SAC AND FOX TRIBE OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN IOWA
Tribal Council Meeting – January 9, 2019, 5:00 PM
Sac and Fox Tribal Chambers
- Meeting called to order at 5:03 p.m.
- Roll Call
Presiding Officer: Anthony Waseskuk, Chairman
Tribal Council present: Adrian Pushetonequa, Vice-Chairman; Delonda Pushetonequa, Treasurer; Troy Wanatee, Jarvis Bear; Harvey Davenport, Jr., Apollo Davenport
Staff present: Jay Finch, Attorney General; Bill Thurman, Comptroller; Oliviah Walker, Deputy Executive Director; Yolanda Pushetonequa, Executive Assistant/ Tribal Council Secretary; Bessie Scott, Executive Director; Kelly Schott, MNR Coordinator; Roxane Warnell, Emergency Response Coordinator.
Visitors: Iris Roberts, Oona Walker, Alvina Walker, Alexis Walker, Blevins Gibbs, Jerry Youngbear, Jr., Leah Slick-Driscoll, Mrs. Fitzgerald, MaryBelle Armajo, Cheryl Seymour, Nicole Kapayou, Hilda Youngbear, Mary Youngbear, Daniel Youngbear, Mary Lasley, Payton Tahawah, Danielle Seymour, Noah Seymour, Gregory Keahna, Aaron Walker, Rick Hirschman from HyVee Beverage Distributors of Iowa.
- Ascertainment of Quorum – A quorum was ascertained with 7 council members present.
- Agenda approval
The Chairman asked for any changes or additions to the agenda. Motion made by Delonda Pushetonequa to approve the agenda. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
- Minutes –
Apollo Davenport asks to add the name of the council member who abstained from Item C. Jarvis Bear’s name will be added to ‘abstained’. On page 3, shorten the length of Item E, correct ‘plumbing,’change ‘he’ to ‘it’.
Motion made by Adrian Pushetonequa to approve the minutes for December 26, 2018 with changes. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no, 1 Abstained. Motion carried.
6. Reports
7. New Business
a. Community Member Requests
i. Geography Club – Leah Slick, Nicole Davenport, MaryBelle Armajo, and Mrs. Fitzgerald present the MSS Europe trip itinerary, the list of 16 students attending, and a budget summary sheet showing the fundraised totals by each student and their remaining balances. The trip is open to Juniors, Seniors, and last year’s graduating Seniors. For this program, there is one chaperone allowed per six kids. Ideally they would want to have this travel every 2 years. A total of $46,845 has been raised by all the families. Mrs. Slick-Driscoll and Mrs. Fitzgerald state that they were requested by the Council to come back to the Council in December for an update and request. They state they will request a dollar amount that would be shared among each of the students. MaryBelle Armajo adds that they have worked a lot of hours and worked very hard on it. Even the kids that aren’t able to attend each fundraiser, they have still worked hard and as much as they possibly could, plus each of the parents have also done as much as they could. Mrs. Fitzgerald adds that this couldn’t happen without the parents who have donated so much and spent a lot of time planning. 29 fund raisers have been held, a major one being Ragbrai. Profits are always split by the number of hours worked by each student. Mrs. Slick-Driscoll adds that the leadership and overall experience for the students is invaluable. They will also be earning high school credit through this program. The donation amount requested would be $32,000. Mrs. Fitzgerald advocates for an even distribution among each student regardless of how much they’ve raised. Additional students and parents entered the meeting. Student, Danielle Seymour, explained what she learned from the Geography Club and how much fundraising they’ve done. Jarvis Bear proposes to make to provide half of the entire cost per student, which would be $2,500 with the stipulation that the student must raise the other $2,500.
Motion by Jarvis Bear to approve $2,500 to each of the 16 students going on the Geography Club trip. Harvey Davenport seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
Motion by Jarvis Bear to enter into Executive Session at 6:01 PM. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
ii. Blevins Gibbs – Executive Session
iii. Iris Roberts – Executive Session
Motion by Jarvis Bear to exit Executive Session at 7:13 PM. Apollo Davenport seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
Motion by Jarvis Bear to deny Blevins Gibbs request. Apollo Davenport seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
Motion by Jarvis Bear to increase the existing reward amount regarding the Rita Papakee disappearance to $50,000 and to cover the expenses of a grid search, training, and administration, of $10,000 as coordinated by the family in care of Iris Roberts. Apollo Davenport seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
b. Visitor Items
i. Prairie Rivers and City of Tama – Lincoln Highway Bridge
Janice Gannon from Prairie Rivers of Iowa, a conservation focused 501c3 charged with overseeing the US highway 30 Highway Heritage Byway from Clinton to Council Bluffs. The Byway goes through the country and is the first Transcontinental highway. The Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama was established 1913. The lettering on the side has been there since 1915. The DOT scores bridges in need of repair and it scores high, but it would be a while before the DOT will get to it so they’re seeking private funding to get the bridge renovated. Janice lists all the grants they’ve received so far. Mayor Mike Carnahan, Mayor of Tama, explains the work that needs to done to alleviate corrosion. The city of Tama is willing to put in what they could. They wish to start the project in the summer. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places and receives international visitors. Original costs were $115,000. The original fundraising goal was met but there is now a shortage of $10,000 or more due to new costs. They ask for any amount the Tribe is comfortable. Attorney General, Jay Finch, discusses the desire by the Tribe to get a mutual aid agreement in place with the city, however the city has declined entering into the agreement so far. The City of Tama did not proceed with the agreement citing the 28E statute that didn’t allow for tribe to do mutual aid agreements. The Tribe is addressed this issue with legislation but Tama Chief of Police still declined entering the mutual aid agreement. Is there a way to strengthen our relationship between the city and Tribe so that we help each other on important issues like these? The project will begin this summer.
