SQUAXIN ISLAND TRIBAL COUNCIL MEETING October 26, 2017

Transcription

1 SQUAXIN ISLAND TRIBAL COUNCIL MEETING October 26, 2017 Attendance: Tribal Council Arnold Cooper Chairman Charlene Krise Vice Chairman Vicki Kruger Treasurer Steven Dorland Secretary Bev Hawks 1 st Council Member David Whitener 2 nd Council Member Vince Henry, Sr. 3 rd Council Member (absent) Legal Counsel Tribal Administrator Recording Secretary Dave Babcock Kris Peters Melissa Puhn Charlene Krise offered the opening prayer. Arnold Cooper called the meeting to order at 9:14 a.m. Arnold thanked everyone for their attendance at the Culvert Meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Dave Whitener Jr moved to approve the October 26, 2017 Council Agenda. Bev Hawks seconded the motion. The motion carried five (5) in favor and zero (0) against. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Dave moved to approve the August 24, 2017, September 14, 2017, September 28, 2017 and October 24, 2017 Phone Poll. Steven Dorland seconded the motion. The motion carried five (5) in favor and zero (0) against. TRAVEL REPORTS & PLANS October 25-26: November 5: Annual NW Enrollment Conference, LCCR Denney Heck Fundraiser, 4:30 p.m., Olympia. Ray will attend. November 6: Culvert Meeting, LCCR. Council will host a traditional dinner at LCCR. Arnold would like discuss this topic at the winter general body meeting. November 10: November 11: November 16: November 23-24: Veterans Day Celebration & BBQ, Veterans Memorial, 11am Longhouse Community Dinner, 6:00 p.m. TESC Legal Work Session, Legal Tribal Offices closed, Thanksgiving Holiday

2 December 3-5: December 21: IEI Workshop, Skamania Lodge All Staff Christmas Brunch, 10:00 a.m. LCCR December 22-Jan 1: Tribal Offices closed, Christmas/New Year s Holiday Charlene shared that the NW Native American Basketweavers Conference was well attended, but there were complaints about lack of notice for sponsoring tribal members. Would like better notification next year. David reminded that Greg Masten, Director at NWIC would like to come to a future council meeting. Vicki noted that there was a lot of discussion about the NWIC during Centennial Accord. Bev added that she attended the NW Portland Area Indian Health Board Meeting a few weeks back, and they also had two sessions on the opiate problem throughout the nation. In that meeting, they discussed an American Addiction Center who has been trying to partner with Indian Country, and how they start treating addiction through the brain and reprogramming the brain. Bev asked if Greg Twiddy could attend these meetings as well; Kris said yes he will ask him. CHAIRMAN S UPDATE Council budget discussion: Deb Stoehr and Julie Evenhuis were in to discuss Council hours. Julie handed out a memo outlining a suggested salary for Council Members as well as a history showing hours worked. Council will discuss this later. Deb brought up the payment to PUD for $360,000 that is not budgeted. She asked if Council would approve taking it out of the BIA Settlement (RAMA) funds that is currently in permanent trust. These funds will be used to start the substation with PUD. Council agreed by consensus to use the BIA Settlement (RAMA)Funds. TRIBAL ADMINISTRATORS UPDATE Arnold left the room. Recovery House: Greg Twiddy and Elizabeth Egan were present to discuss the research on the recovery house. They have looked at a few locations and the pros/cons of each. After a lot of research, they have concluded that having Oxford run the house is their best option. Council had an extensive discussion about Oxford run recovery homes versus tribally run recovery homes. The option is always available to learn from Oxford and maybe transition into our own program. Page 2 of 5

