Minutes: July 25, 2018

SAC AND FOX TRIBE OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN IOWA

Tribal Council Meeting – July 25, 2018, 5:00 PM

Sac and Fox Tribal Chambers

  1. Meeting called to order at 5:07 p.m.
  2. Roll Call

Presiding Officer:  Anthony Waseskuk, Chairman

Tribal Council present:  Adrian Pushetonequa, Vice-Chairman; Delonda Pushetonequa, Treasurer; Troy Wanatee, Jarvis Bear; Harvey Davenport, Jr.

Absent: Apollo Davenport

Staff present:  Bessie Scott, Executive Director; Jay Finch, Attorney General; Bill Thurman, Comptroller; Yolanda Pushetonequa, Executive Assistant and Tribal Council Secretary; Azadeh Tavakoli, Human Resources Director.

Visitors: Sophilia Keahna

  1. Ascertainment of Quorum – A quorum was ascertained with 6 council members present.
  2. Agenda approval

The Chairman asked for any changes or additions to the agenda. Motion made by Harvey Davenport to approve the agenda as presented. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Minutes – May 9, 2018

Motion made by Delonda Pushetonequa to approve the minutes for May 9, 2018. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Reports –
    1. Housing – Harvey Davenport reports we are almost near the final draft for revisions of the Housing Policies. Harvey also reports that he attended the BIA Partners in Action Conference in Milwaukee last week and attend a lot of sessions relevant to tribal business.

Harvey Davenport wishes to commend the Tribal Operations Staff, Housing, Apprenticeship Program, MBCH, and Meskwaki, Inc. on the tornado relief efforts and support offered to the tribal members affected by the tornado of July 19, 2018.

  1. Old Business – none
  2. New Business
    1. Housing – Land Assignment to Place Temporary Office at Phase 5: Kent Scheid, Housing Director presents request for approval to relocate the Housing Department to some rentals. There is a double wide trailer with 4 offices and a conference area, and we may get a single trailer with 2 offices. Sewer, water, electric are all there. IT needs are also able to be hooked up, this has been checked already. Delivery of the single wide could be next week and the double wide in two weeks. This will be temporary until there is a more appropriate long term solution. Kent would like the location to be squared away first before submitting to Attorney General to review documents. AG requests the lease copy also. Harvey asks if there are future plans to be in this place. Kent states this is just for now and open to move to another location if needed.

Motion by Adrian Pushetonequa to assign the Phase 5 area to Meskwaki Housing Program for the temporary new location. Harvey Davenport seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

  1. Human Resources –
    1. Exemption requests for school contracted employees. One staff member, Sophilia Keahna, presents herself today to request an exemption in her contract to the newly implemented policy that requires student children of Meskwaki Settlement School staff to attend MSS. Ms. Keahna explains why her children attend STC and how a certain program assists one of her students. Additionally, some of the student’s siblings attend to provide support and be present for the other one. Despite how much she loves MSS this is their situation and it is best for her family. Motion by Delonda Pushetonequa to approve the exemption for Sophilia Keahna’s contract thereby allowing her children to attend their school of choice. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

 

  1. Approval of Amended Contract Amounts. Human Resources Director, Azadeh Tavakoli presents a list of adjustments requested for Meskwaki Settlement School staff salaries. Presented is a short list of staff members who are currently not placed on the correct steps for the salary scale according to degree and years of experience. A few of the staff are on the wrong step. Harvey asks why did the error happen and why has it gone on. Previous staff did their best and the inconsistencies were noticed only recently. Human Resources wishes to correct them immediately rather than slowly over time. Comptroller, Bill Thurman, reports that it is in the budget. Motion by Delonda Pushetonequa to approve amended contract amounts for Meskwaki Settlement School. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

 

  • Senior Services – Senior Trip Approval: Senior Services Director, Nicole Kapayou, presents a request for approval of the Senior trip to Niagara Falls, September 16-24. Tribal Council raises concerns about how many nights it will take to get to Niagara Falls as it is a 5 day travel there and 1 day travel back. Nicole explains that the elders committee already approved this trip and agreements have already been signed. Discussion takes place on how tiresome this may be for elders packing and unpacking for 5 days straight. Also there is concern that if the goal of the trip is to visit Niagara Falls, but the stop there is only one day. Bill Thurman suggests that we can probably talk with the touring company to ask them to be more amenable to the needs of elders. Tribal Council suggests looking into the possibility of adjustments to the itinerary making the amount of travel time more reasonable. Also concerns are expressed about the cost. This trip cost is listed at $70,509. The original budget allowance was set at $50,000. Past trips have been just over $20,000. Tribal Council will schedule a council meeting next week August 2 at 5:00pm to get another meeting in before powwow so this can be discussed then, and procurement will discuss itinerary adjustments with the touring company. Motion by Delonda Pushetonequa to table the Senior Trip discussion until next week. Adrian Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

 

  1. Blue Stone Strategy Group – Approval of additional expenses to the Urban/ Rural Planning Services Agreement. Executive Director, Bessie Scott, and Executive Assistant, Yolanda Pushetonequa, explain that Blue Stone has requested to exceed their original out-of-pocket expenses budget due to two more on-site visits they’d like to make. Comptroller, Bill Thurman, reports that their travel expenses depend on how many of them came out. Discussion ensues about whether we should prioritize looking at local, internal needs or looking into outside economic ventures and the importance of this type of planning. There is an allowance for travel expenses but that is in addition to the consultation fee. Blue Stone wishes to come out on August 7 and 8.

Motion by Harvey Davenport to table discussion on approving additional on-site visit costs by Blue Stone. Delonda Pushetonequa seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

 

  1. Attorney General Matter – Jay Finch, Attorney General presents a new contract by Medvoldt. In order for Medvolt to maintain their status as a small business under the SBA program, they must remain under a certain dollar amount threshold to keep their status. They have created a new small business under the name Medvolt Construction to absorb some of excess business. Medvolt has created a subsidiary who will serve any excess amount of labor for this project that is beyond their maximum threshold.

Motion by Delonda Pushetonequa to authorize the Novation agreement with Medvolt Construction with the correction of the spelling of Meskwaki. Harvey Davenport seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried.

The city of Keokuk acquired a barge from the city of Bettendorf. Keokuk set up a committee to figure out the uses of the barge. The city of Keokuk has a gaming license which is still valid and they get paid every year to not to open a casino for a certain number of years which they have completed. Jay Finch asks Council if they wish to visit Keokuk next week to meet with the Keokuk committee. They will go Tuesday 7/31.

  1. Tribal Council Travel – 2018 National Native American Human Resources Association. Delonda Pushetonequa as the Employment Liaison and Bessie Scott as Executive Director will go. Our Human Resources director is on the Board for NNAHRA. NNAHRA is a non-profit organization of Human Resources professionals and the annual conference provides relevant support and solutions to tribal Human Resource needs.

Motion by Harvey Davenport to approve travel for Delonda Pushetonequa and Bessie Scott to attend the 2018 NNAHRA conference. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote: 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstained. Motion carried.

  1. Adjourn

Motion made by Harvey Davenport to adjourn. Jarvis Bear seconded. Vote: 5 yes, 0 no. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.