S moke S ignals
DECEMBER 1, 2017
7
Tribal Council OKs new public transit contracts
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council approved new
public transit contracts on Wednes-
day, Nov. 29, that will change how
Grand Ronde-area residents travel
to Lincoln City and Salem beginning
in 2018.
One of the contracts is a two-year
update of the Tribe’s contract with
the Yamhill County Transit Area,
which provides seven round trips
Monday through Friday and 3.5
round trips on Saturday between
McMinnville and Grand Ronde.
The other two are 18-month con-
tracts with the Tillamook County
Transportation District that will
replace the soon-to-expire Grand
Ronde 2X transit service that was
being provided by the Salem Area
Mass Transit District.
The Grand Ronde and Siletz
Tribes will provide matching funds
for the Tillamook County Transpor-
tation District’s Network-Intercity
grant with the Oregon Department
of Transportation and there will be
three round trips daily between Lin-
coln City, Grand Ronde and Salem
via the Coastal Connector starting
on Tuesday, Jan. 2. The Grand
Ronde Tribe will be covering the cost
of the weekday Grand Ronde-to-Sa-
lem portion of the service.
The other contract with the Tilla-
mook County Transportation Dis-
trict will provide an additional four
round trips on weekdays between
Grand Ronde and Salem. The four
round trips in addition to the three
weekday Coastal Connector trips
covered by the other contract will
replace the service paid for with the
Salem Area Mass Transit District,
which decided to discontinue its par-
ticipation as of Dec. 29 because costs
have increased and a rural carrier
would be a better fit for the Tribe.
The Grand Ronde Tribe has been
contracting for public transit since
2007 when the Tribe first obtained
public transit funds and completed
a public transit plan, Planning and
Grants Manager Kim Rogers said.
The Tribe receives public transit
operating funds from the Oregon
Department of Transportation – one
direct and two federal pass-through
grants -- and Tribal Transit funds
directly from the Federal Transit
Administration.
The Tribe also has a $95,000
Special Transportation Fund Dis-
cretionary grant for the creation of
a new Transit Plan to replace the
2007 plan and has contracted with
Kittleson & Associates in Portland
to work with the Tribe to develop a
new plan by the summer of 2018,
Rogers said.
The Coastal Connector service will
cost the Tribe $43,668 in matching
funds and $106,488 in other transit
funding that was already committed
to the Grand Ronde-Salem round
trips. The four other round trips be-
tween Grand Ronde and Salem will
cost $265,320 and are 100 percent
funded by the Tribe’s transit funds
as a separate service.
Rogers said the current tentative
name for the new service is the
Grand Ronde Express and plans
include a new logo and color scheme
for those buses by summer.
The round trips between the
Coastal Connector and the Grand
Ronde Express will be coordinated
and efforts will be made to coor-
dinate transfers with the Yamhill
County Transit Area as well, he said.
The Salem Area Mass Transit
District also will allow the Coastal
Connector and Grand Ronde Ex-
press to use a transit bay at the
Salem Transit Mall.
“One difference between the Grand
Ronde 2X and the Grand Ronde Ex-
press is that on most round trips it
goes to the Tribal campus as well as
Spirit Mountain Casino, but it will
not run as late at nights as 2X did,”
Rogers said.
The current tentative schedule has
the Grand Ronde Express leaving the
Tribal Community Center for Salem
at 8:15 a.m., 2:30 and 5:15 p.m. while
the Coastal Connector leaves the
Community Center for Salem at 6:44
a.m., 12.34 and 6:10 p.m. Fares from
Grand Ronde to either Lincoln City
or Salem will be $3.
The updated Yamhill County
Transit Area agreement has the
Tribe covering operating costs be-
tween Willamina and Grand Ronde
for the seven existing weekday and
3.5 Saturday round trips at a cost of
$57,308 in the first year and $58,455
in the second year.
“So far the Tribe has been able to
fund all of its public transit contracts
using the Tribe’s state and federal
transit funds that can only be used
for public transit,” Rogers said. “The
Tribe also can allocate some portion
of its annual BIA Transportation
Funds to public transit depending
on the Tribe’s overall transportation
needs and priorities and BIA ap-
proval of the Tribe’s Transportation
Improvement Program.”
People with questions about the
transit plans can contact Rogers at
503-879-2250 or kim.rogers@gran-
dronde.org.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Set the agenda for the Sunday,
Dec. 3, General Council meeting
that will be held in the Tribal
Community Center at 10 a.m. to
accommodate the Tribal Council
Christmas Party in the Tribal
gym. The program report will be
from the Tribal Lands Depart-
ment.
• Sent amendments to the Burial
Fund and Government Corpora-
tions ordinances out for a first
reading and Tribal member input.
The Burial Fund amendments
would increase the burial benefit
from $5,500 to $6,000 and the re-
ception benefit from $300 to $400.
Amendments to the Government
Corporations Ordinance would
provide that a director whose term
has expired would continue to
serve until a successor is elected
and qualified except where the
articles of incorporation provide
otherwise.
• And set the number of directors
on the Spirit Mountain Gaming
Board at 12, up from the previous
10, and appointed Tribal Council
members Brenda Tuomi and Mi-
chael Langley to the board.
Also included in the Nov. 29 Trib-
al Council packet were approved
authorizations to proceed that set
the construction budget for the
Early Childhood and Youth Educa-
tion Building expansion project at
$740,000 and OK’d sending a letter
to the Environmental Protection
Agency regarding the definition of
“waters of the U.S.” In addition, an
approved staff directive now allows
Audit Services to distribute all audit
reports, including formal internal
audit reports, via e-mail.
The meeting can be viewed in its
entirety by visiting the Tribal web-
site at www.grandronde.org and
clicking on the News tab and then
Video.
Need something notarized?
Tribal Court staff is available at no charge for notaries 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. Monday though Friday with the exception of noon to 1 p.m.
Please be sure to bring a photo ID with you. If you have any questions,
contact the court at 503-879-2303.
Seeking your donations for 4 organizations!
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SATURDAY, DEC. 9, 2017
10 a.m. TO 2 p.m.
GIVE TO 4 ORGANIZATIONS IN ONE LOCATION!
Iskam MǝkʰMǝk-Haws is seeking holiday food box
items: yams, stuffing, gravy, cake mixes, pie shells,
pudding, flour, sugar, and canned vegetables.
The Clothes Closet is seeking school supplies for
youth through high school students.
Empowerment Outreach is seeking rain gear, boots,
pants, hats, coats, gloves, tarps, sleeping bags
(broken zipper ok) for homeless families.
A Cause for Paws is seeking pet food, toys, and beds.
We will take books for our lending library.
Clean out your food pantry, we’ll figure out the
expiration dates!
If you are not sure, bring it in or give us a call.
Iskam MǝkʰMǝk-Haws
9675 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, OR 97347
503-879-FOOD (3663)
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