Tribal Council agrees to sell and buy land in Portland metro area

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved the sale of 4.67 acres of the former Multnomah Greyhound Park in Wood Village and the purchase of property along 82^nd Avenue in Portland during its Wednesday, Dec. 18, meeting.

The sale of a portion of the former 31-acre Greyhound Park, which the Tribe purchased in December 2015, will be to the city of Wood Village and involves wetlands that cannot be developed because of a conservation easement.

Tribal Lands Manager Jan Michael Reibach said during the Tuesday, Dec. 17, Legislative Action Committee meeting that the property is being sold at fair market value and will benefit whomever eventually develops the property.

After purchasing the Greyhound Park property, the Tribe paid to have the dilapidated glass-encased grandstands demolished and removed. The Tribe is currently attempting to sell the remainder of the property.

Reibach said Wood Village, which plans to use the wetlands property as a park, still has due diligence duties to perform and the sale should close in January.

“It’s a good deal for the Tribe, it’s a good deal for the city and it’s a good deal for the wetlands,” Reibach said.

On the buying end, Tribal Council approved the purchase of a building at 3580 S.E. 82^nd Ave. in Portland. The 20,000-square-foot lot includes a former dental office and parking lot, and is located west of Interstate 205 and southeast of Mount Tabor Park.

The proposed use and purchase price for the property were not disclosed during either the Legislative Action Committee or Tribal Council meetings. It will join the Portland Area Office on Southwest Barbur Boulevard as properties the Tribe owns within the Portland city limits.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved the 2020 budget, which outlines governmental spending for the next calendar year;
• Appointed Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy to the Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. Board of Directors, filling the seat previously held by Vice Chair Chris Mercier;
• Approved an agreement with Dropbox, which will allow the Tribe to obtain an Enterprise Account for the more than 20 Tribal accounts that are currently active. Dropbox is a file hosting service located in San Francisco;
• Approved a $200,000 grant application for Environmental Protection Agency Tribal Brownfield Response Program funding for the Blue Heron property in Oregon City that the Tribe purchased in August. A brownfield is a former industrial or commercial site where future use is affected by possible environmental contamination;
• Approved an approximately $174,000 contract with Portland architectural firm GBD for evaluation of the riverside approach at the Blue Heron property in Oregon City;
• Approved the fiscal year 2020 funding agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration for a maximum $132,711, which funds the Tribe’s participation in the administration’s processes;
• And approved the Fawn Thin Logging Unit that will consist of 13 cutting blocks and bring the Tribe an estimated $91,200 in revenue.

Also included in the Dec. 18 Tribal Council packet were approved authorizations to proceed that nominated Tribal Council member Jack Giffen Jr. to the Oregon Board of Forestry and increased the Medicare Part B payments to Tribal members to $145 monthly and $434 quarterly beginning in January.

To view the entire meeting, visit the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and click on the Government tab and then Videos.