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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1998)
2 Local News Smoke Signals Elders' Housing in early planning stages By Oscar Johnson Folksy one and two bedroom homes nestled in a rural country land scape and encompassed with foot paths will soon be available to Grand Ronde Elders along with affordable rent, said tribal housing officials. Elders could start moving into their new community as soon as fall of next year, according to an optimistic schedule given by Grand Ronde Housing Director, Linda Layden. The plan for the roughly 10 acre sight has recently been approved by the Housing Authority Board of Commis sioners and building infrastructure such as roads, sewage lines and other utilities is slated to start in October, said Layden. It will have a "clustered design with a rural feel," Layden said. "Not the typical de;ose suburban setting. It will be more like the country road with a group of buildings at the end." The residential community will house tribal Elders with low to mod erate income (between $25,400 to $29,400) for about 30 percent of their annual income. Plans include 38 two-bedroom duplex, triplex or quadplex units with a patio, covered porch and carport. All the units will be handicap accessible or adaptable. Projected cost for the undertaking is estimated to be about $3 million and is funded in part by grants from Housing & Urban Development (HUD) that were accrued over the last two years. In addition to the federal funding, a bond acquired by the Tribe will also help pay for the infastructure, according to Layden. Despite recent progress, the Hous ing Authority has had limited success in getting community input for the project. Since April the Division has held seven meetings to solicit ideas on the design and layout of the project from those who might be us ing the new facilities but few have participated, Layden said. "It's hard to tell what people want if only a few people show up," said Layden. "If there are 100 people and only 2 show up is that a good repre sentation?" Although community participation in the Elder housing development is sparse, the Housing Authority is poised to start building what Layden says is the first stage of a lager mas ter plan. The master plan, she said, will eventually include an Elder commu nity center, a larger facility for se nior assisted living, and two units for adult foster care. There is also a de tailed plan to extend the foot paths down to Agency Creek where devel opers hope to plant a few picnic tables. "Other stuff is still in the air," said Layden. The additional plans are not firm and will depend upon the evolv ing needs of the Tribe but she added that, "it will happen some time in the future. " It is expected that once con struction is com plete on the first 38 units it will not take long for them to fill up. Layden says there is currently a waiting list of about 50 Elders but not all will qualify or be inter ested in the new rental homes. She encourages those interested to apply as soon as possible. Linda Layden points out on a local ing project will be located. "(Tribal Elders) are welcomed to ap ply. The units are on a first come first serve basis," Layden said. "We don't know what kind of deductions apply yet so even if people are over the (income) limit they should apply anyway." Elders interested in applying for a rental in the new low to moderate in come housing set to open late next year should contact the Division's Oc cupancy Specialist, Brian Langley, at (503) 879-2467. ; jrI.. 14 A ' ,4 area map where the Elders' nous- Photo by Oscar Johnson Tribal teen likes working at pre-school Smith appointed to advisory committee By Tracy Dugan Tribal member Brian Krehbiel is helping all the kids from Twa Sun chako Learning Center get ready for their graduation at the Community Center. He's got three and four year olds asking him questions and tug ging at his pant leg, but he doesn't mind. Brian is the teacher's aide for the pre-school, and loves being around the kids all day. During this past school year, Brian worked part-time at Twa Sunchako, and is now there full-time for the sum mer. He just graduated from Wil laniina High School, and wants to at tend Chemeketa Community College in the fall to study accounting. He said his job has been great. "There are twenty-one kids here every day," he said. "Most of them are tribal kids. It's fun to watch them during their play time outside." Some of Brian's responsibilities in clude supervising the kids on their playground, watching them during inside activities, making sure they all take their naps, and waking them up from their naps. Brian said, "I was a member of the Native American Club at my high school. Lisa Leno asked me if I would be interested in this job, and she and Vikki Bishop interviewed me." Vikki Bishop is the head teacher at the pre-school, and Lisa Leno is the Youth Leadership Coordinator for the Education Division. "Being around the kids is really fun," Brian said. "There's not a lot of jobs where you get a hug when you walk in the door." 1! 1 4 Brian Krehbiel with this year's pre-school class before graduation. The Grand Ronde Gaming Commission is lending a hand in setting national standards for Native American owned casinos. Joe Smith, Director of the Grand Ronde Gaming Commis sion was last month appointed to a seven member advisory com mittee that began hashing out rec ommendations they will make to the National Indian Gaming Com mission (NIGC). Smith and six other tribal gam ing officials from New York, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Michi gan, Montana and South Dakota met in Washington D.C. on June 3 and again on the 25th to help develop Minimum Internal Con trol Standards (MICS). "The meetings are very intense. It's an extreme workload," Smith said re ferring to three-inch-thick copies of the MICS draft and revisions the group studied, discussed and apprized dur ing the set of two day meetings. The new MICS will regulate func tions such as who will transport cash boxes kept at casino gaming tables, who has access to the keys and how as well as where the money is counted. The guidelines are based on minimum requirements used by the gaming industry in Nevada, said Smith. The Advisory Committee hopes to make its recommendations to NIGC within the next few weeks. Smith added that NIGC hopes the lMj Joe Smith new guidelines will be on the books by this fall giving Native owned casi nos about six months to comply. What changes the new law will bring for casinos will vary, Smith said, but they should have little ef fect on Grand Ronde's Spirit Moun tain Casino. "We have kind of a leg up on this because before we opened the Casino in 95' we got together with the Gam ing Commission and decided to very closely follow the Nevada stan dards," Smith said. "I don't foresee there being a any changes of a sig nificant nature for us which is not true for many of the other tribes especially the smaller tribes."
