Smoke Signals December 1 993
Page 5
PUBLIC WORKS
Questions About Future Housing Answered
Submitted By the Tribal Public Works Division
Housing. This one word brings many questions. When
will the Tribe build houses? Howmany houses will be built? Who
will live in the houses? Will there be elders' housing? Where will
the houses be? What kind ofhouses will be built? These questions,
and many more are the result of that one word, and a result of the
Tribe's restoration, reservation, establishment of tribal revenues,
and re-establishment of the Grand Ronde community homelands.
They are very good questions, but unfortunately, the answers have
many complications. In an effort to help answer some of these
questions, the Public Works Division will make a presentation
about housing to the tribal membership at a future General Council
meeting.
Although this presentation is scheduled in the near
future, this article is intended to introduce interested tribal members
to tribal housing opportunities. Hopefully, this article will answer
some questions. Most importantly, this article is written to help
generate some tribal member input This input is essential in
determining how the tribal organization may fulfill tribal housing
needs. Important information from the tribal membership could
help the Tribe develop a quality housing program.
It could benefit the readers to first consider some history.
Tribal member housing concerns began during the development of
the Reservation Plan. Some interviewed tribal members indicated
they would like to live and work in Grand Ronde ifhousing and jobs
were available. Those interviews identified the initial housing
need. The interviews also identified other needs such as health
care, employment opportunities, and education to name a few. Ths
Tribal Council became aware of these needs and began exploring
opportunities to help tribal members fulfill their needs. After years
ofhard work, the Reservation Act was passed in 1 988 that returned
part of the original reservation land base to the Tribe. This land
base immediately provided timber revenues to the Tribe and
enabled the Tribe to pursue economic development opportunities
for tribal government and members.
Since the passing of the Reservation Act, and even
before that, the Restoration Act, the tribal organization has added
many new programs. This addition of programs caused the Tribe
to grow in personnel and services. Since the recently returned
partial reservation was only timber lands, there was no place on
these lands to develop any buildings. As the Tribe continued to
grow, there came a need to establish a homelands base in the Grand
Ronde community. The Tribe soon purchased properties in Grand
Ronde and built offices on the property. This property provided
office space for the tribal programs.
Today, these offices are fully utilized. Among the
programs there resides the Housing Improvement Program (HIP).
The HIP Program assists tribal members with improving or buying
existing houses only. Funding for the program is limited and allows
no potential for new housing construction. These limitations are a
result of federal and tribal regulations. In order to pursue tribal
housing opportunities, the Tribe is developing a tribal housing
program.
Tribal housing programs are generally funded through
local, state, and federal government agencies. Any combination of
funding agencies could be utilized to fund tribal housing programs.
Unfortunately, these agencies have their own regulations that the
tribal housing program must follow. This makes the Tribe proceed
with caution as the program develops. Here are some of the more
common questions asked about housing:
When will the Tribe build houses?
This question depends upon one important condition that
must be resolved before the Tribe can build houses. The condition
is the lack of infrastructure. Today, there is a no new hook-up
moratorium imposed by the local water association. This means
that even if the houses are built today, the water for the homes
would not be available. The Tribe is working with the local water
association to resolve this issue. There are also some concerns
regarding the local sewer district The Tribe is working with the
sewer district to address some of these concerns.
On the brighter side
This is an example of what a subdivision in Grand Ronde might look like.
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n
of the infrastructure issue, the
Tribe is happy to report that the
Bureau oflndian Affairs intends
to construct a new road for the
Tribe. This road will serve a
new housing development.
Engineering for the road is
scheduled to begin this winter.
It isnot possible to say when the
road will be completed, but the
Tribe hopes to have it built
within the next one to two years.
These infrastructure conditions
are currently a top priority in
tribal development of housing
and facilities. Working together,
we hope to resolve some of these
conditions for the benefit of the
entire community.
How many houses will be
built?
When the
infrastructure conditions are
resolved, this question will
depend on funding. If funding
becomes available, the Tribe
intends to build ten or eleven
lots and maybe some multi
family dwellings. There are
many government programs
available to assist with housing
construction. Most of the
programs have complicated
regulations that must be
followed before the Tribe can
build houses. The Tribe must
consider these funding sources,
and make a determination as to
which sources may best assist
the Tribe The Tribe must also consider housing demands before
an actual number of units are considered.
Who will live in the houses?
Tribal families will be given top priority as houses
become available. A tribal family must demonstrate they are
capable of occupying a home. This means they must be able to
afford a house and be able to take care of it. The best way for the
Tribe to assure these abilities requires research into tribal family
backgrounds. Abilities are generally determined by developing an
application process. This process is very similar to what happens
when families fill out rental applications for rental units. The best
looking applications will be assigned top priority when houses are
available. The Tribe must determine the criteria for housing
applications, and they must be available before any houses are
completed. Again, it is important to note that if a family is
interested in living in a tribal house, the must show ability to occupy
the house.
Will there be elders' housing?
Yes. This question depends on what kind of housing is
best suited for interested elders. Elders' housing is a unique type
ofhousing structure with special needs and endless possibilities on
the type of housing to set up. The Tribe intends on utilizing the
recently established Elders' Committee to address this issue.
Together, we hope to determine how many elders' unit to build, the
size of the units, the kind of care required for each, and to carefully
plan out the elders' housing development.
Where will the houses be?
The houses will be in the Grand Ronde community.
Through various planning exercises, the Tribe determined areas
that appear to be best suited for housing. The first specific location
for a subdivision targets the twenty acre property where the tribal
Alcohol and Drug program currently resides. This property lies
approximately one-quarter mile north of the tribal main offices.
Other properties are currently being researched for housing potential,
but such properties are not specified at this time.
What kind of homes will the Tribe build?
This question depends on housing demand and
affordability. The demand for housing comes from the tribal
membership. The Tribe must research what kind of demands are
out there. Do tribal members want single family houses with one,
two, or three bedrooms? Do they want apartments, townhouses or
multiplexes? What size of lots do they want to live on? As these
questions are researched and answered, the Tribe must then
determine how to make the housing affordable to the occupants.
The Tribe must not develop expensive subdivisions with expensive
houses. On the other hand, the Tribe does not want to develop
cheap housing and end up with a substandard housing development.
The Tribe desires to build the kind ofhouses that will stand the test
of time, be affordable, and promote a standard of living we can all
be comfortable with.
As these questions are asked of the Tribe, each individual
tribal member who is interested in housing must ask themselves
some important questions: Can I afford a house? How much can I
spend per month to pay for a house? Can I take care of my house?
The best way an individual can answer these questions is to begin
with the circumstances of hisher life. Am I paying my bills on
time? What are my current payments in comparison to what I am
paid? Am I getting ahead financially? Do I enjoy working on my
house and yard? We all must start planning for tomorrow's houses,
today.
This article was intended to be short and just an
introduction into tribal housing opportunities. A few questions and
issues were brought forth for readers to consider. The Public
Works Division sincerely hopes the readers understand some of the
complications of tribal housing opportunities. There are also other
issues to consider. One concluding remark to keep in mind: We
must work together to make housing and all other tribal activities
successful. Success depends on careful planning, design,
development, and upkeep of all houses, facilities and even programs.
Most important of all, success takes time.