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CHASTA
UMPQUA
MOLALLA
KALAPUYA
ROGUE RIVER
A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe
April 15, 2000
Tribal Coy ncil, staff reach out to
membership in cominrDDJiiniDtv meetiinigs
Education, Health and Elder's benefits are top concern for most members.
By Brent Merrill
A series of community meetings
was held in March in an effort to put
Tribal Council and tribal staff more
in touch with the needs of tribal
members throughout the state.
The meetings began in Tualatin
on Monday, March 20. Other meet
ings were held in Eugene on Thurs
day, March 23, Grand Ronde on
Monday March 27 and Bend on
Thursday, March 30.
Tribal Council started each meet
ing with introductions and greetings,
then staff members presented an
overview of the Tribe's main projects.
Capital Projects Manager John
Mercier presented each of the
Tribe's capital projects over the last
ten years. Mercier detailed the
Tribe's move to modular offices in
late 1990 and the construction of the
Tribe's community center as well as
the establishment of the Tribe's pow
wow grounds.
He explained how the availability
of water has affected the growth of
the Tribe and each of its local en
deavors. Mercier also talked about
the development of the Tribe's Spirit
Mountain Casino and how the local
water supply figured into the casino
plans. All three phases of the
casino's construction and expansion
were detailed by Mercier in his pre
sentations. The Tribe's Grand Meadows hous
ing project was presented by Mer
cier and he explained the need for
housing in Grand Ronde.
He also gave information to the
membership about the Tribe's
Health and Wellness Center.
"It is a 30,000 square-foot facility
that consolidated all the Tribe's
health services into one nice, big
place," said Mercier.
The Tribe's new showcase Gover
nance Center was next on the list
and Mercier explained how the
40,000-plus square-foot building
now houses many of the Tribe's va
riety of program services as well as
the Tribal Council meeting chambers
and offices.
Mercier talked about the Tribe's
five-story Spirit Mountain Lodge lo
cated at the Spirit Mountain Casino.
"The construction period for the
Lodge was from October of 1997
through December of 1998," said
Mercier. "It has 100 rooms and has
provided overnight lodging that
has been quite successful since its
opening."
The Tribe's Natural Resource build
ing and the new Elder housing
project were also discussed. Mercier
explained that the Elder housing con
sists of 38 units approximately 900
to 1,200 square-feet in size.
"The project got underway last
year in June and should be com
pleted by August of this year," ex
plained Mercier. "We are growing
so fast. As you can see, we have ac
complished quite a bit of develop
ment in the community of Grand
Ronde. This is a pretty intense sce
nario of the development we have
accomplished. I'm quite proud of all
these projects and the progress we
have made in the last decade."
Future development projects were
also listed by Mercier and he ex
plained those projects would be pri
oritized by Tribal Council based on
information received at the commu
nity meetings.
continued on page 4
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Tribal Council member Bob Haller (center) talks with tribal members
at the Grand Ronde community meeting on Monday, March 27.
Deputy Director of Operations Chris Leno (standing left) helped
gather information from the membership that will be used to
determine future program services. Photos by Brent Merrill
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These projects are the
desire of our membership and
of our Council your requests
do not fall on deaf ears, but
they do have to be worked into
a plan that is realistic.
John Mercier
Capital Projects Manager
John Mercier (top left) facilitates a
small group discussion in Tualatin.
Left: Only one tribal member and
her husband showed up for the
community meeting in Bend.
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
Community of Oregon
9615 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347
Address Service Requested
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Un i ver s i t y of Oregon Li brary
Received on: Z4-19-8B
Our tribal veterans have began an effort of establishing a Veterans' Memorial to
honor all veterans of the Grand Ronde, Willamina and Sheridan communities.
The Memorial will be built on tribal property just south of the governance building.
The Veterans' Committee would like to invite all interested veterans to come to
the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tribal
Community Center. Committee officers will be elected and an update on the
project will be discussed. This is a very big project and we need all the help we
can get to complete it. Help us make this very worthwhile project happen.