- The Rundown
The regularly scheduled Bad River Tribal Council Meeting held on August 4, 2010 was slated for 16 agenda items; 14
in regular session and 2 in executive. However the agenda handed out was an incorrect version as there were many
changes made.
Roll call taken, all six Council members present, Chairman Wiggins is tardy, will be here later.
Moment of Silence observed.
Financial Reports: for April were approved as read last month.
Monthly Reports: were reviewed by Council and Membership was allowed access to reports also.
* Tribal Member questioned when the ‘09 Audits will be available to the public. Mr Nemec (Acct.) stated they are just
going over the finished product and they will be available very shortly. Mr. Nemec also stated we are accepting bids for
the 2010 Audits.
* Membership requested a financial meeting to review the ’09 audit and also requested an in-depth financial review for
the Beloit Casino project. Member further stated there was a previous request by a Tribal Member for a historical
accounting of our finances and the timeframe has come and passed.
* Membership requested the Executive Director to direct ’his employees’ to provide this info to our citizens.
Motion to accept monthly financial reports for April. Motion carries.
Motion to accept monthly reports.
* Tribal Member questioned as to what the Treasurer’s authority was under our Constitution. Member is asking this
because she feels of all the Treasurers of past administrations, our current Treasurer seems to have the most
restrictions.
Member stated it seems our Personnel Policies & Procedures seem to supersede our Constitution.
Membership asked the Council how can the Treasurer do her job when our Chairman restricts her through directive.
There was a discussion as to the Treasurer’s job description. It was stated she is not an employee but an elected
official.
There was a discussion on our Constitution & Bylaws between Membership and Council.
Vice-Chairman Lemieux would like to revisit Membership’s questions when the Executive Director gets here.
Tribal Attorney was asked for his opinion. Attorney stated the Treasurer has no authority to tell people to come to
meetings.
Approval of Minutes: Meeting minutes for June 24, July 14, July 19, and July 22 were reviewed individually and
approved by Council. July 29 meeting will be presented at our next Regular Council Meeting.
Monthly Reports (verbal):
Council discussion as to why Police Chief Szwarek had to give an oral report. Tribal Operations Manager stated anyone
who didn’t give a report last month was required to give an oral report.
Mr. Szwarek was not present to give his oral report.
There was a debate as to why the Police Commission does not report to the Council.
Member felt there should be some form of communication between Council and the Police Commission.
Council stated it was set up this way to ensure our Police Commission is not politically motivated.
Member stated some form of report should be given and it could still be kept non-political.
It was mentioned the Police Commission gives bi-annual reports to the Council.
There was a side debate as to why Housing isn’t submitting monthly reports to the Council. This was resolved by
Council action to receive monthly reports.
Monthly Report (oral): Ken Nemec - Mr. Nemec apologized for not having a monthly report ready for the previous
meeting. Mr. Nemec offered a brief summary of work performed and works in progress. It was mentioned the Draft Audit
Report has been received and also the IDC is ready for submittal. An update for the MIP Software transition was given,
still a work in progress. The Space Cost Allocation has been updated. Also mentioned was the Land Bond acquisition.
The 2010 Budget is done and the 2011 Budget is being finalized (as it is being given a once over internally). Payroll is
also coming along and becoming more streamlined.
Chairman Wiggins arrives and apologizes for the interruption. Chairman would like to give reasoning for these oral
reports. Chairman Wiggins stated this is to (1) encourage the department heads to turn their reports in to the Council
on time and also to (2) get information to the Council. Chairman further stated our Tribal Attorney has a rather lengthy
report. Chairman stated he will ‘let the Council take the lead’ on their choice of a shorter summary. Council Member
Connors would like a brief summary as does our Vice-Chairman. It is the general consensus of the Council to hear a
shorter summary from our Tribal Attorney.
Monthly Report (oral): Erick Arnold - Tribal Attorney gave a brief summary of the operations of our Legal
Department. Mr. Arnold made mention to the recent delegation of authority to our Wild Rice Commission. Also
mentioned our recent victory in regard to the Land Bond. Also currently working on the Tribal Member’s Employment
Rights Office. Our Land Taxes are being worked on (resolved). Mr. Arnold mentioned our litigation issues (unpaid
property taxes). We are also party to a lawsuit with St. Croix against Kurt Carlson. Mr. Carlson’s stance is both tribes
should sue separately. There are also two active insurance suits, these may prove to be costly. We are required to
respond to these claims. Also mentioned was transparency issues raised by Members, especially those which revolve
around our financials.
Tribal Member questioned if our Attorney has been advised and instructed on how to deal with state tax negotiations.
Furthermore the Tribal Member felt our stance in non-negotiation with paying taxes is lacking. Member referenced an
incident in Michigan in these regards.
Chairman requested non-member to leave the meeting.
