Council Dispatch #192     September 7, 2023

Tribal Council

• Carole Lankford gave a report on the Ronan/Pablo joint district meeting. Experts in the field of doing skateparks were in attendance. The man that did a petition said he got 1,000 signatures to move forward with a skatepark in Ronan. She identified a parcel of land. It sounds like it will be a go. Medicare Part B had a good presentation. An expert from the Tribal Health Department was there and talked about the ins and outs of that. People are excited about having a little extra money in their checks. She would like more information about that pilot project. Martin Charlo thought the fentanyl crisis is on a lot of people’s minds and there are still a lot of homeless people on the reservation. Martin plans to hold another meeting for the Pablo district to discuss available funding and other issues discussed. Chairman McDonald reported that the Pearl Jam Pool Works has a grant program that will match up to $100,000 for a skatepark in Montana. It looks like we would qualify for a couple of skateparks, so it looks positive for Ronan to get a skatepark. Tom will zoom into the next Tribal Health Committee meeting to discuss Medicare Part B. Tracy gave a presentation on how she seeks out resources for tribal members. Part B provides pharmacy reimbursement, and that could add revenue to the Third Party revenue. Tom suggested expanding pharmacy services. Tom wants to pay the premium for Part B and limit that reimbursement benefit to tribal members only. There is a penalty for individuals that do not sign up for Medicare by the age of 65. Medicare Part A participants must do redundant applications every year. He wants to have a better way to reboot Tribal Health so beneficiaries do not need pre-authorization for surgeries once individuals reach a certain age.

Facilities Maintenance

• Council approved SKMM Task Order 13 for the Blue Bay Dock project. The goal of the project is to rebuild the dock, conserve the existing crib, and add two bays and a boat lift.

Natural Resources Department

• Council granted Missoula County a three-year collection permit to collect soil core samples from the Flathead Lake flowering rush biomasses on the southern half of the lake near the Ducharme Point fishing access. It would determine a baseline for flowering rush.

• Council granted Craig Pablo a one-year commercial recreation permit for his business Native Waters Fly Fishing.

• The staff reported the water levels have gone up at the Mission Reservoir. The staff can either reopen the reservoir to fishing or can return to council next week to discuss further.  Chairman McDonald asked the staff to come back next week.

Financial Management

• Council approved by resolution spending authority for Early Childhood Services Day Care.

• Council approved by resolution the fiscal year 2024 budget for the Tribal Credit Program.

• Council approved by resolution the fiscal year 2024 spending authority for Quicksilver Express.

• Len TwoTeeth would like to have discussion about turning the Gray Wolf Trailer Park property over to S&K Gaming. The purpose of purchasing the property was for S&K Gaming expansion. Jennifer Finley suggested having more discussion. The property could be used for housing and workforce housing. Carole Lankford would like to use the trailer park as housing for tribal members. Mike Dolson wanted to know why the trailer park business was not making a profit. Len TwoTeeth wanted to know if the residents pay taxes to Missoula County. Greg Spahr will follow up with the Economic Development Office.

• Council approved by resolution the fiscal year 2024 spending authority for Gray Wolf Park.

• Greg Spahr discussed fiscal year 2024 funding allocations. The Tribes are required to indicate their intentions on the allocation of the upcoming mandatory water settlement funding, indication on the receipt of the indexing amount from fiscal year 2023, as well as make a request for funding disbursement for the upcoming budget and expenditures. Council took action to approve a letter to Pamela Williams, US Department of the Interior, and approved a resolution authorizing the allocation of the fourth mandatory distribution from the Montana Water Rights Protection Act.

• Council took action to approve a letter to Shane Hendrickson, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and a resolution authorizing draw down of water compact funds for ongoing activities related to compact implementation.

Department of Human Resources Development

• Council changed the Dire Need Policy to require all Dire Need approved payments to be paid vendor direct only and no further requirement of drug testing for any applicant. 

• Council changed the Dire Need Policy to remove the requirement for the tribal member to have applied to Tribal Credit before individuals can be eligible for Dire Need. 

• Council approved an exemption for the Emergency Home Repair Program funded by ARP-A to be exempt from the contracting process for jobs up to $5,000 that meet the guidelines and add the need for  siding that is not cosmetic and urgent to the health of the home to approved Home Repair services. 

• Patricia Courchane informed council that the CSKT DHRD Transit mobile app for rides came out today.

Arlee Pow Wow Committee

• Council received a report on the 2023 Arlee Pow Wow and took action to accept the report.

NOTE:  The official Council Minutes will contain more complete details about lengthy discussions and should be considered the official record of Council. Dispatches are written from notes taken live and may occasionally contain partial information, over-simplified characterizations or an occasional error. Council reviews and corrects the draft minutes before approving as the official record.  Comments (both affirmations and concerns) are part of change and are expected and encouraged. Along with any specific comments, please also share what you would like to hear more about in upcoming communications. The email address for comments is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..