Karuk Tribe
Council Meeting Minutes
March 25, 2010
Happy Camp,
The meeting was called to order at 4:56pm by
Roll Call
Present
Florrine Super, Secretary
Leeon Hillman, Treasurer
Sonny Davis, Member
Alvis Johnson, Member
Verna Reece, Member
Quorum is established.
The mission statement was read aloud by Verna Reece,
Member.
Approval of the Agenda for March 25, 2010
Florrine Super moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve the Agenda for March 25, 2010. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
1) Approval of
the Minutes for February 25, 2010
Verna Reece moved and Sonny
2) Old Business
None at this time.
3) Beau Morton
Not present.
4) David
Goodwin
Not present.
5) Eric
Cutright
Eric was present to provide
an update on the various broadband projects that have been proposed for ARRA
funding to expand that service in Tribal communities. It not only provides high speed internet, it
also provides connections between the offices and better exchange rates for the
newly implemented Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. Broadband access has also been linked to
better economic health of communities through expanded access to information
and resources. He gave overviews of each
proposed grant.
Redwood Telephone: Would be fiber-optic from
Hoopa Tribe: Will establish sites in
Internet would come in from
Verizon to the system in
Consensus: To issue a letter of support for
Access Humboldt: Is more focused on providing public safety
rather than internet but internet in
There will be a comment
period during the process; the only way there would be competition is if they
both made it through the review process and are considered for funding which is
pretty low. This application is better
than Hoopa’s as it would completely replace Verizon rather than re-using their
signal. This application is focused on
expanding public safety and information access through the rural areas. This would be a good second shot if the other
application is not funded. Redway
Telephone is owned by a nine Tribe consortium and would bring the service all
the way through
In most of the letters he
references an FCC notice released that states broadband availability on Tribal
land is at less than 10% which is a stunning statistic that may greatly boost
their applications chances of getting funded.
Three letters were approved last week; none of them were these two. He does not believe there are any other
applications out there.
Consensus: To as letter of support for Access Humboldt’s
application and agree to the cooperation as outlined.
6) Karuk Youth
Leadership Council
They will go after the dinner
break when everyone arrives.
7) April
Attebury, Tribal Court
Written report only, not
present.
Two action items were
included with her report for travel for herself and Jeanerette Jacups-Johnny;
April’s travel will be done at the Planning Meeting next week.
Florrine Super moved and Leeon
Hillman seconded to approve Jeanerette’s travel to
Florrine Super moved and
8) Jim Berry,
KCDC
Written reports from the
programs were included and he distributed his financial report for their
review. There were reports from the
Amkuuf Smoke Shop, Head Start, the
He states that last week he
traveled to DC along with Arch and
Holly included an action item
requesting travel approval for
9)
There was a written report
included, no action items were included.
Verna would like more
information on the water diversion at Stanshaw Creek.
Florrine suggested tabling the
report as the Director did not include a written report.
Consensus: To table the report to closed session.
10) Scott
Quinn, Land and Transportation
He reviewed the written
report.
He states the FHWA will be
onsite for a visit April 6-7, 2010 to view the
They were able to borrow
equipment from Susanville to do crack sealing which went very well. They are now doing striping on the roads
which is extremely expensive. Bucky and
Drew are both doing a fantastic job; there has never been any maintenance so
they are trying to get all caught up in this season.
They met with FEMA to propose
Itroop road repairs and other projects through their funding; they have the
option of either hiring a consultant or having a force account crew do the
repairs. He suggests contracting the
engineering phase and then potentially having a force account crew to do the
repairs themselves so they will gain that experience in house.
They held their annual
meeting with Caltrans to discuss the recent slide, their MOU, and maintenance
issues in both Districts 1 and 2.
There is a piece of property
that will be probated in Yreka near the Elders property. The owner has passed and they are now working
to contact their Estate Administrator.
Tomorrow at 1:30pm in
They met with Winzler &
Kelly to discuss a potential project with SunPower to build a 1 MegaWatt solar
array. They construct the structure,
sell the power back to the grid for 6 years, and then transfer it to the Tribe
for their use.