Attorney Arnold stated our tribal lands are non taxable. Attorney also spoke about recent land negotiations and
assured Membership the lands in question aren’t presently at risk.
Motion by Treasurer Burns to accept Oral Reports. Motion carries.
Chairman went over the Agenda with the Council and advised the amendments made to the Agenda. There will be ten
items heard in Regular Session, with two items in Executive Session. Four items stricken from the Agenda; (#5)Family
Resource Grant, (#6)General Assistance Grant, (#9)Leases, (#12)Draft Casino Internal Controls.
Motion to approve tonight’s Agenda as amended, motion carries.
Chairman’s Remarks:
Chairman Wiggins apologized for being tardy. Stated he just drove from Sandy Lake, MN where GLIFWC was holding
ceremonies in remembrance of the tragedy of 1850. Chairman spoke a bit about the ceremony. Stated there was many
positive things discussed. There was also a Pipe Ceremony as they reflected on the sacrifices of our Ancestors and the
importance of being good to each other and taking care of one another.
Chairman gave a brief summary of the GLIFWC Board Of Commissioners Meeting which he attended yesterday. Among
the topics addressed was; regulations and stipulations which revolve around our Treaty Rights, and also discussed
some strategic planning concerning GLIFWC as a whole.
Also mentioned was the Ojibwe Tribal Chairs meeting in Red Cliff tomorrow. Chairman spoke about a movement
between all the Tribes to form a structured platform where the tribes could unite and speak about the issues
confronting us as Ojibwe people. Chairman would like to present our piece of history which was bought back a few
meetings ago (a historical poster from Wes Connors). Chairman Wiggins professed excitement of this recent movement
even as it is still in its infant stages.
Membership’s standing question is re-addressed. Chairman Wiggins stated that historically our chain of command is
structured so that anything involving any personnel issues goes through the Executive Director. Furthermore, the
Chairman is fully committed to ensure our Treasurer is supported through mandating Accounting Staff to attend
meetings and supplying any information she needs or requests.
An issue was raised as to the Treasurer ‘commandeering’ employees. Chairman stated the employees need to go
through the proper chain of command (Executive Director). Also Chairman Wiggins stated our Treasurer is not
restricted in any way.
Heated debate as to an issue which revolved around an old Excel Energy bill. Treasurer wanted to take care of this
issue as there is a certain timeframe. She wanted this issue brought before Council and wanted Mr. Nemec present.
However, the Executive Director instructed Mr. Nemec to follow the proper chain of command. Chairman Wiggins stated
his reasoning was there is still two months to rectify this and wanted this to go through the correct chain of command.
Chairman Wiggins commended the Treasurer and the rest of the Council on our recent Land Bond, as it was a
collective team effort.
Tribal Member asked the Treasurer what her duties were as instructed by our Constitution. Treasurer stated it was the
overall responsibility of all tribal finances. Member asked the Treasurer if her responsibility was being compromised.
Treasurer stated not at the moment, however she felt the energy bill should have been presented before Council
immediately.
Chairman also addressed the Membership’s requests for a financial meeting. Stated ‘this is something our Treasurer
could spearhead.’ Chairman also would like to mention our Accounting Staff has been working together very well and
very hard.
5 Minutes:
This month our Community’s Five Minute Sessions basically revolved around our upcoming Pow-Wow.
* Tribal Member raised some concerns with the Pow-Wow Committee. Member would like to know who sits on the
committee. Member also questioned as to how this committee was established (chosen). Also mentioned were some
accountability issues and background checks.
Chairman Wiggins read the names on the committee as follows; Mary Bigboy, Terri Bigboy, Cherri Bigboy, Lori Bigboy,
JoAnne Boulley, and Jeff Anderson. Chairman further stated we are doing everything departmental-wise in working with
our committee to ensure we have the best possible Pow-Wow we can have.
* Tribal member felt that the hiring of non-residential Tribal Members should take a backseat to our residential Tribal
Members.
Chairman stated there is a lot of work that goes into the planning and was concerned about hindering the Pow-Wow
with so little time left. Also in the future we could work on structuring things more thorough.
Chairman stated that since tribal monies were being used it would seem logical these Pow-Wow jobs should be run
through our Human Resources Dept., yet again we are faced with time issues for this year.
* Membership wanted to know what our Tribal Programs are doing with assisting in our Pow-Wow.
Chairman stated some of the donation items/work included grass cutting and maintenance, general supplies/provisions.
Also there had been a previous problem as to where these supplies and Pow-Wow inventory would be stored. This
situation had been rectified at a previous Pow-Wow meeting with the Departments. Dave D’Acquisto (Waste
Management) had offered some storage space.
* Tribal Member was concerned about the storage of these items at such a location. However, Chairman Wiggins
assured our Membership the place in question is in a secure, sanitary location, in one of the newer buildings.
