The Rundown... (March 3rd Council Meeting)
The Bad River Tribal Council Meeting held on Wednesday March 3, 2010 was slated for 17 items on the
agenda (13 agenda items in Regular Session, 4 items in Executive Session)
Call to Order : Roll call taken, all seven council members present.
Moment of Silence :
Approval Of Agenda : Chairman Wiggins explained to membership that this was the first agenda “put
together by the extra effort of our new Tribal Ops. Manager”, so there are a couple of items which needed to
be addressed and added to the posted agenda; (1)Community’s Five Minutes, (2)Chairman’s Remarks, (3)
Heart Watch Program: Vitamin D Survey Proposal. Chairman Wiggins requested the Vitamin D proposal be
presented as the second agenda item, as the presenters made a long drive. The AIM contract (#3 Executive
Session) was removed from the agenda. Dr. Morud contract (#4 Executive Session) was moved to Open
Session (#14). Also the WHIP Contract (Kyle Hanson) will be presented by Naomi Tillison instead. Member
questioned why Summer Feeding Program was in Executive Session. Chairman Wiggins explained the item
“revolves around personnel issues”. Tribal member brought up discussion over last meeting in regard to the
listing of tribal jobs posted to demonstrate “equal opportunity”. Tribal Operations Manager stated “that’s to be
addressed by Human Resources. Membership requested non-members to excuse themselves from the
meeting until their agenda item was called (meetings are for membership only). Chairman explained meeting
protocol and requested non-members (Judy & Peter Dix) if they could please take a seat outside until their
presentation was heard. Motion to approve the Agenda “as amended” passed.
Approval of Minutes (Feb. 3 Regular Council Meeting & Feb. 25 Gaming Commission Meeting) :
Treasurer Burns indicated a discrepancy on minutes taken. Stated minutes did not include Treasurer’s
rebuttal to Tribal Member’s accusation of Treasurer going into accounting office to make adjustments. Minutes
recorded was: [Tribal member asked why Treasurer goes in on Sundays to make adjustments]
Treasurer Burns felt this was an inadequate because Secretary “left out” Treasurer‘s rebuttal. Treasurer
Burns stated that she didn’t make any adjustments. Secretary Ford stated, “I know. I just don’t get into full
detail of things. I just take what was discussed and that‘s it” Treasurer also felt the name of the person asking
the question should be recorded, as that person is also a tribal employee. Treasurer felt she was verbally
attacked. Secretary stated a lot of people are attacked but she doesn’t record names. Heated argument
continued. Chairman Wiggins intervened and stated we could put [Tribal member asked why does the
Treasurer go in on Sundays] Treasurer still felt record was insufficient because her answer wasn’t included.
Secretary said, “we’ll just take it out of there.” Membership spoke up and stated it was unethical to erase
recorded minutes. Membership also felt the official minutes should indicate Treasurer’s rebuttal to be fair.
Secretary stated she doesn’t write “who said what, what was said, nothing like that.“ Chairman Wiggins
suggested a sentence be added to include Treasurer’s rebuttal to accusation; [It was the Treasurer’s
position that she wasn’t making adjustments] Chairman’s suggestion seemed to bring everyone to
agreement.
Chairman Wiggins indicated a discrepancy on minutes [5:41pm Mike arrived and responded to class
action suit being waged on certain council members] Membership stated the comment was actually
made in reference to a certain case file from a southwest tribe and nobody is suing our tribal council.
Chairman directed Secretary to change wording to: [Mike responded to Brenda’s comments in regard to
another tribe’s class action suit being waged on their tribal council members] Meeting minutes for
Feb. 3 revised and approved by council vote.
Chairman Wiggins entertained tabling minutes for Feb 25 and approving them at the next Gaming Meeting.
Membership brought up the Gaming meeting also had regular council business on the agenda and there was
a poll vote taken which needed to be ratified this meeting. Chairman agreed and stated he thought he would
“just throw that out there.“ Council reviewed minutes. Council member Connors indicated discrepancy on time
of adjournment. Time corrected.
