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MAY 15, 2023
9
Work on Grand Ronde Road will begin in June
MEETING continued
from front page
Homeownership development
phase one: The project is located
at McPherson Road east of Grand
Ronde Road, with all 20 homes
projected to be ready for occu-
pancy by early 2024. Home sizes
range from two- to four-bedroom,
1,200- to 2,000-square-feet on
10,000-square-foot lots. Each unit
is solar-ready. The project is funded
by federal sources and Spirit Moun-
tain Casino revenues.
Men9s transitional housing:
The site work is complete on the Or-
egon Housing Authority grant-fund-
ed project on Ackerson and Grand
Ronde roads, and includes utilities
and parking for three manufactured
homes. Two have been delivered and
installed, and residents are starting
to move in.
Domestic violence shelters:
The Oregon Housing Authority
grant-funded project includes util-
ities and parking for three manu-
factured homes. Two of these will
serve as a shelter and the third will
house a staff ofoce.
Wind River Apartments,
phase three: There will be up
to 60 units within 15 apartment
buildings located adjacent to the
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
The Warriors of Hope program expansion is expected to be completed later
this month. It9s a $1.6 million, 2,100-square-foot addition to the Community
Center on the Tribal campus.
Tribe9s Housing Department ofoces
at 28450 Tyee Road. Five units are
contingent on federal grant fund-
ing. The apartments will contain a
mix of one- and two-bedroom solar
ready units. There are plans to
explore adding solar panels with
Energy Trust of Oregon. Design
will begin later in the month and
construction is expected to start
in 2024.
Wastewater treatment plant
capacity expansion: The $497,000
Tribal nonemergency text line
The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department has a nonemergency text
line at 541-921-2927.
<If you have a nonemergency situation or question, feel free to contact
my ofocer via text through this line,= said Grand Ronde Tribal Police Chief
Jake McKnight. <When one of my ofocers receives the text, they will call
you back when they have time.=
McKnight said that emergency situations still require calling 911.
For more information, contact McKnight at 503-879-1474. þ
project will include software and
hardware upgrades, increasing
the capacity from 72,000 gallons
per day to 125,000. The software
upgrades will allow employees to
monitor potential problems from
home rather than having to drive
into Grand Ronde to troubleshoot.
Warriors of Hope program
expansion: The $1.6 million,
2,100-square-foot addition to the
current Community Center is
expected to be complete later this
month. The funding breakdown is
50 percent Tribal and 50 percent
federal. <It9s a small-sized project
that comes with a lot of meaning
to it and the services it provides,=
Webb said. Warriors of Hope is the
Tribe9s program for survivors of
domestic and sexual violence.
Language Education building:
The $3.95 million, 6,600-square-
foot building will have six class-
rooms and ofoce space. It is located
behind the existing Education
Department complex on the Tribal
campus. It is paid for through a
combination of Tribal, federal and
other funding, with an expected
completion date of August.
Health care and vaccination
clinic: Located adjacent to the
current Health & Wellness Clinic,
the new 10,000-square-foot build-
ing broke ground in March with
an expected completion date of
November. The $7 million project
is primarily grant funded.
Grand Ronde Fire Station
expansion: This $8 million project
is funded through American Rescue
Plan Act funds and will include
a 20,000-square-foot expansion
with ofoce space, classroom, living
quarters and four bays for fire
equipment and engines. Design
will be complete in October with
construction expected to start in
November.
Child development center:
The 25,000-square-foot building
will include 12 classrooms, a new
kitchen, outdoor play areas and
support areas, and will be located
adjacent to the existing Tribal gym.
The project will be paid with feder-
al, Tribal and grant funds with a
yet-to-be-determined construction
cost. Construction is tentatively
slated to begin in September and
will take at least a year.
Resident and recreation cen-
ter: The new 20,000-square-foot
building will be located at the
Smith property across from Tribal
Housing Department ofoces with
a design cost of $660,000 and con-
struction costs undetermined. <We
will be putting a heavy amount of
community input on this project,=
Webb said. <We need as much
input as possible.= The project is
funded with Indian Health Plan
funds.
Electric vehicle charging sta-
tions: All buildings on campus will
have electric vehicle chargers add-
ed in the future, with all new build-
ings constructed as EV charging
ready. Webb is also in the process
of developing a charging policy.
<We know this need is coming and
we need the chargers as soon as
possible,= he said.
Tumwata Village: Located at
the former Blue Heron Paper Mill
site in Oregon City, much of the
work this year has been focused on
environmental cleanup efforts. The
project was awarded an $800,000
Brownoeld grant and $2 million in
congressional funding. Thus far, 24
structures have been removed and
road construction improvements
are expected to begin in 2024.
Public Works Coordinator John
Mercier gave a brief update on the
Tribe9s transportation planning
with a focus on road construction.
Grand Ronde Road work, from
highways 18 to 22, will begin in
June and is expected to wrap up
by the end of September. However,
the lengthy repair is also expected
to cause trafoc delays during this
time.
<We will be completely replacing
the pavement section so it9s going
to be a big project,= Mercier said.
Added Webb, <We want to make
sure the fix is a permanent one
and that9s why it will be a full
depth repair that creates a thicker
pavement section, but with that, it
means it takes longer to do & so I
want to let people know this sum-
mer will be one of potential delays
and impacts.=
After the presentation was com-
plete, Webb oelded seven questions
and comments from the audience.
<That was a wonderful presen-
tation and I thank you for putting
all of the details there,= Tribal
Council Chairwoman Cheryle A.
Kennedy said. <Serving on the orst
post-Restoration Tribal Council,
these were really our dreams and
they were only dreams then. Now
to see these things are taking place,
it9s a wonderful thing.=
In other action, door prize win-
ners were Jack Giffen Jr., Darlene
Aaron, Diane Webb, Julie Casner
and Brenda Gray, $50 each; and
Linda Brandon, Gail Wilkinson
and Lorena Rivera, $100 each.
Webb donated her winnings to
Grand Ronde Royalty fundraising
efforts.
The next General Council meet-
ing for only Tribal Council nom-
inations will be held on Sunday,
June 25.
The entire meeting can be viewed
by visiting the Tribal government9s
website at www.grandronde.org
and clicking on the Government tab
and then Videos. þ