Karuk Tribe of
Council Meeting Minutes
March 22, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 5:01 PM by Leaf
Hillman, Vice Chairman.
The preamble to the Constitution was read aloud by
Robert Goodwin.
Roll Call
Present
Leaf Hillman, Vice Chairman
Leeon Hillman, Treasurer
Sonny Davis, Member
Alvis Johnson, Member
Robert Goodwin, Member
Absent
Florrine Super, Secretary, on
leave, excused
Quorum is established.
Approval of the Agenda for March 22, 2007
1) Approval of
the Minutes for February 22, 2007
2) Craig Reece,
Happy
Craig was present to address
the Tribal Council. His mother Veronica
Selvage was present as well. They are
requesting financial support for him and her as a chaperone to go on the
Educational Tour to
They advised her they would
consider the request at their Wednesday meeting.
3) Happy
Jennifer was present along
with Sami Jo Goodwin and Craig Reece.
She states they have twelve members in their Happy Camp High School
Indian Club Group. They are requesting
financial assistance in the amount of $450 to go on a trip in May to Marine
World. They have raised just under
$2,000 so far. Bob suggests having his
daughter Jaclyn Goodwin guide the students on a tour of UC Davis while they are
in that area to see what the college life is like with someone who is attending
school.
They advised them will take
the request to the Wednesday meeting.
4) Craig Tucker
Craig was present to address
the group and present information to them regarding the Bring the Salmon Home
campaign and Operation “Warrenpalooza” in
He gave the background on the
ownership of Pacifcorp and how it has transferred from Scottish Power to Warren
Buffet’s company Berkshire Hathaway. The
settlement framework is agreed to by all groups except Pacificorp and they now
need to pressure that company to agree to the framework. The upcoming Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder
meeting presents an opportunity to put pressure on the company as they did with
their trip to
The goals of their visit to
the shareholders meeting are to increase economic uncertainties with the
re-licensing, encourage the shareholders and business partners to take action
to address the problem, and to keep the public spotlight on the Klamath
agencies to continue their defense of Tribal and public trust resources.
He does not think this is the
same as what they did in Scotland because Warren Buffet is a very popular
person at this time because he is a local person who did well in his life
financially and created such a success story; they cannot attack his character
but however, but they can create the opportunity for Warren Buffet to be the
hero in this situation.
Current actions include a
class action lawsuit (being filed by individual Tribal Members and Commercial
Fishermen through a pro-bono attorney in the Bay Area), a boat drive to Omaha
in coordination with Friend’s of the River from San Francisco to Omaha with
media along the way, a week of media outreach in Omaha, and a rally at the
Shareholder’s Meeting.
It will take about $70,000 to
fully complete this campaign of which they have $33,000 currently with
additional funding pending and being contributed from other groups that are
participating. Each Tribe will fund
their own travel for delegates who attend.
The Karuk Tribe, Friends of the River, individual Fisherman, PCFFA, and
the Yurok, Hoopa, and Klamath Tribes have been invited but are not confirmed.
He feels they have been very
successful so far in their media campaign and past trips. Over the past three years, the views have
changed significantly toward the possible agreement to remove the four lower
dams on the
It is suggested that if
anyone has objections to this course of action they should speak soon. Scott suggests contacting the Tribes in the
Bob states he spoke to Indian
Country Today and asked why they have never printed any articles on this issue
and they said that they have not received anything and that Craig should submit
this to them to get the information out to the Tribes.
5) James
Steinberg
Not present yet.
6) Jennifer Goodwin
She would like to be moved to
the Wednesday meeting.
7) Sami Jo
Goodwin
Sami would like to request
assistance with attending Basketball Camp again this year. She went last year and it was a very positive
experience for her. She would like to
attend two camps this summer. The first
is $410 at
This will be referred to
the Booster Club for their next meeting.
8) Old Business
None at this time.
9)
April states that she only
has a verbal update this month regarding the activities for the
She states there have been a
couple of cases where the children were returned to their parents which is
always their ultimate goal. She has
interviewed and hired a CASA Manager to take
Judge Henry states that Mr.