As a side note, chairman stated Wesley Connors sold historical document for $500 less than original offer.
Chairman directed secretary to make correction in regard to “Code Of Conduct discussion“. Council Approved
minutes.
Financial Reports:
*Please Note Financials Were Tabled*
December’s General
Airplane Services : -$5.00
Aging : -$4,844.49
Amnicon Bay: $0
Cell Tower : -$532.48
Cigarette Tax Revenue : -$704.60
Donations : -$2,633.78
Dog Warden : -$6,010.00
Enrollment : -$6,305.30
Court Fee Collections : +$130.00
Fire Department : -$8,322.20
Forestry crop : +$7.29
Forestry/Ten Percent : -$921.37
Forestry Brush Hog : +$10,276.50
Food Distribution : -$2,483.80
Gas Pipeline Revenue: +$59.32
General : -$10,138.17
GIS Data Mgmt. : -$410.15
Gravel + Snowplowing : +$712.90
Interest Transfer Acct : -$1,129.43
Internal Auditor : -$3,044.80
Judicial/Legal : -$10,537.30
Land purchase : +$12.94
Library : -$3,354.22
Natural Res/Judicial : +$9.10
Off-Reservation : -$1,666.98
Ojibwe Language : -$3,018.20
Phone Cost : -$1,056.34
Police Department : -$2,454.43
Realty/Lease : -$3,591.89
Repatriation Com. : -$968.88
Septic System : -$3,469.86
Special Projects : -$26,558.66
Space Cost/Building : -$17,714.12
Tribal License Plates : +$2,435.70
Totals for December
Revenue : $54,214.40
Expense : $161,646.20
*Loss : $107,431.80
- Question raised in regard to Interest Transfer Acct. Member asked why are we losing money if it’s
supposed to be revenue. Is it the interest we paid or interest we’re getting? After long pause, Bonnie Greene
stated it’s the interest from the tribe’s other checking account, which was transferred into the general acct.
- Question raised about the Off-Reservation Acct. Member wanted to know what it was for. Treasurer Burns
stated it was for Gaming.
- Member asked about Cigarette Tax Revenue. Bonnie Greene stated it was the revenue we get back from
state which is divvied up between all the vendors.
- Question raised over Septic System Acct. Bonnie Greene stated it was wage cost for employee who is
currently working with IHS for septic mounds.
- Member asked council if we owned the Brush Hog. Member informed we did indeed own it.
- Member inquired about Special Projects Acct. Bonnie Greene stated it involved programs that the General
Acct has to match for funds. Member also wanted to know how much money do we actually match for
programs. Bonnie Greene said she didn’t know.
- Member raised concern over Space Cost. Wanted to know why it was so negative if the tribe collects space
cost for every program. Are we even collecting? When do we collect? Is it based on previous years? Bonnie
Greene stated space cost is collected quarterly and it’s isn’t based on previous years. She further stated it
hasn’t been adjusted in “quite awhile.” Chairman Wiggins stated the issue has been addressed to Scott
Vaughn (Facilities Mgr) and Tribal Ops. and our goal is to make money also it should be based on what our
actual costs are.
- Member pointed out tarp hanging from ceiling which was full of water. Stated reason why he pointed it out
was because he was wondering if we already approved a new space cost contract for this year yet, because
this has been in disrepair for 3 years. Member informed there isn’t an approved contract yet. Bonnie Greene
stated its like that because we haven’t had an approved budget in 3 years and because space allocations are
not correct, we have to take money from general account for things like that. Member stated he is in disbelief
we don’t have a plan and our buildings are falling apart and nobody is doing anything about it. Chairman
Wiggins stated “We are now.” Chairman stated it was one of the first things he addressed to Facilities Mgr.
during his first week in office. Also mentioned he now has full management team in place and they will be
running that effort.
