Tribal Council OKs 11-Tribe housing agreement

Tribal Council approved the annual O-Link agreement between Grand Ronde and 10 other Tribes that will net an estimated $115,350 in additional housing funds during its Wednesday, July 11, meeting.

The agreement nets eight of the 11 participating Tribes increased funding, Housing Department Manager Shonn Leno said during the Tuesday, July 10, Legislative Action Committee meeting.

The annual agreement is necessary because the Grand Ronde Tribe’s Indian Housing Block Grant service area overlaps with 10 other Tribes in Oregon and California.

The federal government requires that Tribes in overlapping service areas agree on how to distribute the $15.7 million in funding and the 11 Tribes have agreed to use Tribal enrollment data instead of Bureau of Indian Affairs labor force statistics.

In doing so, the Grand Ronde Tribe sees its funding increase to approximately $2.65 million.

The agreement included the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, Siletz, Klamath, Coquille and Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribes in Oregon and the Karuk, Quartz Valley, Tolowa Dee-ni’, Yurok and Fort Bidwell Tribes in California.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved a Natural Resource Damage Settlement Agreement with Astoria Marine Construction Co. that also includes the Siletz and Nez Perce Tribes. The company agrees to pay up to $130,000 for removal and disposal of the dock and associated pilings that have been located on the east bank of the Lewis and Clark River and Jeffers Slough since 1924.

• Approved $45,835 in funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service to conduct pre-commercial thinning on 110 acres of the Coal Creek property in Tillamook County. The Tribe purchased the property in 2016.

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

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