He distributed the draft Land
Use Compliance Policy to them for review; he has worked with Sami and Erin on
this and Sami’s last requested edit is at the end of the policy. He is not requesting approval, just review
and consideration. They added an
approval provision for KTHA allowing them to sign off since such a substantial
amount of land was purchased with NAHASDA funding. They will take this to the Planning Meeting
next week.
Alvis Johnson moved and
Sonny
10a) Karuk
Youth Council
The Tribal Council introduced
themselves to the Youth and the newly elected Youth Council Members introduced
themselves to the Council and audience.
They are: Male Co-Chair: Skyler McNeal, Female
Co-Chair: Winona Croy, Vice Chair: Ashley Allgier, Secretary: Shenai Talley,
and Members at Large: Brian Lopez, Michael Law, David Burlow, Chris Super,
Tyler Conrad, Alyssa Allgier, Kevin Harrison, and Daniela Sanchez to the Youth
Advisory Committee.
The Youth Advisors present
this evening are Bari Talley,
Roxanne also introduced
Rivkah Barmore who will be filling in for her temporarily while she is on a
leave of absence.
11) Emilio
Tripp, Education
A written report was
included, he has no action items.
He reviewed the contents of
the report which included the meetings he has attended and been involved in
over the past month. They were with
He and Erin met to discuss
working toward getting students more prepared for the college
preparation/admission process and possibly having a Tribal Member attending
college who could work over the summer helping youth understand how that
works. He worked with Dion toward a
Math/Science Camp to be held this summer.
He worked with Ron Reed and Cecilia Arwood to plan a college trip to UC
Berkeley called CAL Day which is full of events on the campus.
Alvis asked how many students
are in college at this time. He states
they currently have 55 applications for assistance, that does not accurately
represent the number of Karuk members who are attending college, only the
number who have applied for assistance.
Verna Reece moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Emilio’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
12)
Written report only, not
present, no action items.
Sonny
13)
Written report only, not
present. There are action items for
approval.
The second item was a
revision to Contract Language for the Master Apprentice Contracts regarding
copyrights. She read the revised
language aloud as they made slight changes to the wording. They reviewed who the Masters and Apprentices
are in the program. Ruth can print the
list for them and put it in their boxes.
Leeon Hillman moved and
The third action item is a
request from Julian Lang approving travel for him in the amount of $1,678 to
attend training April 21-22, 2010 in Montana.
This requires Council approval as he is not an employee. The CSD/ARRA funds will be utilized for these
expenses. Julian will present and
discuss implementing the methods learned into the Karuk Language Program.
Results: To table the request to the Planning Meeting
and have Ruth provide further information regarding how they will benefit and
other ideas for getting that information back to the membership through Head
Start, Youth Leadership, and potentially at the Reunion.
They requested that she read
the word of the month is xanchishkaararaah (snowdrop, a type of flower) aloud
as she is presenting Ruth’s report.
They spoke further about how
the Language Restoration Committee is structured and appointed. They are not formally appointed, members and
descendents attend the meetings and there is only a Chair, no other officers.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Ruth’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
14)
He states that he believes
that the team of co-workers he works with in the offices and programs of the
Tribe all work together and it helps his program run very smoothly. Everyone works together very well to impact
how well he is able to serve the members and administer his program; they truly
work as a team to serve the members.
He states that the program
has assisted many members, new clients are coming in who have not received
assistance before; word is getting out that they can get assistance if they need
it which shows their progress. Last week
they issued the first payment on the HIP home replacement project to move
forward on the first home. He does not
have a date estimate, but it looks promising.
This home will be for Earl Aubrey.
They are prepared to
distribute the revised SWEEP policy for them to review so that they could move
toward approval and re-introduction of this program for the members. There are members who are eager to
participate. He states they are
stressing the title of the program and working toward obtaining employment, not
simply receiving a check.
15) Dion Wood,
Tribal Employment Rights
He distributed a supplement
to his written report already included.
He touched on the recent
ruling by Caltrans where there has been a pending case regarding if they can
work with Tribal TERO Departments. It
has been ruled that they can work with TERO offices and can voluntarily pay
TERO taxes. He commended Scott and Sandi
for having a strong relationship with Caltrans as they have been integral in
working well with them.