- Member questioned status of new elderly center. Stated building is less than year old and already has
several malfunctions. Wanted to know what was being done about it. Discussion on performance bond and
who is financially responsible for malfunctions. Member further stated he’s heard that building was handed to
us with some things already inoperable. Chairman requested Tribal Ops & Special Projects to work together to
identify what recourse we have on some of the stuff that’s failing.
- Member questioned why we don’t have a plan or a periodic update for space allocation cost in place. Also
raised concern over condition of our facilities. Chairman stated we have a facilities mgr who has probably been
part of the disconnect in gathering data to set up a strategic plan. Reiterated that problems are being
addressed. Tribal Ops Mgr stated “right now we are ascertaining where we are and what is owed so we can
update the budget accordingly.”
January’s General
Cell Tower : +$1,744.62
Cigarette Tax Revenue : +$39,307.21
Community Donations -$3,234.88
Dog Warden : -$36.98
Education : -$38.50
Tribal Court Fees : +$30
Fire Dept. : -$9.67
Forestry Crop : +$7.30
Forestry/Ten Percent : +183.23
Gas Pipeline : +$1.43
General : +$48,445.73
(included transfers of $55,325)
GIS Data Mgmt. : +$244.20
Gravel + Snowplowing +$70
Headstart : -$159.09
Interest Transfer Acct. : +$395.09
Internal Auditor : -$452.50
Justice/Legal : -$1,058.96
Land Purchase : +$8.47
Off-Reservation : -$1,424.09
Phone Cost : -$1,387.67
Police Dept. : -$817.97
Realty/Lease : +$40
Septic System : -$24.99
Special Projects : -$7,197.20
Space Cost/Buildings : +$909.58
Tribal License Plates : -$378.98
Total For January
Revenue : $146,169.45
Expense : $115,568.48
*Profit : $30,608.97
- Member raised concern over Septic System Acct. as to why is there such a huge discrepancy between last
month. Questioned if wages got paid for the month. Membership informed it may have been clerical error and
got “keyed in wrong.” Bonnie Greene said he may have been paid from another program. Member said it didn’
t make sense to hopscotch payments from different programs especially for accounting purposes. Bonnie
Greene stated, “accounting pays where the program tells us to pay from.” Treasurer Burns stated that’s why
we have these problems, we have payroll at MIP and accounting at MAS 90. She further stated there is a push
to get everyone into MIP by April 1. Chairman Wiggins stated it was a good discrepancy and will make
“concerted effort” to figure out what happened. Chairman requested Treasurer & Tribal Ops. to work
“proactively” to find out about the discrepancy. Treasurer stated that it was an accounting job, but she will look
into it. Motion to table financials. Motion passed.
- Treasurer stated the reason why she said it was an accounting job was because last meeting she was told
she only has “read-only rights”. Member stated as Treasurer it is her duty to safeguard all of our tribal assets.
So how can Treasurer report to the people if Treasurer doesn’t have the ability to get the “accurate
information.” Bonnie Greene stated “the Treasurer can just ask the people in accounting what she needs to
know.” Chairman Wiggins stated that is why he asked Tribal Ops Mgr. to assist Treasurer, so she gets all the
information she needs. Further stated anything going on in accounting the Treasurer is privy to. Member
mentioned discrepancies in regard to last meeting’s financial reports and stated it wasn’t Treasurer’s fault, it
was whoever was giving her the reports. It was the Chairman’s understanding the report Barb Santana had
been handing in was the type the previous Treasurer had specifically requested. Chairman further stated it
was his belief the Treasurer has been working proactively with enterprise accountant in obtaining information
and under his administration, any information is at the Treasurer’s disposal with no restrictions.
- Member asked why hasn’t an accounting specialist been hired yet, as this is already the 5th month of the
new administration. Chairman explained there were some internal personnel things that unfortunately didn’t
come to pass. But the job had been posted and the hiring process is in motion. In closing, Chairman Wiggins
stated we have made more progress transitioning to the MIP software in the past 5 months than we have in the
past four years.
