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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 2009)
Smoke Signals 3 OCTOBER 15, 2009 Gtramxril Komi die Ih jpjp 3 mi g wtoh coimsirycDom) General Council briefed on several projects, including new fire station By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor Although work on Grand Ronde Road is complete, area residents will not see much of a break in con struction activity as work begins this fall on several Tribal projects. Tribal member and Tribal Direc tor of Development Peter Wakeland and Tribal member and Tribal Pub lic Works Director Lewis Younger briefed Tribal members on the . myriad projects occurring this fall, winter and spring during the Oct. 4 General Council meeting held in the Tribal Community Center. Projects include construction of a new fire station in Grand Ronde and expansion work on the Tribal Community Center and Tribal Health & Wellness Center. Wakeland first tackled the new fire station, which the Tribe will build at 28480 McPherson Road. Wakeland said the fire station will enhance fire protection and emergency medical services in the Grand Ronde area by reducing response times from West Valley Fire District staff stationed in Wil lamina. It also will provide career training and opportunities for Tribal members, improve protec tion of Spirit Mountain Casino, and save lives and property. The Tribe will construct and furnish the 5,642-square-foot build ing, as well as buy a new fire truck and ambulance to be stationed in Grand Ronde. The West Valley Fire District will operate the sta tion and provide administration and training. Wakeland said the budget for the fire station is $2.7 million, with construction accounting for $1 million. The single-story fire station will include two bays, two offices and three dorm rooms that can house six people. The station will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by two fire district em ployees. The station will employ six staffers, all of whom will be firefighters. Four of them also will be certified emergency medical technicians. The Tribe will pay the cost of employee salaries. Wakeland said the fire station will be completed in March 2010 with occupancy slated for April. Tribal member Eric Dernando asked if the new firefighting equip ment will quell previous concerns about the fire district's ability to properly respond to an emergency at Spirit Mountain Casino. Wakeland said that the Tribe's purchase of a new fire truck with a ladder and aerial water capabilities has "gone a long way in improv ing our relationship with the fire district." Tribal Elder Violet Folden asked what would happen to the Tribe's recycling center at the corner of Grand Ronde and McPherson roods during construction of the fire sta tion. Wakeland said the recycling 1 Photo by Dean Rhodes Tribal mambar and Tribal Diractor of Davalopmant Patar Wakaland discussas construction of a naw fira station in Grand Ronda during tha Oct. 4 Ganaral Council maating in tha Tribal Community Cantar. Tha Triba and Wast Vallay Fira District ara working togathar to build and parmanantly staff tha fira station on McPharson Road. center would be moved temporar ily during construction and, longer term, might return to a site near the fire station. Wakeland added that any Tribal members interested in information about Chemeketa Community Col lege's two-year firefighter program should contact him. From the fire station, Younger took over and quickly briefed Tribal members about the construction projects occurring at the Commu nity Center and Health & Wellness Center. Younger said the more than 2,000-square-foot Indian Child ' Welfare offices expansion to the south side of the Tribal Community Center would begin construction on or around Oct. 20 and be completed in March 2010. The expansion is funded by a $500,000 federal block grant with $167,000 in matching Tribal funds. The expansion will allow for bet ter confidentiality and security for Indian Child Welfare workers and clients, Younger said. Expansion work on the Tribal Health & Wellness Center will in clude three projects - dental wing addition, Wellness Program office expansion and reconstruction of the Tribal Pharmacy. A combination of U.S. Housing and Urban Devel opment, Indian Health Service, American Recovery and Reinvest ment Act and federal block grants are paying for most of the work. Younger praised Tribal Planning & Grants Development Manager Kim Rogers for garnering more than $2 million in federal grants for the expansion work while only obli gating $242,254 in Tribal funds. In addition to the building expan sions and remodels, the Health & Wellness Clinic will receive a new seam metal roof, upgraded heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and new carpeting funded by $844,000 in grants. Younger said the dental expan sion work should start Nov. 1 and be finished by March 2010. It will add 1,900 square feet to the dental wing and seven state-of-the-art dental operatories. Work on the Wellness Office ex pansion, which will also add 1,900 square feet to the medical wing, will add five new exam rooms, a physical therapy room, six new of fices and a waiting and conference room. Younger said the project is currently in the design phase. "What are these projects about? They are about the membership," Younger said. That's us. Our chil dren. Our children's children. They are about comfort, convenience and confidentiality." Tribal member Bryan Mercier asked if the Tribe has made a fi nancial commitment to maintain and keep the expanded programs going. Tribal Health & Wellness As sistant Executive Director Allyson Lecatsas said that the expanded programs, such as dental with seven more chairs and the larger Pharmacy, should pay for them selves. "For the Pharmacy, if we have more inventory, hopefully more Tribal members will use the Phar macy," she said. "That will save the Tribe a tremendous amount of money because we pay government pricing (for drugs) and not retail." Lecatsas said that the only new employees required by the expan sion projects will be one new full time dentist and a full-time dental assistant. Health & Wellness Executive Director Mark Johnston has pre viously said that increased client numbers and income should pay for any new employees. Tribal member and Spirit Moun tain. Community Fund Director Shelley Hanson asked if the Tribe was incorporating green technolo gies into the expansion construc tion projects. Younger said it would cost the Tribe 15 percent more to build green and increase construction delays by 30 percent. Younger said it was wiser to construct the buildings now with the federal grants awarded and then use future grants to retrofit the buildings with green technol ogy, such as solar power cells on the roofs. However, Tribal Council mem ber Valorie Sheker said the Tribe should "build it green to begin with" while Hanson encouraged Tribal Council to develop construction policies "to support our standards of being good stewards of the land" by incorporating green technolo gies in the upfront costs of future projects. Younger said that some of the worksuch as the air system im provements to the Health & Well ness Center, will be green in that it they will upgrade effectiveness from about 80 percent to 95 per cent. "This will improve customer comfort throughout the building and reduce the cost of utilities," he said. In other action: Tribal Elders Ken Gregg and Nadine McNutt and guest Heather Holaway won the $50 door prizes and Tribal member Bryan Mercier won the $100 door prize. Gregg donated his prize to the Grand Ronde Food Bank while Mercier donated his prize to the Grand Ronde Library. The next General Council meet ing will be held 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, in the Tribal Community Center in Grand Ronde. B Save ftCne dlateS 26th Tribal Restoration Celebration Sunday, Nov. 22, Tribal Gymnasium. Contact Public Affairs at 503-879-1418 for more infor mation or see upcoming article in Smoke Signals.
