Tribal Council OKs architectural agreement for up to 15 new apartment buildings

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals assistant editor/staff writer

Tribal Council approved a $302,360 architectural services contract with Portland-based MCA Architects PC for the design of several new apartments during its Wednesday, April 19, meeting.

Phase three of the Wind River Apartments will include up to 15 buildings located on a 31-acre parcel of Tribal trust land adjacent to the Housing Department offices at 28450 Tyee Road. Five of the buildings are subject to grant funding approval, according to Tribal Engineering and Planning Manager Ryan Webb.

Webb said the Housing Department is expanding its family housing to include up to six new fourplex apartment buildings and carports, and nine new apartment buildings and carports.

Each fourplex will have three two-bedroom units and one one-bedroom unit. There also will be nine new apartment buildings and carports, with each building consisting of two floors each and three to four one-bedroom units per floor.

“One bedroom requests are by far the highest on the (Tribal housing) waiting list,” Tribal Council member Kathleen George said during a Tuesday, April 18, Legislative Action Committee meeting.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved a $100,000 grant application to the Spirit Mountain Community Fund for design and construction of a nature playground on the Tribal campus as part of the Natural Resources Department project.
• Approved an agreement with ChargePoint, Inc., for the installation and operation of an electric vehicle charging station at Great Circle Recovery medication assisted treatment clinic in Salem.
• Approved a memorandum of understanding between Polk County and the Tribe to fund the engineering design to reconstruct Grand Ronde Road, and an intergovernmental agreement authorizing up to $1.5 million for the Tribe’s portion of the project. Polk County will pay for 40 percent of the road reconstruction and Yamhill County will pay for 10 percent;
• Approved an amendment extending the length of a grant from the Oregon Department of Education through June 2023 for partial wages to support the additional preschool classroom and aftercare services for the Chinuk Wawa education program;
• Approved 26 board and committee appointments and re-appointments. They were to re-appoint Jade Unger, Steve Rife and Guy Schultz to the Ceremonial Hunting Board with terms expiring March 31, 2025; re-appoint Francene Ambrose to the Culture Committee with a term ending March 31, 2025; appoint Tracy Moreland and re-appoint Shelley Hanson to the Editorial Board with terms ending March 31, 2026; re-appoint Valeria Atanacio, Peter Grout, Tyla LaGoy and Chris Mansayon to the Education Committee with terms ending March 31, 2025; appoint Donna Johnson and re-appoint Debi Anderson, Debby Childers and Jackie Manyhides to the Enrollment Committee with terms ending on March 31, 2025; re-appoint Reyn Leno to the Fish & Wildlife Committee with a term ending on March 31, 2025; re-appoint Alan Ham and Charlene Westley to the Health Committee with terms ending on March 31, 2025; re-appoint Kalene Contreras to the Housing Grievance Board with a term ending March 31, 2026; re-appoint John Clark and David Leno to the Timber Committee with terms ending March 31, 2025; appoint Shannon Simi and re-appoint Dana Ainam, Anthony Quenelle and Janel Lara to the Powwow Special Event Board with terms ending March 31, 2025; and appoint Levi Liebelt and Lisa Schmid to the Veterans Special Event Board with terms ending on March 31, 2025;
• Approved an emergency amendment to the Enrollment Ordinance removing the previous loss of membership moratorium, limit involuntary loss of membership to fraud and dual enrollment, remove the language regarding loss of membership for failure to meet enrollment criteria and provide a definition of fraud. Since it was adopted on an emergency basis, the ordinance goes into effect immediately, but Tribal members will be afforded a chance to comment on it before it returns to Tribal Council for formal adoption. The move brings the ordinance in line with the Tribal Constitution, which was amended in 2022 to bar disenrollments unless the Tribe can prove fraud or dual enrollment;
• And enrolled five infants and three non-infants into the Tribe because they meet the qualifications under the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

The council also set the time and location of the next General Council meeting for 11 a.m. Sunday, May 7. It will be a hybrid meeting on Zoom and in Tribal Council Chambers with an agenda topic to be determined.

Additionally, Tribal Council approved the Tribal Sponsorship Program as a community needs based program under the General Welfare Ordinance to include $200 cultural grants. The grants will be retroactive to purchases made as of Jan. 1, 2023. Applications became available for Tribal member reimbursement at www.grandronde.org on Monday, April 24.

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