- Chairman invited Bob Houle from Human Resources to discuss job postings. Accounting Manager position
is closed with 4 candidates with merits. Currently undergoing background checks. Other jobs being looked
over were; Elderly Head Cook, Assistant Attorney, and Casino Assistant Manager.
- Chairman cleared up accusations made by member/employee at last meeting in regard to accusations
made against Treasurer. Chairman had requested Treasurer’s accounting expertise in assisting with getting
accounting department up and running. Chairman thanked her for her help and stated had he been at the
meeting when accusation was made he would have “moved to set the record straight.”
Monthly Reports:
- Monthly reports were presented & made available for membership viewing. Questions were taken by
Council in regard to monthly reports.
- Discussion started by Vice-Chair about lunch break times pertaining to Headstart. Member questioned why
break times were in question, as the usual norm was employees took breaks at end of the day and left a half-
hour early. Chairman Wiggins stated, “when you look to apply policy, you do it across the board with an eye on
equity and fairness.” He also stated Tribal Ops. was looking into concerns the teachers had.
- Member brought up a motion passed by previous council several years ago in regard to providing free
water & sewer services to our tribal elderly. Member stated she thought it was back during the Donald Moore
administration. Tribal Secretary stated “we lost all kinds of minutes” she didn’t think that we would find
anything. Chairman requested Tribal Ops Mgr. to make a note for him to check with Barb Smart on that issue.
- Motion to approve Monthly Reports passed.
5 MINUTES:
* Tribal member submitted written request asking for three actions; (1) accounting of monies given to non-
enrolled elder members out of casino revenue in regard to the tribal Elderly Day Promotion. Member feels it is
wrong to give monies to non-members when our tribal elder’s needs are not being met. (2) Member is
requesting tribal council to take action on membership request from December’s council meeting. This request
was for council to provide a list of board & committee members, their time served on boards, stipend amounts,
by-laws & policies of boards; all of which is to be posted so that it is viewable by public.
(3) Member is also requesting the establishment of a Social Services Advisory Board. Member stated the
board would provide accountability of funds and services. Would also hold social services department
accountable as far as complaints.
Chairman Stated he would be interested in further discussions revolving around the possibility of forming
such a board. Chairman would like to also take a look at other reservations to analyze the structure of their
boards and further stated there is no quick answer to this request.
Chairman invited Casino Mgr. to present the figures member was looking for. Chairman also did some
research and could not find any resolution on the topic of Elderly Day. Also researched some solutions
discussed in the past and prior meeting minutes where the topic of Elderly Day was discussed. No paper trail
was found.
Casino Manager, Brian Mayotte presented some quick facts about the Elderly Day Promo. Stated he based his
figures on the player tracking system and also the reports he receives from accounting. In fiscal year 2009
approximately 4,597 people participated in the Elderly Day program. Out of that, on average, 99 non-members
participated per month out of 397 people total. These numbers do increase during summer months. The
Elderly Package comp structure consists of a breakfast & casino package. Each breakfast costs $7.75 the
breakfast cost alone ranges from $1,700-$1,900 per month. Elderly package costs $35. Consists of $5 casino
cash tokens, $10 roll of quarters, & $20 token roll. So the package cost would be $35 plus the $7.75 meal.
396 people participate in Elderly Day per month and of that number, 99 are non-members.
Casino Manager stated for fiscal year 2009, our cash-in was $22,464 and our cash-out was $189,602.30. So
in other words, we paid $189,602.30 to get $22,464. Net loss for Fy2009 Elderly Day Promo was $167,138.30.
For this year (2010) the money spent on the promo was $58,811.25. Total cost spent yearly on non-members
for the Elderly Day Promo would be $50,787.
Member questioned how Elderly Day expanded from one day a month to being able to collect any time
during the month. Casino Mgr. Said promo started in 1995 and since then its went through many changes.
When Casino Mgr. First started last year, he went to council and was told very sternly to just leave it just the
way it is.
Chairman stated this is ultimately a Council decision and a business decision, but he doesn’t see the harm in
setting up a meeting with the elders and getting more feedback from a broader range of our tribal elders.
