Council Dispatch #185     August 15, 2023

 

Walk-Ins

 

  • Francis Pierre wanted answers from the last time he met with the council on January 10, 2023, to discuss issues he has, including an issue with Mission Valley Power. The Tribal Council minutes indicated that Frank met with the council in executive session and that Dan Decker was present, but Frank did not request executive session and did not request assistance from Mr. Decker. Mr. Pierre requested meat from the Elders program and did not receive it until August 10. It has been two and a half years since the program was going to fix his door and it has not been done yet. Frank wanted to have a list of all their excuses for his records. Frank also has some issues with Mission Valley Power. Mr. Pierre does not like the generic answers the council gives him and he wanted to know when something would be done.  Chairman McDonald explained that Mission Valley Power has been installing 8,000 new meters and they successfully installed Frank’s new meter.  The Elders program is dealing with a backlog due to a lack of staff and contractors to do the work. The Tribes are trying to get more handyman workers out there and have Salish Kootenai College offer more vocational courses. It is frustrating when we have a need and have the funding, but we do not have a workforce to get the work done.

 

  • Council took action to extend Katrina Stevens’s leave sharing for the remainder of the calendar year and include this pay period.

 

Division of Fire

 

  • Council received an update on local fires. At 5:00 p.m. they will in-brief both of the fires. The Division of Fire will take over the two northern fires. The fire danger remains high and high winds are expected this week, which is critical. The Big Knife fire remains at 4,952 acres and is 7% contained; the Mill Pocket fire is 2,135 acres and is 89% contained; and the Niarada fire is 20,365 acres and is 81% contained. A total of 616 personnel are working across all three fires. The program continues to use tribal member contractors.

 

Tribal Member Resources

 

  • Tony Incashola, Jr. discussed the Bureau of Land Management Infrastructure and Good Neighbor Agreement. CSKT is a partner in the Good Neighbor Authority with them. The agreement was executed yesterday for $250,000 to support seed collection, store, cleaning, white bark pine, native plants, and native food plants. CSKT will get funding to collect for them and our reservation and store it at our facility. They are focusing on the Blackfoot River Watershed. They are working with Trout Unlimited, the Blackfoot group and The Nature Conservancy. It is a great partnership to restore some of our aboriginal territories and waters. Tony is meeting with the partners tomorrow and they will hold a press conference.

 

  • Carole Lankford mentioned there seems to be a lot of turnover at the Fish & Game Department. Tony Incashola, Jr. spoke to Dan and he will provide a report back to council.

 

Tribal Defenders Office

 

  • Council received an update on the continued adaptation and development of the Reentry Intake Assessment Tool through collaboration with the Center for Justice Innovation. The Tribal Defenders Office is transitioning to this tool as part of a pilot project. Council approved a resolution in support of the Tribal Defenders Office to participate in the validation of the Risk-Need-Resilience Assessment Tool developed by the Center for Justice Innovation.

 

Indian Preference Office

 

  • Council approved a project specific agreement with the Montana Department of Transportation for the Minesinger Safety Improvement project. The construction project will realign the northbound and southbound left-turn lanes to the other side of the median for a positive offset with each other. Construction is expected to begin in the Spring of 2024.

 

Tribal Council

 

  • Chairman McDonald discussed the Health Committee meeting scheduled for this afternoon. Item number 1 on page 2 needs to happen. Tom does not know why people are having to get approval. When people have Medicare A it is a guarantee and they have the money to pay the co-pay. The more people we get people on Medicare Part B the more money we can collect through Third Party and the more money we would save. Medicare Part B would be about a $167 premium. People could drop their insurance and use Medicare completely. People could be reimbursed for the premium. It could be a pilot project and would be dependent on the funding available. There is a window for people turning 65 years of age to sign up for Medicare Part B and if the deadline is missed they must pay a penalty. Council will discuss further at the Health Committee meeting.

 

Natural Resources Department

 

  • Council took action to show interest in purchasing the Martin property and approve entering into a buy/sell agreement at the fair market value with resident fish mitigation dollars. The parcel meets Bonneville Power Administration acquisition criteria.

 

  • Council received an update on a parcel of land that the Tribes showed interest in purchasing. There is a large barn on the east side of the land that is encroaching the adjoining property. There is access from the property and an encroachment agreement in place. If the structure were to fall down or be removed, it could not be replaced. There are also multiple other barns on the property. A spring is the current water source and the appraisal accounts for drilling a new well. There is sufficient funding to drill a well in the future. There is a lease in effect until November 15, 2023. The Tribes would get a prorated amount through the end of the lease term, and then the lessee would remove the hay from the barn. Council directed staff to proceed.

 

  • Staff discussed William Webster’s application for Flathead System Compact Water from the lake near Blue Bay for his orchard and request for conditional approval to apply for UAMO prior to completing the design plan. The lease period for the use of Flathead System Compact Water will run concurrent with his lease for the parcel.  It was the consensus of council to concur with the recommendation to move forward, contingent upon a completed application, successful negotiations for the water, and agreed upon negotiated lease terms that are acceptable to the Tribal Council that will be determined at a later date.

 

Legal Department

 

  • Council took action to approve the July 2023 to June 2024 water funding agreement with the State of Montana.

 

  • Council approved a resolution authorizing draw down of water compact funds to initiate activities related to compact implementation, specifically for funding of the Flathead Reservation Water Management Board.

 

Financial Management

 

  • Council approved by resolution the enactment of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations for General Fund, Third Party, Self-Governance Compacts, Water Compact, and Settlement Funds.

 

 

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..