3 Council would like information on Oxford; Greg suggested having them come in to a future meeting to discuss with Council. LEGAL Dave Babcock presented the Kennedy Creek Green Diamond Agreement. Its set up to renew annually, but Green Diamond asked that the cost increase annually by 3%, which is about $400, which Dave got them to drop. Vicki moved to approve Resolution #17-77 which approves two more years. Steven seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Arnold and Bev were both out of the room. Dave Babcock presented a dis-enrollment resolution. Council discussed extensively. Vicki moved to approve the resolution. The motion died for lack of a second. Council discussed further. Dave Whitener moved to table the resolution until further information is gathered. Bev seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. LEGAL / ICW Guardianship: Council went in to Executive Session. Council approved the guardianship request for case # SQI-CW TRIBAL LIAISON UPDATE Ray shared that he had a land meeting with a few staff members, IEI and LCCR to discuss fee to trust and zoning of tribal properties. Vicki would like to see what properties the tribe owns and which pieces have houses on them. She also wants to know what the income is from off reservation house rental fees. Kris asked if Council would like to have Housing come in to do an off-site rental report. Davey would be more interested in an actual report showing the houses, rent and how the rentals are handled. Arnold returned at 11:13. Charlene asked for a land report and what is paid off and what is not. Ray will be working on a debt service report. Ray added that there is really good entity CFO communication that helps immensely. Port Blakely transaction is moving forward. Vicki thanked Ray for facilitating the land meeting. Vicki added that she and Charlene heard a presentation from Jamestown and their clinic they just opened to the general public. Ray is aware of the clinic and their income. Vicki asked if Ray can look in to it. Page 3 of 5

4 HOUSING COMMISSION UPDATE Page 4 of 5 Traci Coffey, Santana Krise, Tully Kruger and LeeAnne Kane were in. Council went in to closed session. Coming out of closed session Steven moved to approved Resolution #17-78 which approves the Housing Commission meeting schedule of the first and third Fridays of each month. Vicki seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Charlene moved to approve Resolution #17-79 which authorizes a change to the Housing Policy regarding the monthly rental maximum amount and what is considered income. Bev seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Council also directed Kris to work with Housing regarding working with the Commission more effectively; assisting with a family who needs a handicap accessible home; and to provide a list of current low-income tenants and their contact information to the Commission so that the Commission can send out a letter of inquiry to those tenants regarding the Homeownership Program that is being developed. The Commission also discussed the need to have a Commission budget for trainings and other expenses, how the homeownership program development was progressing, the need for a solution to homelessness, the need for a training for the Commission on the eviction process and requirements and information on the last three evictions, and the cost of cleanup of contaminated houses and how the tribes are cleaning up these houses for substantially less than what the Tribe pays. Arnold wants to make sure that the policies are followed consistently, and that is the responsibility of Kris to make sure departments are following their own policies. Council asked Kris to make sure housing follows their policy. LITTLE CREEK CASINO Mark West, Cameron Goodwin and Erika Thale were present. Arnold mentioned that Squaxin is hosting the Culvert Meeting on Nov 6 th. Davey asked about the WIGA meeting in February and availability of LCCR to host. Mark will check in to it. Mark provided a detailed report on power, water, lighting safety, fencing, kitchen design, the grease trap and the Collier House roof. He contracted with an architect to provide drawings for an administration building. Mark reported that the new hotel director will start on December 4. Mark reported that the Tower II refresh will include new carpet, furniture, curtains, fixture and plumbing maintenance.

5 Erika was present to invite Council to their benefits fair on November 15. They will have 20 vendors there to talk about preventive care and what services are available to employees. Cameron provided the LCCR financials. GUEST: TAYLOR SHELLFISH Brian Phipps shared that Bill Taylor wanted Council to be aware that tribal members using Taylors back road, is fine. He just asked that everyone abide by the speed limit. Arnold suggested having IEI security drive through there periodically as well. Brian brought up the Arcadia Point outhouses which were recently burned down. Taylors is willing to help with replacement costs, Arnold is open to working with Taylors to coming up with something. Council asked Kris to work with Brian and to come up with a plan. TRIBAL GAMING COMMISSION UPDATE Dallas Burnett was in and handed out the five-year plan as well as a TGA brochure. Arnold wanted to share that since TGA is under the government, he wants to make sure that the government (and Council) is aware of their facility issues. Dallas shared that he has created a training position specifically for Squaxin Members; each position has a training position plan for it. Dallas discussed the self-regulation they are working on. This would minimize the financial impact on the tribe and maximize the skills of their employees. This will require proficiency and higher skills and more documentation. Heavily scrutinized in order to know that TGA can stand on their own. Council discussed adopting the new salary procedure that was discussed earlier in the day. Legal will draft the resolution and verbiage. Vicki moved to approve the procedure that was discussed. Steven seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously to instruct Finance to make this change effective immediately. GUEST: PORT OF OLYMPIA Guests from the Port of Olympia were present to discuss the naming of East Bay Trail and North Point Park. Council asked them to continue working with Ray on this project. Charlene offered to connect them with Jeremiah George as well. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:13 p.m. Page 5 of 5