ii. Liquor License Hearing – Hy-Vee
Rick Hirschman from HyVee requests that the liquor license be accepted and renewed. Hy-Vee has been a distributor for many years and the license is up for renewal.
Motion by Delonda Pushetonequa to accept the liquor license renewal for Hy-Vee as a beverage distributor. Troy Wanatee seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
c. Departments
i. Meskwaki Natural Resources
- FEMA Hazard Mitigation Resolution
Kelly Schott and Roxane Warnell, from Meskwaki Natural Resources, request approval of a resolution to enact the Hazard Mitigation Resolution. The mitigation plan is required for many grants relating to Natural Resources. It is to lessen the impact of disasters. A periodic update is required by FEMA and one is due this year. The plan was approved by Council in November, but they now need a resolution for FEMA to accept it. This makes it
Motion by Apollo Davenport to approve Resolution 29-2018 Hazard Mitigation Plan Adoption. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
- Game Warden Resolution
Kelly Schott presents a request to pass a resolution establish the Game Warden position and give the Director of MNR the authority over the position. Currently, MNPD has been acting in that capacity. A grant has already been received to cover the position.
Motion by Jarvis Bear to approve Resolution 1-2019 Game Warden. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
ii. Fiscal and Health – Pharmacy Resolution
Elizabeth Dolezal, Procurement Specialist, presents a request to approve construction costs for Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing remediation measures for the Clinic’s Pharmacy relocation. This has been work sessioned already and just need a motion.
Motion by Apollo Davenport to approve Resolution 2-2019 authorizing the expenditure of funds for construction costs associated with pharmacy relocation. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
iii. Human Resources
- Enrollment Officer recommendation
Azadeh Tavakoli, Human Resources Director, presents a recommendation for an Enrollment Officer, as recommended by the Enrollment Committee. Per the code, for this position, the hiring committee makes the recommendation. Luciana Roberts has been recommended. The start date would be February 1.
Motion by Apollo Davenport to approve the recommendation for hire of Luciana Roberts as the Enrollment Officer. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
- Approval to post Hemp Director position
Azadeh Tavakoli presents a job description of a Director of Hemp Operations based on the working group dedicated to the Hemp project. This requires approval for posting.
Motion by Jarvis Bear to approve the posting of the Hemp Director position. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
Executive Director would like to ask Tribal Council if they would like the Executive Director to have more administrative authority and oversight over Enrollment. Clarification is needed especially during this interim Attorney General, Jay Finch, reads from the Code Section 10-2202 which states that the Enrollment Officer reports to the Enrollment Committee but the Executive Director supervises the Enrollment Officer administrative purposes. Jay states that Executive Director should not deal with issues of enrollment applicants, but the Enrollment Officer would be accountable to the Executive Director for admin things such as issues from the Employee Handbook. Jarvis Bear suggests a work session with the Committee also so that everyone is on the same page about the stipulations of authority. Everyone is in agreement.
d. Travel Approvals
Elizabeth Dolezal presents the travel packets of cost estimates for relevant training and conferences. RES2019, US Hemp, Tribal Green Symposium, and Self-Governance. The sooner items are booked, the greater the savings and travel options. Agendas are reviewed. Self-Governance will be put on by BIA but due to shut down, no word on whether there will be presentations from them.
i. Tribal Green Symposium 2-18-19
RSVP is due by January 15.
Motion by Apollo Davenport to approve sending a tribal council delegation to the 2nd Annual Tribal Green Symposium. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
ii. US Hemp Conference 2-24-19
This is in Rochester, MN on 2/25-26. Motion by Apollo Davenport to approve sending a tribal council delegation to the US Hemp Conference. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
iii. RES 3-25-19
Harvey Davenport, Jarvis Bear, Adrian Pushetonequa, Apollo Davenport, Delonda Pushetonequa, and Bessie Scott are interested in attending Reservation Economic Summit. Elizabeth presents two options for travel, leaving either the day of closing or the following day to be able to attend closing ceremonies.
Motion by Apollo Davenport to approve a delegation of Tribal Council and Executive Management to attend RES2019. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
iv. Self-Governance 3-30-19
Motion by Apollo Davenport to approve sending a delegation to the Self-Governance. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.
- Adjourn
Motion made by Delonda Pushetonequa to adjourn at 9:06 PM. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote: 6 yes, 0 no. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:06 p.m.