S moke S ignals
FEBRUARY 1, 2015
Tribal Council OKs agreements
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council approved two
agreements during its Wednes-
day, Jan. 28, meeting.
The first agreement with the
U.S. Department of the Inte-
rior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs
will allow the Tribe to access its
transportation funding from the
federal government. The Tribe is
scheduled to receive $182,679.73
in fiscal year 2015.
The other agreement will allow
Grand Ronde Tribal Police Chief
Al LaChance, with the approval
of the General Manager’s Office,
to enter into intergovernmental
agreements and memoranda
of understanding involving the
operation of the Tribal Police
Department with local counties
and jurisdictions for calendar
year 2015.
LaChance can enter into agree-
ments regarding mutual aid,
deadly force plans, radio use,
dispatch and communication,
jailing, prosecution protocols, and
records and evidence retention.
In other action, Tribal Council
corrected the blood quantum of
six Tribal members.
Also included in the Jan. 28
Tribal Council packet were au-
thorizations to proceed that
transferred $1,890 from contin-
gency to Emergency Operations
to buy Community Emergency
Response Team training bags
and allocated another $1,800
to purchase food for individuals
taking the eight-week CERT
trainings being held in Grand
Ronde.
Tribal Council also directed
the Tribal Attorney’s Office to
draft amendments to the Chil-
dren and Families Ordinance
that will, if approved, provide
notice to grandparents before
hearings in dependency matters.
Tribal Council member Jon A.
George and Land and Culture
employees Travis Mercier, Brian
Krehbiel, Jan Looking Wolf Rei-
bach and Mike Karnosh opened
the meeting with cultural drum-
ming and singing.
The meeting, in its entirety,
can be viewed on the new Tribal
website, www.grandronde.org,
under the News tab and then
click on the Video link. n
West Valley district
seeking Fire Explorers
The West Valley Fire District, which covers Grand Ronde, Willamina and
Sheridan, is seeking youths for its Fire Explorer Program.
Young men and women age 14 to 20 will become familiar with career oppor-
tunities in the fire service through classroom instruction, hands-on training and
volunteer work. The program encourages and promotes accountability, safety,
communication, teamwork, fitness and leadership. Participants must attend
weekly drills from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturdays, adhere to dress and conduct codes,
perform weekly physical fitness and training specific to firefighting skills, and
demonstrate a willingness to make improvements and show self-motivation.
For more information, contact Fire Explorer Post 908 adviser Seth Bellarts
at 503-437-2046. n
Historic Oregon Newspapers
adds Tribal papers
7
Grand Ronde water
‘back to normal’
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
After more than two months
of testing and cleaning its water
delivery system, the Grand Ronde
Community Water Association
declared its system back to normal
on Friday, Jan. 16.
Water Association Manager Karl
Ekstrom said that the PVC piping
in the distribution system was cre-
ating positive coliform samples due
to the presence of bio-film, which
is any group of microorganisms in
which cells stick to each other on
a surface, such as the inside of a
pipe.
“We cleaned our tanks, then
added chlorine to the water and
flushed the chlorine throughout
the system,” Ekstrom said in the
notice declaring the water system
clean. “After we flushed the chlo-
rine out of the system, we took five
follow-up samples and they were
all good.”
In a phone interview, Ekstrom
said the 40-year-old water system
will continue to see the buildup of
bio-film if there is no chlorine in
the system.
“It has happened two to three
times in the last 20 years that I
have been here,” Ekstrom said.
“I think we will go to every year
or every other year dousing the
system with chlorine.”
In late October, the Water Asso-
ciation, which has more than 950
service connections in the area,
alerted customers that coliform
bacteria had been detected in two
of the five water samples taken
that month. The drinking water
standard is that no more than one
sample per month may indicate
the presence of coliform bacteria.
Coliform bacteria are naturally
present in the environment and
are used as an indicator that other,
potentially harmful bacteria may
be present
A notice was sent out to Wa-
ter Association customers that
characterized the situation as
a non-emergency and said that
users did not need to boil water.
However, it added, “If you have
specific health concerns, consult
your doctor. People with severely
compromised immune systems,
infants and some elderly may be
at increased risk.”
The Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde advised its employ-
ees and members not to drink tap
water and switch to drinking bot-
tled water. It also taped off water
fountains in Tribal buildings and
made sure that Tribal residents re-
ceived a copy of the notice. Bottled
water was supplied to those who
might be more vulnerable to in-
fection, such as the young, elderly
and those who were known to have
compromised immune systems.
Interim General Manager Rick
George said the Tribe is working to
better prepare in how it responds
to and addresses water supply
contamination warnings and occa-
sional actual emergencies.
“Because the water supply is
managed and provided by the
association – an entity entirely
separate from the Tribal govern-
ment – our action alternatives are
limited,” he said.
George thanked Public Works
Director John Mercier for working
with Water Association staff and
Tribal Facilities staff for their quick
response in shutting off public
drinking fountains. He also praised
Tribal staff in Education, Housing
and the Health & Wellness Clinic
who “took immediate measures to
protect Tribal children, the elderly
and clinic patients and to provide
bottled water to those Elders and
families with health vulnerabili-
ties.” n
The online site Historic Oregon Newspapers has added three
Tribal newspapers to its database, including Smoke Signals from
1978 through 2013. The other newspapers added are the Weekly
Chemawa American, the student newspaper from Chemawa Indian
School, between 1901-10, and The Chemawa American, which was
published at the school in 1914-15. To access the newspapers, visit
http://oregonews.uoregon.edu. n
Save the Date: Grand Ronde F.E.A.S.T.
Saturday, Feb. 21 – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Grand Ronde Community Center
Let’s talk about food!
F.E.A.S.T. is a community organizing event focused on learning
about local food efforts and creating opportunities for action.
All community members are welcome. A meal will be provided.
Please R.S.V.P. to Francene Ambrose at 503-879-3663 or
fambrose@marionpolkfoodshare.org All R.S.V.P.s will be entered
into a raffle for a new crock pot!
Ad created by George Valdez