Tribal Council OKs $520 timber revenue distribution

The first part of the two-part puzzle for Tribal members wondering how much money they will receive on Dec. 11 was answered during the Wednesday, Nov. 15, Tribal Council meeting.

Tribal members will receive a $520 timber revenue payment in addition to their yet-to-be-determined per capita distribution. The per capita amount will not be known until early December.

Tribal Council voted to move the per capita payment date up by four days from the usual Friday date to give Tribal members more time to use their December distribution to purchase Christmas presents.

Member Services Department staff members will be in the Tribal Community Center from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, to hand out the per capita and timber distribution checks to Tribal members. After 4 p.m., any remaining checks will be taken to the Grand Ronde post office and mailed.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved the 2017-19 Tribal grant agreement with the Oregon Health Authority to help fund Tribal alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse prevention services. The grant amount cannot exceed $292,500;

• Appointed Tribal Council member Jack Giffen Jr. to be the Grand Ronde representative on the Willamette Falls Locks Commission and Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy as the alternate representative;

• Approved the enrollment of two infants into the Tribe because they meet the requirements outlined in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

Also included in the Nov. 15 Tribal Council packet were approved authorizations to proceed and staff directives that:

• Placed $500,000 in the proposed 2018 budget to re-establish the Economic Development Department with two employees and the funds needed to conduct due diligence;

• Transferred $5,000 from general contingency to cover the cost of repairs on the Elders’ “big bus”;

• Approved using qualified inmate labor from the federal prison in Sheridan on Tribal government projects provided that the inmate labor does not displace Tribal member workers;

• Approved up to $8,000 for a two-day enrollment training to be held in Grand Ronde on Nov. 29-30 by Creating Stronger Nations;

• Directed Tribal staff to gather statistics on the number of homeless people in the Grand Ronde area;

• And directed staff to file a motion to intervene in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission process regarding the Pacific Connector Pipeline and Jordan Cove Terminal project that is proposing to build a 229-mile natural gas pipeline from southeast of Klamath Falls to Coos Bay in southern Oregon.

Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy discussed Tribal Council’s practice of presenting gifts to visitors as part of the cultural presentation to open the meeting. Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George also discussed his approach to making baskets as part of the cultural presentation.

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