He has been speaking to DC
about the Native Employment Works Program (NEW) and their eligibility for
funding. They can submit a grant by May
17 to receive a three year round of funding to supplement TANF with workforce
development activities. The grant would
be from $8,000 to $15,000 so it is not a large amount; however, it is based on
their population and could be negotiated like TANF was; he is working with Jim
Berry and Rick Hill on that.
Joyce has informed him that
NCIDC has received funding to put a couple of work crews together and expects
to hear from her on that soon. They also
have funding for youth crews and will provide more information on that once
they have actually received the funding.
He has identified a solution
to the Orleans ARRA dollars that need to be spent to expand the capacity for
the Panamnik Library to provide additional items for the youth in that
community. He states that he has tried
to work with the Orleans Head Start but has not identified any services that
can be provided to them.
Consensus: To upgrade the Panamnik Library in
He received a call from
He does not know if they have
requested any funds from anyone else in the community.
The cultural monitor training
has been scheduled for April 14-16, 2010 in Happy Camp to provide training to
40 members, ˝ of which will be employees including several fire crew members.
He continues to research the
OSHA requirements. TERO has not
determined if they will fund any summer youth positions; CSD will be funding
three positions and potentially NCIDC will have some; he will also contact the
County regarding their funding availability.
He continues to work on Childcare issues on the Sate and National
level. He has about $58,000 to spend by September
30.
He states he heard there has
been research into the 477 issues. He
would like to be involved as he was very involved in that process when he was
in DC and has access to other Tribe’s information regarding how it impacted their
programs.
The Federal Regional Director
has urged Tribal Chairmen to support the newly formed State Tribal Child Care
Association. Their executive committee
will meet in
16) Helene
Rouvier, People’s Center
Helene was present to review
her written report with the Council.
Jaclyn distributed the IMLS
grant that they have been working on together.
Resolution 10-R-036 has been assigned to the grant for $49,907 to fund
capacity building, development of collections care and management, strategic
planning, and other support services at the Center.
Verna Reece moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Resolution 10-R-036. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
At the People’s Center
Advisory Committee they approved a mission statement they would like the
Council to approve as well which is as
the museum and cultural center of the Karuk Tribe, the Karuk People’s Center is
devoted to the preservation, promotion and celebration of Karuk history,
language, traditions and living culture.
The next People’s
Verna Reece moved and
The THPO grant application is
not ready; she hopes it will be ready for approval early next month after
review by two more Tribal departments.
There are two additional grants beyond this to further fund activities
and enhancements.
Florence Conrad moved and Leeon
Hillman seconded to approve travel for Verna Reece, Alvis Johnson, and Sonny
Davis to visit the Clarke Museum in Eureka along with Helene on April 2. 4 haa, 0 puuhara, 3 pupitihara (Verna, Alvis,
and Sonny).
They visited the
Sonny
She states the women’s
culture classes have started and men’s should begin soon. The basketweavers’ gathering is April 23-25,
2010 in Happy Camp.
Verna Reece moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Helene’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
17) Jaclyn
Goodwin, Grant Writer
She is present to review her
written report.
She has worked on many
different projects and grants. One is
the HUD ICDBG Grant ideas; she provided them with a list and she understood
that they were going to think about it and then provide further ideas to her
about it. Once they have a list, they
will send that to Sue Burcell for evaluation of which ones she thinks will do
best. The NOFA will not be available
until May but they should choose a project as soon as possible so they can
gather information. They would like to
have as many ideas as possible. She will
email it out so they can look it over.
Laura states they need to look at projects that will be likely funded
but also meet a need they truly want.
Emilio states he would like
to have office space in
She contacted other Tribes in
She has been working with
Vickie Walden and Nikki Hokanson on an expanded access to dental grant that is
very interesting and would be beneficial; however, it will require a rather
large match. She also found a grant for
youth and culture dollars but it had such a short turnaround there was not time
to put a complete grant application together for that funding; they wanted to
do a youth project in the computer center to provide and teach them about
video/audio editing and then have a presentation night for the youth; it has
been put back but still there so that they can develop it for a future
opportunity.