Steinberg has been interviewed by both April and himself to serve as a mediator
for the Tribe but unfortunately is running late this evening. They hoped that he could meet the Council
Members and talk with them so that he can have a full picture of what the
community is like.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Sonny
10)
Written report only, on travel
in
11) Erin
Hillman, Administrative Programs & Compliance
Her first request is approval
of Contract 07-C-043 in the amount of $2,050 with Blanche Moore for the cooking
services at the upcoming Basketweaver’s Gathering April 20-22, 2007.
She states it is time to work
on the Community Needs Assessment that is required each year through the State
CSBG Grant. She has the survey out for
comments with the staff currently and will be distributing it after that. She encourages them to email her anything
they would like to include and they can use the data to gather information for
departmental grants also. She plans to
complete the process and submit it by June 29, 2007.
She has been working on
Department of Homeland Security Funding.
She states they attended training in
Her next item is involvement
with the
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Resolution 07-R-040. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved and
12) Susan Gehr,
Language
Susan was moved up on the
agenda and was present to review her written report with the Council. Leaf asked if she has received anything from
the
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Susan’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
12a) Jim Berry,
KCDC
Written report only, not
present, no action items.
13)
Laura was present to review
her written report. She wanted to state that
at this point she believes there will be no findings for KTOC, KCDC, or KTHA
this year in their audits. The I-9’s
were not an issue this year in the audit; Sara, Barbara, and Ellen worked very
hard to ensure this and she appreciates it.
She thanked the Council for
the $100 donation to pay for an Indian Taco Feed for the staff; Michael made
the fry-bread, Blanche and Cecilia made the beans, and the Billing Office cut
up all of the veggies.
She announced that the
approved Indirect Cost Rate is now 65.39% which is an increase.
She provided them information
regarding loans and if they have any questions she can answer them at the
Wednesday meeting.
She states that they are
currently seeking quotes for insurance that will cover the additional
requirement of the Title IV-E Agreement but she does not have the final number
at this time.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Laura’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
14)
Lisa was present to
distribute her report to the Council. She
does not have any action items.
15)
Dion distributed his report
to the Council. He has two action items.
He updated them that they
have held two rounds of TANF negotiations with the State so far and have
scheduled the third round for April 2, 2007 which could possibly be their last
round and it appears they are getting close to numbers everyone can agree
on. The TANF Plan has been received and
ACF has requested a conference call to go over it page by page with Dion and
Daniel. He states that August 1, 2007 is
their realistic timeline to start this program.
They have spent about 25% of
the childcare program budget; he has funding for new clients if any qualified
applicant wants to enroll. There will be
a collaborative with the
He is open to suggestions for
kid’s activities for the
He requests they appoint Toni
McLane as the primary representative on the Siskiyou County Childcare Council Local
Planning Council and he will serve as the alternate. Toni is willing to do this. The meetings are the last Wednesday of the
month in Weed or Yreka and are about 2 hours long.
They will discuss this
further at the Wednesday meeting in closed session.
He has been working with
He requests approval of a
letter supporting an ANA grant to fund strengthening TERO departments to create
ordinances to create Workplace Protection Policies and their own OSHA
guidelines. A sample letter was provided
to the Tribes. It needs to be submitted
by tomorrow. Bob would like to know what
this means for their future. Dion states
they are trying to avoid unions so that they have their own codes in place for
their employees. Bob thinks this is a
more long term discussion because it has many implications. By agreeing to the letter; they are not
obligating themselves to anything.
Discussion regarding this followed.
Consensus: To submit the support letter for the grant.
TERO will be sending a letter
soon regarding economic development and gaming and how TERO will be involved in
that venture.
Scott Quinn attended the
recent Caltrans meeting where it was announced that TERO’s role in
He requested that the Council
approve funding to purchase picnic tables to be placed in the grass near the
new modular building and match the custom benches already in place near the
multi-purpose room. TERO is willing to
purchase one if the Council will purchase the other. The cost is $597 each. Sandi would like one in
They will discuss this
Wednesday.
He states the Policy on
Tribal Committees will be coming back to them soon. He also reminded them that the Interviewing and
Hiring Tactics for Tribal Organizations on April 4-5, 2007.
Hester states that Monday at
the DNR Meeting there were many employees in Orleans that need funding for
childcare and she wondered if that applies to them. Dion states his program is a low income
program. Sandi states the issue in
16) Jennifer
Goodwin, Education
Jennifer was present to
review her written report.