* Tribal member questioned Dr. Morud’s contract, was this a long-term or short-term solution. Further
questioned why we need another doctor. Was told by Chairman, Deb Tutor would be available to answer her
question later on in the agenda. Revisited earlier question about figuring maintenance cost into the budget &
the lack of training for our building inspectors or money to hire any of these kinds of people and was upset
because there is no planning. Member further stated she wasn’t interested in numbers. She just wanted to
know how the tribe was doing. Said the Treasurer creates her own problems and instead of reading numbers
that have discrepancies, she should correct them. Chairman stated Treasurer does have constitutional duties
but there also is a job description for Treasurer on file and also an accounting department that has a job to
do. Member stated she doesn’t know why Treasurer has problem not getting information she needs.
Treasurer stated she received call from treasurer at Amnicon Bay questioning why tribe hadn’t cashed
payment check from 6 months ago and when she questioned somebody about it and opened the envelope to
get a copy of it she got yelled at. It is the Treasurer’s belief that she has a right to information because she’s
the Treasurer.
Bonnie Greene told Treasurer if she would’ve asked her for a copy, she would have got her one. Treasurer
stated the check should have been deposited 6 months ago.
Chairman stated we are dealing with the issues by establishing an IDC budget, the addressment of cutbacks
with the focus of keeping jobs, the 401K plan cost benefit analysis proposal saved $50,000 dealing with that.
Also looked at an enterprise entity that’s been losing $190,000 yearly. Chairman stated these items alone
would save the tribe over a million dollars so from strategic planning standpoint, we are doing things.
* Member was wondering if there was a conflict of interest in regard to head auditor being an inspector at
Falmouth Institute. Member stated Falmouth charges the highest for training. Chairman stated it went through
council and passed legal review and he hasn’t heard anyone say anything like that.
Tribal Ops. Mgr. stated it was not yet her first full week as Tribal Ops. Mgr. and already job descriptions are
being pulled for strategic planning. Stated We need to know where we’re at before we can go forward and we
are trying to ascertain where we’re at and in some cases are restructuring some things that don’t exist. Also
thought questioning when strategic planning session will happen is premature.
Chairman made comment about framework in place for presenting summary of where the tribe is and what we
are doing. Is looking to present summary in the future.
* Member raised concern over unpaid medical bills. Chairman stated all of the 2009 medical bills have been
paid. All of the past medical bills currently in collection are being renegotiated. This will take some time
because we need to renegotiate one bill at a time. The Medicare D proposal was brought up. Chairman said
we shouldn’t give up on it. Would’ve been essential because it would have enabled us to stretch our health
care funding further. This proposal would have been zero cost to tribal elders. Member raised concern over
the proposal stating he felt uneasy about entrusting tribe to provide health care when the tribe can’t pay the
medical bills.
* Member complimented new administration on some positive changes that have been happening and would
like to see them continue.
* Member brought up issue of destroying old outdated documents. Chairman explained the records aren’t
required through law anymore. Working on addressing issue. Looking to make room for new records. Also
looking to transition to electronic storage. Mentioned vendor for Oneida is willing to “open doors” for tribal staff
to see benefits of electronic storage.
* Member was looking for help with ICW. State codes vs. Tribal Codes discussed.
* Member brought up new no-smoking policy for community center. Member believed this policy should be
across the board for all tribal buildings. Consensus vote called for Chief Blackbird building to declare smoke-
free facility starting immediately.
* Member was looking for response in regard to request for 19 year historical account of casino revenue.
Chairman stated response could take anywhere from 90 to 120 days.
