Tribal Council OKs BIA transportation funding agreement

Tribal Council approved the Tribe’s annual transportation agreement for fiscal year 2017 with the Bureau of Indian Affairs at its Wednesday, July 12, meeting.

The agreement will bring the Tribe $1.1 million in Tribal Transportation Program funding.

Public Works Director John Mercier briefed Tribal Council on the agreement during the Tuesday, July 11, Legislative Action Committee meeting.

“This is something we do every year when the federal government releases transportation funds to the Tribe,” Mercier said.

Mercier said this year’s funding is similar to amounts received by the Tribe in previous years.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved the Right of Way Logging Unit as presented by the Natural Resources Department that would harvest approximately 293,000 board feet of Douglas fir and other species on 3.2 acres. The estimated value of the harvest is $94,632, Senior Forester Zach Hass said at the July 11 Legislative Action Committee meeting;

• Re-appointed Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno and Tribal member April Campbell to the Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. Board of Directors for three-year terms expiring in June 2020;

• And approved the enrollment of 13 non-infants and three infants into the Tribe because they meet the criteria outlined in the Enrollment Ordinance and the Tribal Constitution.

Also included in the July 12 Tribal Council packet were authorizations to proceed that will allow memorial plaques to be place on designated burial plots but not in common areas of the Tribal Cemetery, directs General Manager David Fullerton to develop a planning team to research whether the Tribe can host an inter-Tribal Canoe Journey and creates a folder on the Tribal website that will allow the membership to read testimony and comments given by Tribal Council members and Tribal staff to federal, state and local agencies.

Cultural Resources Department staff member Bobby Mercier and Jordan Mercier performed the cultural drumming and singing to open the meeting.

The entire meeting can be viewed by clicking on the Tribal website at www.grandronde.org and then going to the News tab and then Video.