She has one action item which
was attached. It is approval of the
Education Program Higher Education Grant Program Policy which has been reviewed
by the Education Committee and is recommended for approval.
Leaf asked about the school
board meeting that was attended recently.
Jennifer states she attended the meeting because she heard that funding for
the Indian Education Program was being eliminated from the school district’s budget
and it would be discussed and it was on the agenda. They then announced at the beginning of the
meeting that it was an error that this topic was on the agenda and it was only
a rumor and it was being removed from the agenda. Then the next day she went in and received an
email that the director of that program was removed from their position and no
more action has been taken at this time.
The next meeting will be held in
They would like an update
Wednesday if she has one on this issue.
She states at the Education
Committee meeting she met with Tom Fox and he is interested in doing some
training for the teachers in Happy Camp to improve the way they teach writing
in the classroom and can accommodate 15 people.
She will be working with him on that and will need speakers to join them
at that training which will be held in the summer.
She states she attended a
meeting today at the
Leeon Hillman moved and
Sonny
17) Hester
Dillon, Grant Writer
Hester was present to
distribute her written report.
She states that they have
found out the ICDBG Block Grant will be due June 1, 2007 and the HRSA Grant
will be due May 4, 2007. She will take
HRSA while Rick handles ICDBG keeping them both very busy.
She states they were offered
an opportunity for the Management Grant to revise their proposal and resubmit
for the Oak Knoll Planning Grant and they submitted for NAGPRA funding and Rick
met with the Siskiyou Arts Council for a basketweaver’s gathering grant that
was also submitted.
She confirmed that there is a
Strategic Planning Meeting scheduled for Monday, March 26, 2007 at 3 PM and she
anticipates that meeting may last about two hours. A five page summary was distributed for them
to review and then they can discuss Monday if that is the direction they want
to go.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Robert Goodwin seconded to approve Hester’s report. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
18) Scott
Quinn, Land/Transportation
Scott was present to
distribute and review his report. He
states there are a couple of updates on the Fee to Trust applications for the
Starritt and Hamblin properties; they continue to work on these. He states that escrow has closed on the Oom
property.
Purchases are ready to go
through on the Jacobs/Ned trust purchases which will still need BIA
approval. Mr. Oates has requested road access on the
Jacobs Allotment and he presented Resolution 07-R-044 for this purpose.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Resolution 07-R-044. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
He has also hired Happy Camp
Septic to conduct an inspection of the septic system to determine capacity. He has not heard back on that yet. He has attended several meetings on Tribal
roads issues.
A contract has been prepared
with Dick Rolland to crush 9,000 tons of gravel for $50,000 but he will present
this Wednesday, he would like to start on April 15, 2007. Earl will need 6,000 tons for his projects
this year and this will save him dollars.
There was discussion about
access for the ambulance to go through Tribal property to the Emergency Room on
the Clinic once it transfers. It will
not be until next fiscal year that this can be added to the Road’s inventory
for paving and funding; until then it will have to be gravel. Bob asked if there is any way to discuss this
unique situation and how they can access funding sooner and get passed that. Scott states that adjacent parking lots to
Highway 96 are eligible and Highway 96 has been added to the inventory; so
paving the parking lot could be eligible.
He presented out of state
travel for Carrie Davis to attend the National Realty Conference being
sponsored by BIA, April 3-5, 2007 in
He is also working on
preparing a Conditional Use Permit for the Tebbee Parking Lot and prepared
paperwork for Arch to request a temporary permit for events. The conditional use permit can only be
approved if they pave it because it is written into the regulations that
way. Bob asked about
Bob, Arch, and Barbara will
attend a meeting with the City on this issue next Monday or Tuesday and Sara
will set up the meeting. Monday is
preferred.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Sonny
19)
Sandi was present to review
her written report with them. Two action
items will not be done tonight which are the two procurements; she worked with
Laura on that already.
She requests approval of
$2,417.33 from the Mill Yard for lumber to repair the fish hatchery from flood
damage with FEMA funding.
Robert Goodwin moved and
She apologized that the
budget information is not included as they requested but she has had many staff
out sick.