The only funding they are
available from ANA is the Environmental Regulatory enhancement that doesn’t
clearly meet their needs; she has forwarded it to DNR to see if they have
anything they have that matches it. She
also wrote a grant for a van for the Senior Nutrition Program as well and the
THPO project they are working on.
She also spoke briefly about
some grant opportunities that would require looking into the possibility of
implementing a 501(c)3 for the Tribe.
Verna Reece moved and
Sonny
18) Laura
Mayton, Chief Finance Officer
She reviewed her written
report. She doesn’t have any action
items.
She warned that if they create
a 501(c)3, that requires them to implement a Board of Directors that ultimately
results in the Tribal Council no longer having control and it evolves into its
own entity; the IRS grants them the same ability to receive funds as a
non-profit can. In some instances a
501(c)3 is good because it removes their financial liability if it goes
bankrupt. Jaclyn states the only reason
it was mentioned was because they have such a large operating budget, it looks
odd when they request small grants for specific uses. Jim states some agencies will also not donate
to a Tribe, but only to a non-profit entity.
Leeon states that anytime KCDC tries to enter a private industry
business there are so many hoops they have to jump through that it is as if it
were a separate entity; Laura states that for-profit economic development
ventures would not be non-profit.
She attended the Native
American Finance Officers Association’s Conference which was mainly dedicated
to Tribal gaming. She states there were
many attorneys and non-Indian business people at the conference. She states that many Tribal casinos are
having financial troubles; one of which is the Mashantucket Tribe which is held
by Foxwoods and MGM Grand that is huge and defaulted on their loan. Although they should still be pursuing a
gaming venture, they may be lucky they did not enter the market at the wrong
time. She thinks they need to pursue
their history and situation through legislative representatives rather than fighting
the legal battle. They should explain
their situation and highlighting the fact that they are not reservation
shopping as other Tribes are. They
should target the right players and put them in a position to move as the
economy will be improving in the future.
She included several articles
regarding court ruling regarding financial difficulty. A casino renegotiated a financial agreement
in essence refinancing but NIGC ruled it was not a finance agreement but a
management contract creating a huge ripple effect in who will finance casino
projects. At last year’s conference they
spoke of possible defaults; this year there are actual defaults. They will likely call a Gaming Committee
Meeting in the near future to revisit their methods.
They also spoke about the
trust issues that Scott has been working on as well and she included recent articles
regarding that and online gaming that has developed. She states there were over 600 attendees at
the conference and Tribal representatives were the minority at the Native
American Finance Officer Association’s Conference.
She asked if anyone knows how
much they have saved on rent since they vacated the HCHS Clinic building. They have saved $60,000 so far!
She states they have been
selling items slowly from Oak Knoll and the Ranch and generating quick
revenue. They have been taking pictures
and emailing them out. They will likely
have about $3,000 before the yard sale on April 3. It is all outdated items that have been
taking up space.
She included the Booster Club
revenue and expense report that was requested; Arch also has an additional
report of assistance they have provided to youth from discretionary as well.
19) Sami
Difuntorum, Housing
Written report only, not
present. No action items.
20) Erin
Hillman, Administrative Programs and Compliance
She is present to review her
written report. She has several action
items this evening for their approval.
Her first item is Agreement
10-A-030 with IHS for water/wastewater system for Gary Tickner in the Redding
District. The cost will be $43,370
funded by IHS. Any Tribal Member can
apply for this assistance through the Tribe with either Robert Attebery or Fred
Burcell; IHS then reviews the document and identifies if they have funding
available and do a site visit.
Her next item is Agreement
10-A-034 with IHS for a feasibility study for the Happy Camp surface water
treatment system to determine what equipment is necessary for flocculation step
(if necessary). The state requires that
an additional step is necessary in water treatment beyond what Happy Camp has;
if the water quality is sufficient, it may not be required but there must be a
study to determine that. This project
was identified in the Sanitation Deficiency Priority List in 2009. IHS can fund services for the HC system since
it services many Tribal Members who live in the service area. The cost will be $16,150 funded by IHS.
She received a request from
the Council Cook to provide locks on the cabinets in the Yreka kitchen
facility; she would hate to put locks on those cabinets as they are such nicely
designed cabinets. There are two large
locking cabinets in the closet and she would like to purchase one more in that
pantry and install some shelving to allow a space to keep the Council Cooking
supplies in a locked cabinet at that facility.
