General Council briefed on capital improvement projects

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

A child care facility.

A recreation center for Tribal housing residents.

A wetlands trail snaking through Tribal housing and around the apartment complexes.

And 32 more home ownership lots in the community.

Those were just some of the future capital improvement projects Engineering and Planning Manager Ryan Webb mentioned during his presentation on past, current and future Tribal projects during the Sunday, April 3, General Council meeting held in the Tribal gym and broadcast on Zoom.

Most of Webb’s 44-minute presentation, however, concentrated on the capital improvement projects that have been completed or are currently being managed.

Some of those projects include:

• The Creekside Elder Housing project at the southwest corner of Hebo and Grand Ronde roads. The new Elder housing project will feature 24 units – 12 duplexes – and cost $7.2 million to build. The project is installing 1,400 feet of new roadways and sideways, and should be complete within a year. Webb said that as energy efficient units are completed, they will be certified for occupancy so that Elders do not have to wait for the entire project to be completed before moving in.
• Phase One of the homeownership project at the end of McPherson Road east of Grand Ronde Road. Civil improvements for the 20 lots are currently being installed and should be complete by May at a cost of $1.936 million. The project is installing 1,050 feet of new roads and sidewalks as well. Webb said that lots will be a minimum of 10,000 square feet and homes will range in size from 1,200 square feet (two bedrooms and one bathroom) to 2,000 square feet (four bedrooms and two bathrooms) and be solar ready.
• The uyxat Powwow Grounds arbor expansion concluded in 2021 and added covered areas and bleachers, as well as improved Wi-Fi coverage. The project cost $330,000.
• Replacing culvert 304 on Agency Creek in 2021 expanded fish passage from a four-foot-wide culvert to a six-foot-wide one at a cost of $462,333.
• A new site for the Men’s Transitional Housing has been prepared with utilities and paving at a cost of $199,000. The site on the west side of Grand Ronde Road will house three manufactured homes.
• New domestic violence shelters have been purchased for $132,000 and two of the manufactured homes have already been delivered.
• Expansion of the Community Center will begin this summer with an additional 2,100 square feet of space being added to the east side of the building for the Warriors of Hope domestic violence and sexual violence program within the Social Services Department. Cost will be approximately $1.1 million.
• And a new Language Education Building will be erected with work also starting this summer. The new 6,600-square-foot structure will house six classrooms at a cost of $3.5 million.

Also occurring this summer will be an upgrade to the Tribal water treatment plant, which will increase its gallons-per-day capacity from 72,000 to 125,000 to accommodate more Tribal housing tying into the system.

Two projects that are currently in the design and pre-construction phase are the building of a new fire station and emergency management building, which will encompass 30,000 square feet, and a new health care and vaccination clinic building that will be 10,000 square feet in size.

Webb said the Tribe is continuing work on the Portland medication-assisted treatment clinic building that was purchased in east Portland on Southeast 82^nd Avenue. The former dental clinic had its interior demolished and remodeling work will start soon with a planned opening date of late 2022 or early 2023.

Meanwhile, remediation work continues at the Tribe’s Blue Heron site at Willamette Falls in Oregon City as 10 buildings have been partially or fully demolished and two underground storage tanks have been removed, and the Tribe continues to work on placing the former Multnomah Greyhound Park property in Wood Village into trust for a possible second Tribal casino location.

“I think, as you can kind of see, this construction season there will be a lot of construction going on here on campus. You’ll see a lot of exciting changes and I’m just thankful to be a part of all of those changes,” Webb said.

After his presentation, Webb fielded seven questions and comments from those in attendance in the Tribal gym or watching via the Zoom teleconference application.

In other action, Brenda Tuomi, Mindy Lane, Erin Bernando, Anthony Quenelle and Angela Schlappie won the $50 door prizes and Ron Tuomi, Dan Ham and Lee Huffman won the $100 door prizes. The Tuomis donated their winnings to the Veterans Special Event Board.

The next General Council meeting will be held 11 a.m. Sunday, May 1, and feature a presentation from the Health & Wellness Center. It, too, will be a hybrid meeting with limited in-person attendance in the Tribal gym and the ability to participate remotely via the Zoom application.

After the General Council meeting, the Tribe held its final Community Input meeting, which solicited ideas for possible advisory votes to appear on the September Tribal Council ballot.

To watch the entire meeting, visit the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and click on the Government tab and then Videos.