Tribal Council approves developing public utility master plan

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved spending up to $776,000 to develop a public utility master plan to meet future growth needs of the Grand Ronde community at its Wednesday, Feb. 25, meeting.

Keller Associates of Salem will complete the work.

“So, the purpose of this project is really building on the work that we did with the housing study and the campus master plan work,” Tribal Engineering & Community Development Department Manager Ryan Webb said during a Tuesday, Feb. 24, Legislative Action Committee meeting. “It’s really going to develop a community-wide master plan for all public utilities, storm, sanitary and water, to meet the future growth of Tribal government buildings, as well as housing and other facilities within the community in a way that optimizes Tribal land, facilities for Tribal government operations and serves community members. … It will identify things that we need to do in order to get utilities in the ground to serve potential new housing projects and new government buildings.”

The work will be fully funded by grants that have already been secured, Webb added.

Tribal Council member Kathleen George asked whether the master plan would address some of the challenges that occurred with other building developments due to drainage issues from the clay soil in Grand Ronde.

“Not only will it look at where a storm pipe can go and where that falls, but it will look at creating standards and best management practices in how we manage that stormwater as it comes onto sites in and around buildings and roads and how we channel that,” Webb said.   

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved a loan from the Tribe’s TriState Capital Bank line of credit to Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. for up to $1.52 million for its rooftop replacement project at Spirit Mountain Casino;
• Appointed Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Reed to the Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees with a term ending Sept. 30, 2026;
• Approved an agreement between the Tribe and the United States Forest Service for its Siuslaw National Forest Tribal Plant Materials Collaboration funding opportunity for up to $160,000;
• And approved six non-infant enrollments and four infant enrollments into the Tribe because they meet the enrollment requirements in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

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