The cost will be $299 from Home Depot or Lowe’s and it will match the
remaining cabinets; there are lower cost versions but they are unfinished and
would not match. Ann and Sami were
consulted to ensure it was not an issue for KTHA. It would need to come from discretionary.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Roy Arwood seconded to approve the purchase for $299. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
She states she and Dion has
been working on drafting language regarding Contract Procurement and how they
can implement an Indian Preference policy for contracting. The Management Team would like to recommend a
tiered system that would award 1% for all professional service contracts under
$50,000 or non-construction contracts; 3% for Native American (Non-Karuk)
bidders for any construction projects in excess of $50,000; and 5% for Karuk
bidders for any construction projects in excess of $50,000.
Consensus: To allow Stephanie to research this matter.
An additional policy was distributed
for Procurement in an attempt to standardize the process for reviewing
contracts to better match their grant review process so that relevant directors
involved in administration or implementation of the contract, or for pass-throughs
would be involved in the review process to ensure everyone is on the same page. The review document would be modified to
match the grant review form as well including Requestor and an Other line in
additional to the standard signatures.
She will distribute this to the Management Team for review. Dion would like to see TERO added to the
review as Contracts often impact that department for TERO fees and employment.
She distributed Contract
10-C-069 with Kayla Super at a rate of $50/class to provide weekly culture
classes for the Yreka community. She was
the only responder to the RFP.
She states that she and Sara
attended training in Yreka with representatives from many agencies in
21) Fred
Burcell, Maintenance/Construction
Written report only, not
present. No action items.
Alvis Johnson moved and Verna
Reece seconded to approve Fred’s report.
7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
22) TJ Day,
Maintenance
Written report only, not
present. No action items.
Verna Reece moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve TJ’s report.
7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
23) Sara
Spence, Human Resources
She reviewed her written
report and other items.
The first is a draft
State-Tribal Consultation Policy forwarded from Molin Malicay and the State
Indian Health Program that Lessie requested be drafted for Council
approval. It was forwarded to
She states that
She included photos of the
painting projects and renovations at the Blue House for their review. She also announced the Supervisor’s Training
on May 4-5, 2010 (they requested that be emailed through Outlook). She also announced the
Alvis Johnson moved and
Sonny
24) Requests
None at this time.
25) Phone Votes
a)
Request approval
to pay $183 for two caregivers to transport Tribal Elders to Language
Conference in Arcata. Passed.
b)
Request approval
of the 2010 Winter Newsletter and forward to printing. Passed.
26)
Informational
None at this time.
27) Committee
Reports
The NCIDC Meeting Minutes
were included.
Closed Session from 9:30pm to 10:40pm
Consensus: To consider Tribal Member #1515’s loan request
at the Thursday Meeting.
Consensus: To consider Tribal Member #410’s assistance
request at the Thursday Meeting.
Consensus: For Jim Berry/KCDC to pursue Workforce
Development funding opportunity. A phone
vote is authorized if necessary for approval after the review is complete.
Sonny Davis moved and Florrine
Super seconded to approve travel for Alvis Johnson,
Consensus: To consider the request for assistance
related to Tribal Member #1629’s at the Thursday Meeting.
Consensus: To approve the Board of Supervisors’ Letter
for mailing.
Consensus: To request that
staff consider the Senior Nutrition Program’s schedule when coordinating
meetings to avoid having them during the lunch hour due to parking issues and
disruptions. They understand this will
still be a conflict for Planning Meetings.
Florrine Super moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve travel for
Verna Reece moved and
Sonny
Alvis Johnson moved and Leeon
Hillman seconded to approve additional insurance for YMCA in Yreka for a
Basketball Fundraiser. 7 haa, 0 puuhara,
0 pupitihara.
Alvis Johnson moved and
Florrine Super seconded to approve membership dues for $500 to the
Next Meeting Date:
April 22, 2010 at 5pm in
Alvis Johnson moved and
Sonny
Submitted by,
______________________________________
Arch Super, Chairman
Recording Secretary,