She requested approval of
Contract 07-C-042 with Kier Associates not to exceed $11,725 to provide water
quality analysis work to collect and compile water quality testing data for
toxic blue green algae in the
Robert Goodwin moved and
Her next item is approval of
Contract 07-C-041 with Aquatic Ecosystem Sciences not to exceed $20,000 to
provide assistance in algal toxin results for Copco and
Robert Goodwin moved and
The USFS Summit meeting for
April 4, 2007 has been cancelled and the next date they gave her is April 19,
2007 at 10:30 in the Council Chambers.
She would like to be on
the Agenda for Wednesday, April 18, 2007 meeting to discuss the Government to
Government MOU and also a personnel issue.
She would like for them to
set aside 9-10 AM on April 18, 2007 to meet with a group from
She presented procurement to
them for a color copy machine; the lowest quote is from Capital Business
Machines in the amount of $10,375 but she does not have funding to cover this
expense.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Sonny
20) Sami
Difuntorum, KTHA
Written report only, not
present.
22) Davey
Davis, Maintenance
Written report only, not
present.
23) Fred
Burcell, Construction
Written report only, not
present.
24) Phil Albers
Phil was present to request
approval of Agreement 07-A-009 with Brass Knuckles Promotions for four events
in 2007 at the rate of $1,500 each to be paid to the Tribe. It also includes a $500 per event payment plan
to replenish the site improvement costs.
Beer sales were included and if allowed, the Tribe shall be paid 30% of
the proceeds.
Bob states that Sycuan is
interested in cage fighting and he gave the information to Phil. Phil states that many other Tribes in
They would like to discuss
the televising of the event prior to it taking place just so everyone is clear
on the liabilities.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Two Tribal Employees will be
fighting for the first time; Sam Super and Kevin Peters. Tamara Barnett has also considered it but it
is not confirmed.
He states that at one point
they had spoke about sponsorship for the Pikship Fighters and some uniforms and
training equipment. They looked at
warm-up suits but could not find something that was affordable for
everyone. He asked if they would prefer
shorts or jackets or something else. A
price range would also be helpful. They
would do community service for the Tribe to repay that debt also. They state he needs to bring them information
regarding products and costs before they can vote on anything.
25) Michael
Thom
The Election Committee is
requesting $7,000 to cover their needs through September 2007 for the upcoming
election.
Robert Goodwin moved and Leeon
Hillman seconded to approve the request.
4 haa, 0 puuhara, 2 pupitihara (
Closed Session from 9:11 PM to 11:46 PM
Robert Goodwin moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Resolution 07-R-041 relinquishing membership
for Tribal Member #3370. 6 haa, 0
puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Resolution 07-R-042 enrolling four
members. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Resolution 07-R-043 for the ICW Case. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
April will present the
contract with the mediator at the Wednesday meeting.
They will vote on the Associate
Judge recommendation on Wednesday.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Consensus: All requests for legal assistance must go to
Barbara Norman for an intake/analysis and then they must go to Council for
approval.
Consensus: To deny the request from Tribal Member #327
due to current workload of Tribal attorney.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to pay the Worker’s Compensation Claim in the amount of
$225.10 for Employee #8614 and then attempt to collect from Worker’s
Compensation carrier. 6 haa, 0 puuhara,
0 pupitihara.
Loan request from Tribal
Member #1275 tabled to Wednesday.
Loan request from Tribal
Member #1644 tabled to Wednesday.
Consensus: To uphold the decision to return the foster
home to housing stock.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Contract 07-C-044 approved with Sandra
Peeke. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Consensus: To have Maintenance provide estimates for rain
gutters at the Somes Bar residences.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Sonny Davis seconded that travel requests must to be presented at meetings, not
phone votes. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
Directive: To Employees #1051 and 0041 that travel requests
must be approved by the Council and signed before departure; travel requests
must be signed before a check is issued.
6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Directive: Travel requests need to contain more
information before the phone vote is done; such as who, what, why, how,
importance, who recommends it, what will the benefits be, what information will
be obtained there.
Robert Goodwin moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the letter to IHS regarding the Yreka Water
system. 6 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
Next Meeting Date:
April 26, 2007 at 5 PM in
Yreka.
Meeting adjourned at 11:56 PM.
Yootva,
_________________________________
Leaf Hillman, Vice Chairman
Recording Secretary, Sara Spence