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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2011)
SCft Spi Iyay Ty id o o Coyote News, est. 1976 Apri I 20, 2011 Vol. 36, No. 08 ** Dept./Seria Kniqht Library 1299 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-1205 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Input sought on 2 projects By Duran Bobb Spilyay Tymoo Portland General Electric, tribal and Oregon Bioenergy officials held two public scoping meetings last week seek ing input from tribal members regard ing two potential projects on the reser vation. By Duran Bobb Spilyay Tymoo Courtesy of the casino planning team. 3D renditions of the New Indian Head Casino. The existing plaza is to the right in the picture at top. The museum is at the lower left in the picture below. ‘W e have been working closely with the Tribal Land Use Committee to make sure we comply with all tribal rules and regulations. However, we have hired outside architects to design the building and hired general contrac tors to construct the facility. We will be making sure that every opportunity is made available for tribal entities and tribal members when the general con tractors begin work.” Recent concepts for the design of New Indian Head Casino reflect the influences of Celilo Falls scaffold- „ ing and the reflection of water from the Columbia River. Colors for the design were pulled from actual pho tos of Indian Head Canyon. TeleCo begins with office construction By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo The Warm Springs Telecommunica tions Co. began work last week on re modeling the old apparel building at the industrial park. The building will be the main office of the telecommunications company, housing electronic equipment, offices and customer service area. The main area of the building has been vacant for the past several years. The struc ture needs a new roof, among other improvements. The Warm Springs Telecommunica tions Company (WSTC) last year re ceived $5.3 million— half by grant and half as a loan— from U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. The company— the tribes’ newest en terp rise— w ill b rin g high-speed Internet, telephone and video to the reservation. About 1,000 local homes and businesses will have access to the company’s services. The enterprise itself will employ 19 Acquisition April - Hawit'an - Spring - Wawaxam Casino project moves forward T h e Gaming enterprise board has approved moving Indian Head Ca sino from Kah-Nee-Ta to the High way 26 location in Warm Springs. Groundbreaking is expected to hap pen the first part of next month. “We’re working very diligently to make this project a reality,” Kah- Nee-Ta board chairm an Deepak Sehgal said. The cost for the project will be an estimated $12.5 million. “We are working with a number of financial institutes to secure the best deal that we can.” Sehgal said he hopes to have the facility open by New Year’s Day 2012, with some hurdles to clear. Some of the work that lies ahead will be tackled by project engineer Travis Wells. This includes all of the initial engineering for the site prepa ration, w ater, sewer and power. Natural Resources has been utilized for necessary environmental clear ances. n r\ On hand for the groundbreaking were TeleCo general manager Adam Haas, chief executive officer Jeff Anspach, Tribal Councilman Scott Moses, state director of USDA Rural Development Vikki Walker, TeleCo board director Sal Sahme, and tribal Secretary-Treasurer Jody Calica. WSTC is only the ninth tribally- people. Board members believe the improved telecommunications on the’ owned telecommunications company in reservation will bring new business and the U.S., out of a total of 565 feder ally recognized tribes. The nine tribal more employment opportunities. telecommunications companies are members o f the National Tribal Telecommunications Association (NTTA). Jose Matanane, past president of the association and former general manager of the Fort Mojave tele communications company, was on hand last w eek for the W arm Springs teleco dedication. The Fort Mojave company has been in operation for about 20 years, em ploys 17 people, and serves 1,100 customers. Since the company began, “We’ve seen the quality of life go up,” M atanane said. The monthly service rate at Fort Mojave is very reasonable, includ ing a $1 per month rate for those who qualify for the hardship pro gram, he said. The oldest tribal teleco is Chey enne River Sioux Telephone Au thority, founded in 1958. Transmission line John Sullivan and Todd Jones pre sented the PGE power transmission line project, which would run through the north-end of the reservation along an existing right of way. The project would place a 120-foot to 290-foot tall lattice structure tower at an interval of less than five struc tures per mile on tribal land. “The purpose of the transmission line is to enhance the reliability of the grid,” Sullivan said. “This is also going to provide some access to more renew able energy as we plan for the future power needs.” In this project, PGE ^ntends to par allel existing transmission line corridors as much as possible. “O f course, we’re trying to minimize the impacts on homes, farms, businesses and the environment,” Sullivan said. “We wanted to take this time to listen to the community members here and consider any feasible alternatives.” The transmission line project will have an aggressive timeline, he said. PGE would like to have the transmis sion line in service by 2015. ‘W e’re watching Idaho Power and PacifiCorp. They’re each having issues with their projects. The state and fed eral processes are not complimentary. We’re trying to get them done parallel, and we hope to start designing in 2011.” Biomass plant Curt Magnall and John Rivers, of the engineering firm CH2M Hill, then gave an overview o f the proposed Warm Springs biomass plant, which would be located in Lower Dry Creek. “This is going to be a state of the art facility,” Magnall said, “designed for optimum efficiency and reliability. It will operate 350 days a year, 24 hours a day. It will be equipped with effec tive emission control, designed to meet all regulatory standards.” Up to 10 fuel trucks an hour would bring in the wood supply and offload into the fuel pile. A conveyer replay ing system would feed the fuel into the facility. The tribes has agreed to dis pose of the ash waste. See WSTC on page 9 See BIOMASS on page 8 Tribes' fisheries recovery effort earns top honors By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo O ver the past decade, the Confeder ated Tribes and Portland General Elec tric have invested greatly in fish recov ery. The tribes and PGE have spent over $100 million on fisheries restoration in the Deschtes basin. The single biggest project has been the development and operation of the fish collection facility at the Round Butte hydroelectric dam. The facilities include the unique 273-foot fish col lection tower behind the dam. This effort by the tribes, through Warm Springs Power & Water Enter prises, and PGE has earned national recognition. Most recently, the National Hydro- power Association presented the tribes and PGE with the Outstanding Stew ards of American Waters award. This award recognizes large-scale and innovative projects that serve as models for the hydro industry. A lso this m onth, the A m erican Council o f Engineering Companies named the tribes, PGE, and the engi neering firm CH2M Hilll, as recipients of the council’s Grand Award. This award “recognizes projects that demonstrate a high degree of innova tion, achievement, and value.” Earlier, recognition came from the Edison Electric Institute, and the As so ciated G en eral C o n tracto rs o f America. The tribes’ and PGE’s fish recovery and habitat restoration program was developed as part of dam relicensing o f 2004. The dams are owned and operated by the tribes and PGE. The restoration work has involved cooperation among more than 20 lo cal, state and federal agencies, irriga tion districts and environmental groups. The facilities at the Round Butte dam are the single biggest component of the overall restoration work. The Round Butte and Pelton dams were built in the 1960s. Round Butte created Lake Billy Chinook. The lake had had no downstream surface current, until the construction and operation of the fish collection tower just a couple of years ago. With no current, the juvenile fish did not migrate downstream. Now, they follow the current to the tower, where they are collected, released and allowed to continue their migration. This resto ration reopens 226 upstream miles to salmon and steelhead migration. of Oregon diversity Received on: 04 Spilyay tymoo 1 »