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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2019)
6 Smoke Signals SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 Tribal Council OKs contract to build new Procurement/IS office By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor The Tribal campus soon will have a new building. During its Wednesday, Aug. 28 meeting, Tribal Council approved a design and build construction contract with Haworth Inc. of McMinnville to design and build the Procurement and Information Services Office building. Two proposals to construct the building were received and after in- terviews were conducted, Haworth was selected. The Tribe will pay Haworth $148,000 to design the building and the approved budget to construct is $2.4 million. Both Procurement and Informa- tion Services are growing depart- ments within the Finance Office. “The Tribe determined it to be important and efficient to combine the departments into a new facility that can be constructed to accom- modate offices, work spaces, ship- ping and receiving, and storage,” says a staff report. The site of the 20,000-square-foot building has yet to be determined, said Public Works Director John Mercier. Procurement staff currently work out of a portable building off Grand Ronde Road while the Information Services staff work out of a crowded office on the first floor of the Gov- ernance Center. In other action, Tribal Council: • Sent a proposed amendment to the Governmental Corporations Ordinance out for a first reading that will require, if adopted, that all Tribal entities provide their employees with the same cost- of-living adjustment awarded to governmental employees. In the last couple of years, Tribal govern- mental employees have received 2.5 percent COLAs in 2019 and 2018 and a 1.7 percent COLA in 2017; • Approved an amendment extend- ing the Tribe’s environmental services agreement with Indus- trial Economics, the Tribe’s tech- nical consultant for the Portland Harbor cleanup, through Sept. 30, 2020; • Authorized a grant application to the U.S. Department of Hous- ing and Urban Development for a $208,032 Indian Community Development Block Grant to help fund the design and construction of the Early Childhood Education addition; • Approved the Tribe’s annual application for $118,845 in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funds from the Depart- ment of Health & Human Services to fund home energy assistance for lower income member households. Last year, the Tribe served 187 households with the monies; • Agreed to extend an agreement with four other Tribes in com- piling information on the loss of natural resources contaminated in the Portland Harbor area through Jan. 10, 2020; • Appointed Benjamin Powley, Isabelle Grout, Madalyn Volz and Rihanna Many Hides to the Tribal Youth Council with terms expiring in March 2021; • Approved the agenda for the 11a.m. Sunday, Sept. 8, General Council meeting that featured a report on Spirit Mountain Casino in the Tribal Community Center; • And approved a memorandum of agreement with the Mid-Willa- mette Valley Council of Govern- ments regarding a development council to form a Continuum of Care governance structure for the Marion and Polk counties region. The Tribe’s obligation would be $6,000 over two years. Tribal Historic Preservation Office Manager Briece Edwards discussed the Governor’s Task Force on Cultural Items as the cultural presentation to open the meeting. The task force is asking state departments to examine their holdings for any items of cultural significance to Oregon’s nine fed- erally recognized Tribes. Also included in the Aug. 28 Trib- al Council packet were approved authorizations to proceed that OK’d a $20,000 contribution to the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indi- ans to help hire an event planner for the 2020 National Congress of American Indians Conference, authorized the Tribal Attorney’s Office and Chief of Staff Stacia Her- nandez to work with Tribal Council in exploring the establishment of a Constitutional Committee and authorized General Manager David Fullerton to approve Housing Drug Policy revisions and any future changes consistent with Tribal Council direction. The entire meeting can be viewed by visiting the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and clicking on the Government tab and then Videos. Smoke Signals seeking logo submissions Smoke Signals is seeking logo entries from Grand Ronde Tribal artists that represent the newspaper’s mission of communicating with the membership. Culturally, blue jay is a fitting character in Tribal stories that is a teller and conveyor of information and logo suggestions that incor- porate the bird will be considered. Logos will be used in the newspaper, on the newspaper website and on any swag that is eventually created to help promote the newspa- per at future events, such powwows, General Council meetings and conferences. Tribal artists interested in submitting a logo proposal should send their drawing as a jpg to Editor Dean Rhodes at dean.rhodes@gran- dronde.org. For more information, contact Rhodes at 503-879-1463. Submissions will be accepted until a logo is finally selected. Grouse and quail hunters asked to return wings, tails for research The hunting season for forest grouse and quail in Western Oregon is open September 1, 2019 through January 31, 2020. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife asks successful grouse and mountain quail hunters to donate a wing and tail of each bird for biological research. The wings and tails provide information on hatch date, recruitment, age and sex ratios of the populations to help set next year’s hunting seasons. Blue collection barrels are located at Grand Ronde Station and the intersection of Agency Creek Road and Yoncalla Road on the Reservation near the 4 mile marker. An entire wing and whole tail including small rump feathers should be removed. Paper bags are provided in the collection barrels for the parts, and hunters should mark harvest date, county taken, and general location. Refer to the Game Bird Regulations for specific grouse and quail identification tips. It is illegal to shoot spruce grouse in Oregon. Collection Barrels Contact: Brent R. Barry Wildlife Biologist (503) 879-1458 Spirit Mountain Casino & Grand Ronde Station Smoke Signals ad