sNok signflz
FEBRUARY 1, 2024
9
0 square feet of office, classroom space
tection Agency Brownfield Grant
and $2 million from Congress,
earmarked for the first block of de-
velopment: Water Avenue, Fourth
Street and Main Street.
The Tribe has a work plan formed
with the EPA and Oregon Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality.
Construction is due to start this
summer.
“For the EPA Brownfield Grant,
we will continue to complete en-
vironmental remediation tasks
under our work plan with EPA and
Oregon DEQ,” Webb said. “This
work will likely include continued
subsurface investigation work as
well as removal of (contamination)
from underlying soils. For the con-
gressional funding grant, we are
currently designing the infrastruc-
ture and utilities for phase one of
site redevelopment work.”
Language education building:
The $3.95 million, 6,600-square-
foot building has six classrooms
with doors that open to nature, of-
fice space, a break room, restrooms
and an outdoor play area.
It is located behind the existing
Education Department complex on
the Tribal campus and was paid for
through a combination of Tribal,
federal and grant funding.
The chinuk wawa skul opened
in the fall while the building was
A truckload of gravel is dumped during construction of the child development center on the Tribal campus on
Thursday, Jan. 25. Construction on the 26,000-square-foot building, located next to the Tribal gym, began in
December 2023 and is expected to take a year.
receiving a few finishing touches.
Construction is now complete and
students ages 3 to 11 attend lan-
guage immersion classes. Parent
and community language classes
will be explored in 2024.
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Fire Department picked up some staff to get them to essential jobs
SNOWSTORM continued
from front page
“We have shelter plans in
place, which include the gym and
Elder Activity Center,” Bishop
said. “They were not activated
because there was no power loss,
but we always have them ready.
We are geared to take care of the
whole community with Tribal
warming shelters for our Tribal
population. We make an effort
to get out to Elder Housing and
partner with Facilities to take
care of the needs of Elders, such
as clearing snow and ice or deliv-
ering meals if needed.”
She added that the Tribal Fire
Department picked up some staff
members to get them to their
essential jobs at the Adult Foster
Care lodges.
Emergency Services Chief
Steve Warden said there were
“very few” serious incidents be-
cause of several advance warn-
ings of the impending storm.
“There were no exposure cases
here from people being out in the
cold, and it was remarkable that
people were driving slowly and
carefully and there was no huge
spike in accidents,” he said.
Beginning in the pre-dawn
hours on Thursday, Jan. 18, Trib-
al Facilities employees worked to
clear walkways around buildings
and removed snow from parking
lots.
However, with a light snow
continuing to fall and large
chunks of ice sliding off the roof
of the Tribal Governance Center,
the planned two-hour delay was
sure we have
enough coverage
for everyone,” he
said. “I’m very
proud of my staff
being able to come
in and work.”
Finance depart-
ment staff also
came in despite of-
fices being closed.
With payday
looming on Friday,
Jan. 19, Payroll
Administrator Mi-
Photo by Sherron Lumley chelle Peterson,
Snow is piled around the Governance Center parking lot Assistant Control-
at the Tribal campus on Thursday, Jan. 18.
ler Trish Squires,
and Staff Accoun-
extended to include office closures
tants Casey Case and Shereena
for the entire day.
Bates made the trek into the office.
Leno thanked the entire main-
“We really do care that everyone
tenance team and security in an
gets paid on time to be able to buy
email Thursday, for working so
groceries and pay bills,” Peter-
diligently in removing snow and ice
son said, who navigated her Ford
from the Tribal campus.
Bronco over downed trees to reach
“Preparing (the) campus has been
Grand Ronde from Falls City.
a challenge…but I want to put out
By Friday morning, Jan. 19, road
a special thank you to all of those
conditions were greatly improved
that have worked so diligently this
as the big melt began.
morning to try and accommodate a
Thanks to Thursday’s plow work,
10 a.m. opening,” he said. “Kudos
by Friday morning the parking
to the entire maintenance team,
lots and Tribal campus roads were
including security. Hopefully their
cleared of all snow and ice.
work will lead to better conditions
“We started at 6:50 a.m. to clear
when we return to work tomorrow.”
the walkways and parking lots
Throughout the duration of the
for people,” Tribal Groundskeeper
Tribal campus closure, a few em-
Nick Colton said Thursday.
ployees either braved the bad roads
Wearing an orange hoodie as
or never left work at all. Tribal Se-
his only protection against the
curity Supervisor Roel Hernandez
elements, four hours later he was
stayed onsite throughout the storm,
still plowing the parking lots, re-
sleeping only briefly at the Elder
moving large amounts of snow and
Activity Center.
ice buildup.
“I decided to stay here to make
The Tribe’s AlertSense system
texted employees campus closure
updates throughout the week
after emails were sent out.
Telecommunications Admin-
istrator Mark Scheeler said it’s
normal for a slight delay to occur
between the two, since the alert is
created only after the information
about delays and closures be-
comes available and is approved
by Tribal Council.
Meanwhile, Spirit Mountain
Casino, led by Chief Executive Of-
ficer Camille Mercier, remained
open to the public with some
employees staying in the lodge
rather than risk driving the haz-
ardous roads.
“With the adverse weather chal-
lenges, Spirit Mountain overcame
operational challenges thanks to
our team members’ hard work
and dedication,” she said. “Spirit
Mountain provided lodging to our
team members, ensuring their
safety while keeping the property
open to those seeking food, shel-
ter and comfort.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek de-
clared a state of emergency on
Thursday, Jan. 18, after the
storm left a wake of widespread
damage, power outages and the
death of at least 13 people.
“Now we are heeding the call
from additional counties to esca-
late,” she said.
A low temperature of 15 degrees
was recorded in Grand Ronde on
Saturday, Jan. 13. By Monday,
Jan 15, the high was 30 degrees
locally, and by Friday, Jan. 19,
morning temperatures remained
above freezing and most employ-
ees returned to campus.