees Bobby Mercier, Travis Stewart and Jordan Mercier and Public Affairs Administrative Assistant Chelsea Clark in performing the cultural drumming and singing to open the meeting.
The meeting, in its entirety, can be viewed on the Tribal website at www.grandronde.org by clicking on the News tab and then Video.