Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Skatepark
opening in
the new year
The new skatepark at Elmer
Quinn Park in Warm Springs
should be ready to roll by mid to
late January, depending on weather
conditions. And the grand open-
ing event may wait until spring, also
depending on the weather.
“With cold temperatures it is dif-
ficult to have the cement cure,”
said Michael Collins, director of
Warm Springs Managed Care and
skatepark advocate. “And snowfall
and below-freezing temperatures
contribute to delays.”
Still, “We are excited about the
park for the community, and we
will open it as soon as it is ready,”
Mr. Collins said.
A recent contribution of
$10,000 has come from the Tribal
Council, through the Health and
Human Services Branch, match-
ing a contribution from Jefferson
County. “We want to thank them
for their ongoing commitment to
the youth of our commununity,”
Michael said. “We’re think they’re
very pleased with the progress, and
we’re are all looking forward with
excitement and anticipation to the
opening of the skatepark,” he said.
The skatepark opening will be
the fulfillment of two years of
planning, fundraising and hard
work.
The project began in 2021,
when Scott Koerner of the Tac-
tics skate shop in Portland con-
tacted the tribes, asking if there was
interest in a new local skatepark.
A member of Mr. Koerner’s team
was from Warm Springs, and this
had given him the idea. Then sev-
eral Oregon companies—Collec-
tive Concrete, the Skatepark
Project (formerly the Tony Hawk
Foundation) and Ginew clothing,
for example—gave their support
with Tribal Council and tribal de-
partments.
And he Warm Springs Commu-
nity Action Team agreed to help
as a financial sponsor. Major do-
nors for the project are the tribes,
Skatepark Project, Tactics, Ginew,
PacificSource of Central Oregon,
Visit Central Oregon, the PTM
Foundation and the Dehen Com-
pany.
Coming up at
Tribal Council
Tribal Council will be in session
in 2023 starting on Tuesday, Janu-
ary 3. On the agenda that morning
are updates from the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of
Trust Funds Administration.
Some other items that day are
Realty topics with BIA Realty; a
Covid-19 update with the Response
Team; legislative conference calls,
and an update from the tribal attor-
neys. Some items the following day
are discussion of the Statewide
Transportation Fund; updates with
the Indian Head Casino-Plateau
Travel Plaza team (see page 2 for
the agenda).
December 28, 2022 - Vol. 47, No. 26
December – Nch’i-An - Winter - Yiyam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
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PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Kah-Nee Hot Springs Resort in 2023
Construction workers are
on the job and making great
progress on the Kah-Nee-Ta
Hot Springs Resort Village
Phase 1 reopening project. A
central feature of the Village
resort—the series of large
pools, including hot spring
pools, each unique in its own
way—is beginning to take
shape. This part of the overall
revisioning and renovation has
been very involved: The com-
plex of underground water
pipes to and from the six pools,
for instance, has been an engi-
neering and construction feat
in itself.
Some aspects of the resort
will be familiar to return visi-
tors. The existing building foot-
prints will remain essentially the
same, along with the founda-
tions and structures, said Jim
Souers, CEO of War m
Springs Economic Develop-
ment. Much of the interiors of
the buildings, furnishings and
amenities will be renovated and
there will be a new restaurant
and grill located in the old gift
shop space , Mr. Souers said.
The natural hot springs wa-
ter, a star feature of the Vil-
lage, will feed the three large
soaking pools of varying tem-
peratures from 92 to 102 °F
and one clover shaped youth
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Construction crew working on
the new pools at the Kah-
Nee-Ta Hot Springs Resort
(above); and the architect’s
conceptual rendering of the
pool area when finished.
soaking pool. The recreational pools
will include a lazy river-like pool
with a flowing current surrounding
an inner pool. There will also be a
children’s zero depth entrance play
pool. The new pools will include
handicap accessible accommoda-
tions.
Some other new features will in-
clude twenty semi-private hot
springs 4 to 6 person soaking tubs
WS Economic Development
overlooking the Warm Springs
River. Also, in the pool area there
will 15 shade cabanas each with a
mini-refrigerator, LCD screen, sofa
and personal device power source.
The greatly expanded lounging area
around the pools is also new and
will include 18 smaller two-person
shade cabanas.
KNT RESORT continues on 5
$23.8 million for tribes’ water system
The Confederated Tribes will
receive close to $24 million to
help replace the Warm Springs
Water Treatment Plant, through
funding provided by the Indian
Health Service and the U.S. En-
vironmental Protection Agency.
The existing treatment plant
serves the Agency area of the
reser vation—about 3,800
people, the War m Springs
Academy, Indian Head Casino,
the museum, etc. The plant for
years has posed a serious health
problem: Delivery of sufficient
clean drinking water at times has
been impossible, requiring
people to boil water before us-
age, and complete water out-
ages.
Part of the problem has
been the aging water lines,
though the treatment plant it-
self is also a fundamental
source of the problem. The
current plant was built in the
1980s, and is now well past its
serviceable life. Finding re-
placement parts, for instance,
can be a challenge: At times,
such as last March following a
fire at the plant, replacement
parts had to be specially made
in order to function with the
rest of the dated system.
Most concerning of all, wa-
ter outages and boil water no-
tices happened at the height of
the covid pandemic, when clean
water was literally a matter of
life and death.
Tribal leaders for years have
The Warm Springs Water Treatment plant by the Deschutes River; and below, earlier this
year, leaders with IHS, including IHS director Roselyn Tso, tour the treatment plant with
Chico Holliday, Utilities general manager, and Council members.
made domestic water safety a top
priority. Finding the necessary large
amount of funding has been the
obstacle. Over the past few years,
Tribal Council has worked especially
closely with Oregon U.S. Senators
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley.
When Congress passed the Bi-
Partisan Infrastructure Law of
2021, the Senators helped ensure
funding was included to address the
Warm Springs water situation.
This allowed IHS and the EPA
last week to announce the $23.8
million award for a new treatment
plant. This is the largest tribal water
system award in the history of EPA
Region 10, which includes all of the
Pacific Northwest and 271 tribal
nations.
“We’re proud to be a part of such
a historic investment in the commu-
nity,” said Casey Sixkiller, EPA Re-
gion 10 administrator.
The current treatment plant, lo-
cated in the Dry Creek area, draws
water from the Deschutes River for
Utilities
treatment and distribution. The new
plant will also use the Deschutes as
the water source. The work will
begin in 2023. A completion date
is not yet set, although the design
phase is expected to start soon.
WATER continues on 5