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About Siletz news letter. (Siletz, Oregon) 1989-1997 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1996)
2 Tribal Chairman's Report From: Delores Plgsley Agreement Finalized for Construction of Permanent Gaming Center As a result of the hard work of the Ad Hoc Gaming Committee under the chairmanship of Jessie Davis, documents for financing the construction of the Chinook Winds Gaming and Convention Center were signed on Thursday March 21, 1996 in Salem, Oregon. Involved in the signing of the numerous documents were Jessid Davis and myself representing the T ribal Council^ Steve Erickson, Senior Vice President of Miller & Schroeder and Stacy Dodson, Senior Vice President of the U.S. Bank of Oregon. Acting under authority delegated by the Area Director of the BIA to the Acting Siletz Agency Superintendent, required documents were also signed by Gary Varner. The Agreement negotiated with M&S and the USNB represents From Jessie Davis a major accomplishment that means significant financial benefits to the Tribe. We must not forget that Chinook Winds is a culm ina tion of a w hole series of accomplishments by the Tribe. In a short period of time we have: * acquired prime coastal property in a major resort town * achieved congressional action requiring the Secretary to take the Lincoln City property into trust as part of the Tribe's reservation as of 1980, thus qualifying it for gaming under IGRA * negotiated a compact enabling the Tribe to operate a temporary gaming facility to generate funds for the permanent center * Successfully negotiated financing of terms exceptionally advantageous to the Tribe officials on matters vital to our Tribe. Council member Bensell Breon and Elder's Program Representative Wayne Case and j visited with, and provided updates on Siletz progress and issues to Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Mark Hatfield's staff, Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse and Congressman Jim Bunn. We specifically solicited their support for our land acquisition bill and for an amendment that will define our service area. Of m ajor im p ortan ce du rin g our Washington trip was a meeting with Chairman Harold Monteau and Executive Director Tom Acevedo of the N a tio n a li^n d ia n Gaming Commission. This was a follow-up to contacts made by Jessie Davis earlier to urge them to review and act upon our Consulting Agreement. NiGC determ in ation that our proposed agreem ent was a consulting and not a management agreement was needed. Without this, we could not have proceeded with the construction of our permanent gaming center. While in Washington, I had the oppor tunity to testify before the House Interior Committee on Indian Affairs in support of BIA and IHS funding of Iridian programs. The Committee on this particular day was chaired by Congressman Jim Bunn from our own congressional d is tric t There are burning national issues fueled by anti-Indian forces that are of great concern to the National Congress of American Indians and the National Indian Gaming Association. These anti-Indian forces are not only committed to undermine Indian gaming but to diminish Indian rights and tribal sovereignty. As Tribal Chairman, I strongly urge our members to become politically active and to vote for candidates that understand Indian issues and are supportive of Indian causes. Membership to Help Plan for Use of Gaming Revenues As Jessie Davis reports in greater detail in the Chinook Bulletin, the Ad Hoc Corhmittee is launching a major effort in April to get Tribal Member input on how the revenues from the gaming center should be used. Although basically governed by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the Tribe has a great deell of flexibility .to prepare and?.Implement a detailed plan within broad parameters set forth in IGRA. As Chairman, I urge all our members to be involved in the preparation and implementation of our plan. Contacts Made In Washington. D.C. Our tribal delegation spent a productive time in Washington D.C. during the National Congress of American Indian Convention. In addition to attending' sessions of critical national importance to tribes, we took the opportunity of making contacts with federal , c° /n City. Construction on Target We are only three months away from Grand Opening of the Chinook Winds Gaming and Convention Center! Construction started just five months ago on our 156,000 square foot facility. Despite encountering some horrible weather, amazing progress has been made - we are on target! AdHocComm itteeSuccessfullyNegotiatesFinancingandConsulting Agreements On Monday, March 17, 1995, Miller & Schroeder and the U.S. National Bank signed documents agreeing to provide $31 million to the Siletz Tribe for the construction of Chinook Winds. Miller and Schroeder, Financial, Inc., is a nationally established firm that is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in Denver, Seattle, Pasedena and other locations. The firm has completed over 2,700 financing projects in 42 states totaling $25.7 billion. It ranks nationally as one of the top fifty managing underwriters of tax exempt bonds and one of the top twenty-five managing underwriters of taxable revenue bonds. M & S has completed over 127 : •. jL J J C - ~ --------- ■ ■ i l l r. C- - .1 ....... 1—.... wiimir u iiiMi'miiwm... Chinook Winds Permanent Facility under construction and as ______ it looked the last week in March______ , _____ transactions totaling $271 million in gaming related enterprises, including $95 million in the last year alone. At the Tribe's request, the Management Agreement between the Tribe and Comstock was returned by the National Indian Gaming Commission without Commission action. Tribal officials reported to Harold Monteau, NIGC Chairman, that thé Tribe would be submitting, in its place, a Consulting Agreement for Commission review as required. The Consulting Agreement with Comstock under which the Tribe will pay a fixed fee for specific consultative services, was hand carried to VIGC
