Tribal Council OKs Grand Ronde Road repairs, announces three more pandemic relief payments to membership

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved a memorandum of agreement with Polk County on repairing pothole-marked Grand Ronde Road during its Wednesday, Aug. 19, meeting.

Polk County, which has jurisdiction over the roadway, will perform engineering and project management while the Tribe will pay for the estimated $45,000 in repairs as part of its Long Range Transportation Plan/Tribal Transportation Program.

Public Works Coordinator John Mercier said that since the project will cost less than $100,000, the Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance will not be invoked. However, he added, Polk County is aware of the Tribe’s desire to see Tribal members put to work on local road construction projects and the agreement requires the county to seek bids from Indian-owned businesses.

Polk County Public Works Director Todd Whitaker said the repairs will involve patch paving to fix the potholes and replacing the “alligator” cracking – interconnected cracking of the asphalt – to help keep the road in shape for a few more years.

Whitaker said road repair work should begin in the second week of September. The memorandum requires that the work be completed no later than Sept. 30.

Grand Ronde Road was last significantly reconstructed in 2009 and completed in 2010 for $4.8 million using a mix of Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service and Polk County funds. The two main culprits of continuing potholes are a combination of moisture issues with Grand Ronde-area soil and heavy trucks using the road as a shortcut to Highway 18.

Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier also announced the extension of the Tribe’s COVID-19 Payment Relief Program that will send adult Tribal members three more $600 payments through November. Using CARES Act funding, the Tribe will dispersed $4,400 in relief funding to Tribal members since March.

“Every day we are reminded that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the world we live in,” Mercier said. “Tribal Council has heard the needs and concerns of the members and made the decision to extend assistance under the COVID-19 Payment Relief Program for three more months. The payments will use CARES Act funding to provide three additional $600 monthly payments to enrolled Grand Ronde Tribal members over the age of 18 who have a demonstrated need. The Tribe’s COVID-19 Payment Relief Program will have provided $4,400 to Tribal members since its creation in March with the goal of helping them ease the financial burden surrounding the pandemic and helping them provide essential needs for their families. Additional information to come.”

Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez said Tribal members will have to fill out another application to receive the funding and that the application will be available in mid- to late September.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved applying to the Environmental Protection Agency for a grant not to exceed $100,000 to fund Tribal staff participation in overseeing two specific cleanup areas of the Portland Harbor Superfund site on the lower Willamette River;
• Approved applying for the Tribe’s annual $118,845 allocation of Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Planning and Grants Manager Kim Rogers said during the Tuesday, Aug. 18, Legislative Action Committee hearing that the “routine” funding helped 190 Tribal households in 2019 with a majority of the money pay for heating costs;
• Amended a previous enrollment resolution that included one more roll number than was necessary;
• And approved the enrollment of four infants into the Tribe because they meet the requirements outlined in the Enrollment Ordinance and Tribal Constitution.

The entire meeting can be viewed by visiting the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and clicking on the Government tab and then Videos.