Membership evenly split on building a pool

A survey of the Tribal membership found an almost 50-50 split when it comes to building a community swimming pool in Grand Ronde.

The survey, which was distributed on Feb. 2 and allowed Tribal members until March 18 to respond either via mail or the Internet, received 824 responses. Of those who responded, 425, or 51.6 percent, said they support the Tribal government building and operating a pool in Grand Ronde while 399, or 48.4 percent, opposed the idea.

Interestingly, the surveys that could be identified as coming from the local or regional area also resulted in a close vote: 252 in support and 230 opposed.

The idea of building a community pool in Grand Ronde has been around for a while, but received added impetus when Tribal member Rex Haller began a serious push for its construction, citing the lack of recreational and exercise opportunities for Tribal members living in the Grand Ronde area.

Haller submitted a petition to Tribal Council in 2015 with more than 250 signatures in support of building a pool.

In reaction, Tribal Council authorized a feasibility study and then a survey that was sent to all Tribal members 18 and older. Tribal members were given three options to consider that ranged in construction cost from approximately $4.5 million to $7.4 million and operating expenses from $171,345 to $346,574 annually. In all three options, projected annual revenues fell far short of annual operating expenses.

Those who supported a pool said the three most important benefits or uses would be recreation, health and well-being, and swimming lessons. They also favored a pool built on the Tribal campus, 55.3 percent, instead of at Spirit Mountain Casino, 40 percent.

When pool supporters were asked if they support using Tribal revenues to fund construction and annual operating costs if that funding might cause a reduction in per capita payments or funding for other programs, 64.9 percent said no and 35.1 percent said yes.

The survey also found that Tribal members would support use of the pool by Tribal members and family, community members and the public, but favored Tribal members and their family members not having to pay to use the pool while all others would have to pay.

Overwhelmingly, most of the paper surveys came from Oregon: 478 of 669 returned.

At the Sunday, April 3, General Council meeting held in Eugene, Tribal Council members said a final decision has not been made about whether to build a pool based on the survey results and that another work session will need be held to discuss the issue.