Tribal Council approves grant request for $9.9 million

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved a grant request to the U.S. Department of Transportation for tumwata village at its Wednesday, Feb. 11, meeting.

If awarded, the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development grant would provide up to $9.9 million and would be used for project inspection fees, demolition and removal, and construction and equipment costs. Specifically, it would be used for four local roadways within tumwata village.

“We applied for this grant last year also and we learned that our initial grant was moved to the highly recommended list, which is really far in the approval process,” Tribal Grants Program Manager Wendy Sparks said during a Tuesday, Feb. 10, Legislative Action Committee meeting. “However, it was not selected by the transportation secretary for funding last year. We did a little bit of digging and determined that last year, successful applications were supported by some strategic lobbying in D.C. … What our approach is for this year reflects changes suggested by the Department of Transportation and we, I believe, have a competitive grant application.”

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved a contract amendment with Elder Demolition for up to $2,369,371, an overall increase of $480,000. This will be used for continued demolitions at tumwata village, bringing the total number of structures to 42;
• Appointed Ruby Mendez-Anderson to the Housing Grievance Board with a term ending March 31, 2029;
• Approved limited waivers of sovereign immunity for software programs Microsoft Copilot Chat, DexCom Clarity, Oracle, Microsoft optional connected services and Health-e Pro;
• Approved one emergency enrollment and eight infant enrollments into the Tribe because they meet the enrollment requirements in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance;
• And approved one enrollment relinquishment request.

In other news, council set the agenda for the next General Council meeting. It will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 1, in Tribal Council Chambers and via Zoom, with a program report from Spirit Mountain Casino in executive session. A community input meeting regarding potential 2026 advisory votes will follow.

To watch the entire meeting, visit www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.