* Member raised question as to when the community will receive another Beloit Casino informational meeting
and also brought up the expenditure sheet. Stated he was informed these figures were incorrect. Wanted to
know when the community will get the correct figures. Member questioned if lobbyist cost was also included in
those figures. Chairman stated those numbers are definitely questionable. Asked Treasurer and Bonnie
Greene if they could come up with possible timeline. Bonnie Greene was asked to come up with numbers day
before the meeting and entered what they had in the system. Chairman indicated there were lobbyists on staff
to help facilitate growth of natural resources so possibly some of that was figured in also. Member stated back
at a meeting in May of ‘09 membership raised concern over paying lobbyists J. Taylor & A. Martin $5,000 each
per month. Back then the council had denied this but come to find out indeed we actually were. Back then
council had promised they were going to drop their lobbyist services. Member wanted to know if tribe was still
using them. Chairman stated he didn't believe so. Member stated this is why a true reflection of the figures are
needed so we can clear up these things. Chairman stated he isn’t getting anything back on a timeline but its in
our best interest to find out what the true numbers are but was unsure of timeframe and asked for community
patience.
- Motion passed to go into Regular Session.
Regular Session:
Heartwatch Vitamin D Proposal - UMD doctor was looking to do a vitamin D survey on reservation. Looking
to have total of 100 post-menopausal women between the age of 50-75 collectively in MN and WI participate in
the study. As an incentive to participants they will be offering a monetary gift card. Discussion on benefits of
good Vitamin D diet. Resolution to participate passed.
Relinquishments/Newborns - Reviewed and approved list.
Bingo/Raffle Request (Elderly Advisory Committee) - Bad River Elderly Fundraising Committee was
looking for council authorization to conduct 3 charity bingos/raffles to raise money for elderly activities. (1)
ongoing Monday Night Bingo at Elderly Center (2) Special Mother’s Day Bingo at Community Center (3)
Charity Raffles. Resolution to conduct charitable bingos passed. Resolution to conduct charitable raffles
passed.
Bingo/Raffle Request (Wendy Wolfe) - Resolution to conduct charitable bingo/raffle passed.
BIA Litigation To Support Tribal Water Quality Standards (Naomi Tillison) - BIA Litigation support
funding to help asses water quality data to develop statistical background data and structure water quality
standards for the tribe. Resolution passed.
WHIP Contract - Wildlife habitat Incentives Program Contract, poll vote was taken on Feb. 16 because of
deadline issue. Approval was passed (6-0) looking to ratify. Kyle Hanson (wetlands Specialist) applied for
WHIP contract with natural resource conservation service. Consists of invasive hybrid cattail removal and to
reseed Bear Trap Creek with green rice purchased from community members for the summer of 2010.
Program will reimburse tribe for their efforts in the amount of $6,454.80. Motion to approve resolution to ratify
passed
2009 Tribal Environmental Agreement EPA (Jason Ritter) - Tribal Environmentalist Specialist was looking
to approve agreement for 2010-2012. Agreement will be roadmap for next 3 years which will outline priorities
of tribe to the EPA This will affect funding for training and costs. This will enable us to do our own surveys and
studies. Agreement is flexible to fit the needs of the tribe. Motion to approve agreement passed.
Solid Waste Management Plan (Dave D‘Acquisto/Jason Ritter) - Needed council approval of original but
revised plan which is on a 5 year cycle. New plan will enable the tribe to receive additional EPA funding for
waste program to help meet the needs of the community. Resolution for approval passed Plan effective March
3, 2010.
Septic Contractor Selection (Derek Nelis/Erick Arnold) - Looking to approve Dykstra Construction &
Tony Brown Construction contract. Bid proposal was $65,000 less than highest bidder . Contract consists of
25 homes to begin in May and finished before September, as we will no longer be able to draw funds for the
project. Also the contractor must employ tribal members. Memorandum of agreement between tribe and
contractors passed.
Motor Vehicle Code (Joe Szwarek/Erick Arnold) - Looking for council to pass motor vehicle code . The
adoption of a code would assert jurisdiction of non-criminal motor-vehicle violations and ultimately would
enable the tribe to collect traffic forfeitures. This would be across the board for members and non-members.
Motion to adopted motor vehicle code passed.
*Note NSF Collections were tabled. Starseed was not heard. Also heard was Real Estate Taxes &
Realty Leases & Dr. Morud's Contract*
