OR. COLL.
JULY 1, 1998
19ga i
Tribe in dispute with Water
Association over hook-up costs
Fun in the Sun
Rodeos provide family fun for kids
and parents on Father's Day weekend
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YEE-HAA!!! More than
2,000 rodeo fans visited
the Grand Ronde Pow
wow grounds June 20 4
and 21 for the Third
Annual Spirit Mountain
Stampede. Events
included steer
wrestling, calf roping,
bull riding, breakaway,
barrel racing, and a
clown act for the kids.
LEFT: A participant
does his best to hang
on during his saddle
bronc competition.
BELOW: Kids gathered
at the Health and
Wellness Center for the
Bike Safety Rodeo.
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Help plan the Tribe's financial future
The Tribal Council is conducting a
series of community meetings. The
Council recognizes that a critical
challenge facing the Tribe is, "How
do we utilize tribal revenues to pro
vide benefits to members 'now',
while providing for their physical
and financial well-being for genera
tions to come?" Through these meet
ings, Council will ask members,
"What is the proper balance of put
ting money into existing programs, "
while saving for the future?"
Meetings will be held at the follow
ing locations:
July 1, 1998 from 5:30 to 8:30
p.m. in Eugene at Lane Community
College, 4000 E. 30th Ave., Phys.
Ed. Bldg., Rm 205.
July 13, 1998 from 5:30 to 8:30
p.m. in Grand Ronde at the Commu
nity Center.
July 23, 1998 from 5:30 to 8:30
p.m. in Bend, location to be an
nounced. (This meeting has been re
scheduled from July 16.)
The meetings will be conducted in
a group format. " Members will pro
vide input, which will be recorded
and sent back to members. Council
will use the information to make de
cisions about the Tribe's future.
By Oscar Johnson
The Grand Ronde Tribe is taking
the local Water Association to court
over what it deems unfair fees
charged for installing a water line to
the Grand Meadows housing park
and has filed a stipulated temporary
Restraining Order to prevent the util
ity group from shutting off water ser
vices to the community.
Tribal attorneys filed a temporary
Restraining Order June 18 in re
sponse to the Water Association's
threat to shut off water service to the
residential park which houses some
70 tribal members. The shut off no
tice is an answer to the Tribe's re
fusal to pay the alleged excess
hookup fees.
A Declaratory Action was filed with
the Polk County Trial Court on July
11 by the Tribe with the intent of re
solving a 16-month-old debate over
how much the Tribe should pay the
Water Association for connecting a
water line to the new park in Jan.
1997.
The Grand Ronde Water Associa
tion, of which the Tribe is a member,
has not yet responded to the suit and
has 30 days to do so, said Tribal At
torney, Rob Greene. The Tribe
maintains the park should only be
charged $2,500, the price for a single
water main hook up, since the Asso
ciation only installed one line. But
the Association stands by an invoice
sent to the Tribe on Feb. 7, 1997 bill
ing the Tribe $92,500 - $2,500 for
each of the 37 units in the park.
(There are currently 21 occupied
units in Grand Meadows.) Tribal at
torneys say it is unfair to charge the
Tribe as if it were 37 separate mem
bers while still allowing them only
one vote and that they are being
charged more than other Association
members for the same service.
Greene said this is contrary to the
Association's own bylaws. He also
cites a similar 1971 Oregon Supreme
Court case which ruled that an at
tempt by the Knappa Water Associa
tion to charge a mobile park multiple
fees for each trailer hook up, instead
of billing the park as one unit like
other association members, was dis
criminatory. But Water Association attorney,
Jerry Brown, maintains that the fee
is fair and consistent with the way the
utility group has always done busi
ness in Grand Ronde.
"Our intent is not to do anything
that would hurt or damage the Tribe
in any way," said Brown who insists
the fees reflect the long term water
needs of Grand Ronde. "The Tribe
is merely being asked to carry its fair
share."
The lawsuit comes after negotiation
attempts by the two parties broke
down earlier this month.
Talks began after tribal attorneys
notified the Water Association that
they would not pay the multiple fees
and submitted a check for the price
of a single water line hookup. The
Association returned the check with
an offer to reduce the fee to $2,012
for each of the 37 units totaling
$74,444. Tribal officials rejected the
proposal.
In April the Tribe countered the of
fer with a proposal to deduct the cost
it payed to connect each of the 37
units ($2,355.37 per unit) to the line
installed by the Water Association
from the overall charge but the util
ity company refused the $5,351.31
offer. The Tribe's proposal to sub
mit the dispute to arbitration was re
jected by the Association earlier this
month, and tribal attorneys filed a re
quest for a declaratory judgement
from the state courts that would back
the one-time hookup fee.
Member Benefit Fund Distribution
The Tribal Council has passed a resolution allocating $1,000 to each
member through the Member Benefit Program. For those eligible, with
drawal requests received in our offices by June 30, 1998, will generate
checks to be mailed on July 15, 1998. If you missed the June 30th dead
line, the next payment date will be August 10, 1998. You must have your
application to us no later than July 31, 1998. If you have any questions
regarding the application process or your beneficiary, you can contact
Liz Leno at 1-800-422-0232, extension 2082.