Tribal Council approves March 15 per capita date

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

The first per capita payment date of 2019 will occur on Friday, March 15.

During its Wednesday, Feb. 20 meeting, Tribal Council adopted the recommendation of Finance Officer Chris Leno to set the payment date as the third Friday in March.

Leno said that since the first Friday in March falls on March 1, there will not enough time for Spirit Mountain Casino and the Finance staff to determine the payment amount and perform the check processing to make the payment date on Friday, March 8.

The per capita payment will cover the revenue period at the casino from Dec. 1 through Feb. 28.

As usual, the amount will not be known until after the first of the month.

In other action, Tribal Council also voted to remove Controller Linda Hanna as an authorized signer for Tribal bank, sweep and investment accounts.

Hanna, who started working for the Tribe in July 2008, will retire at the end of February. She will be succeeded in the position by Assistant Controller Amy Gallant.

Tribal Council also set the agenda for the Sunday, March 3, General Council meeting to be held in the Tribal Community Center. The Enrollment Committee will make a presentation and there will be an update on the Tribe’s investment portfolio.

During the Feb. 20 meeting, Tribal Council also:

• Approved applying for two U.S. Department of Justice grants totaling $945,000 that would fund a police truck and related equipment and help develop a Tribal drug wellness court that would work with Polk and Yamhill counties to hold sessions in Grand Ronde in a Tribal cultural format;
• Approved a Tribal credit card with a $2,500 limit for Tribal Employment Rights Program Director Steve Campos to pay for business travel, rental equipment and unexpected emergency expenses;
• Approved wildlife area site management plans proposed by the Natural Resources Department for the 338-acre Chahalpam and 91-acre Chahalpam 2 conservation properties in Marion County and the 172-acre Rattlesnake Butte conservation property in Lane County. All three conservation properties were acquired by the Tribe through the Bonneville Power Administration’s Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program, which attempts to offset the effects of hydroelectric dams within the Willamette Basin;
• Approved an application to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would help purchase 20 radio telemetry tags for the lamprey restoration project at Fall Creek southeast of Eugene. Natural Resources has received the one-year, $5,892 grant for five consecutive years;
• Approved two agreements for the Portland Harbor Meyer Memorial Trust and Collins Foundation grants that will award the Grand Ronde, Siletz, Umatilla, Warm Spring and Nez Perce Tribes up to $38,160 and $11,840 each, respectively, to assess environmental damage to culturally relevant natural resources in the lower Willamette River;
• 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 Feb. 20 Tribal Council packet was an approved authorization to proceed that agreed to the 2019 membership renewal with the Oregon Sports Authority at the champion level for $25,000. Membership includes a seat on the Board of Directors and maintains the Grand Ronde Tribe’s status as the only Tribe represented on the board.

A video of the meeting can be watched by visiting the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and clicking on the News tab and then Video.