* Tribal Member raised concern over rumors of alleged discord within our Pow-Wow Committee. Chairman Wiggins
stated he wasn’t privy to any of that and hasn’t heard anything as far as that.
* Member was concerned about paying people to come and celebrate in our Manoomin Festival. Member felt this wasn’
t in accordance with our old traditional ways. Further suggested maybe we should be offering traditional gifts;
manoomin, deer meat, etc. Instead of monetary gratuity. Also the Tribal Member raised issue about the same people on
our committee every year and was concerned about committee accountability.
Chairman Wiggins stated without blaming anybody, he does recognize the lack of structural planning to achieve a
better accounting.
Member was promised last year, we would have a better accounting of our Pow-Wow monies this year and was
concerned about enforcement of accountability.
Council Member Connors would like to see Treasurer Burns appointed to the Pow-Wow Committee to ensure
accountability.
Motion by Secretary Ford to appoint Treasurer Burns as the financial handler, seconded by Council Member Connors.
Motion carries.
Treasurer Burns indicated on the Community’s recent Big Drum pilgrimage; the group was as frugal in their spending
as possible. The group has $4,700 in receipts and displayed full accountability. Further stated that if this group can do
this, our Pow-Wow Committee should also be held to these same standards.
Chairman Wiggins stated he sees the addition of our Treasurer to our Pow-wow Committee as a positive thing; as this
will help with the oversight and to ensure accountability. Furthermore, in these same regards, he doesn’t want to take
anybody’s hard work away and leave them feel unappreciated.
Our Chairman also mentioned that come September’s exit meeting, during our Pow-Wow review, we can address how
we can improve the structure of next year’s Festival to ensure we have the best Pow-Wow possible.
Tribal Member stated she felt that it wasn’t too late to run our Pow-Wow Security through background checks and
stated that at one time the selection was done by Council appointment.
Tribal Member wanted clarification to the rumors circulating the Community in regard to the Tribe not sponsoring our
annual ‘Back to School Bingo’. Chairman Wiggins stated there are certain things revolving around this and to ‘stay
tuned’ as our Summer Youth may have an active role in lending a hand with this task.
Regular Session:
(1.) Introduction to the Community: Mick Brennan - Ashland County Sheriff candidate introduced himself to the
Community. He gave a brief summary of his qualifications and experience. Mr. Brennan also discussed improvement
strategies and goals for service to our Community.
(2.) Names for Election Ballot: Barb Smart; Theresa Couture - Names were reviewed and approved by Council.
(3.) Newborns: Theresa Couture - Resolution read and passed to include the list of newborns into the Tribal
Membership roles.
(4.) Policies & Procedures for Day Care: Josephine Lobdell-Jordan - Mrs. Lobdell-Jordan presented policies &
procedures for our Daycare. Stated we have been in direct violation as these policies & procedures are required and
were due back in 2009. Mrs. Lobdell-Jordan has been working with Sandy Koledjeiski with drafting some revisions to
help bring us in compliance. Council reviewed the proposed policies & procedures. Motion to accept carries.
(5.) Pharmacy Issues: Deb Tutor - Mrs. Tutor has identified a problem she wishes to address with Council tonight.
Currently there is a time issue with regards to entering data/records into the computer system; there just isn’t enough
time. To remedy this issue, Mrs. Tutor is looking to expand our Pharmacy staff. This position (PRN) would help out and
come in possibly one day a week.
Mrs. Tutor also stated our electronic prescriptions has changed the workload for our pharmacy. This electronic
transition will be required at a federal level in 2013 anyway.
Motion to approve PRN position carries.
Mrs. Tutor also gave a brief update on our Pharmacy outsourcing. Stated she has been working with Walmart,
Walgreens, and Park Pharmacy. Currently we are still waiting for proposals from Walgreens and Park Pharmacy.
Mrs. Tutor would also like to hold a raffle at our upcoming Pow-Wow in efforts to raise money for artwork for our new
Clinic.
Chairman Wiggins mentioned that Big Drum was also looking to hold a raffle at our Pow-Wow as a fundraising effort.
Chairman suggested we could do these two requests together by a poll-vote and ratify later on, as there isn’t enough
time tonight.
Mrs. Tutor had a couple Community announcements;
There will be a ‘Women’s Health Day’ on August 19. Where there will be mammograms, nutritional information, and
massages available.
Also Mrs. Tutor is advising our Community to not pay on SMDC debt for 2009 and earlier.
Mrs. Tutor also gave a brief update on our Dental. Stated there are 4 interviews next week. We are preparing for one
dentist’s chair. These do take some time, as the chairs will be received anywhere from 5-7 weeks after ordering. We
are currently aiming for sometime in October.
Also to answer an earlier question raised by Council member Connors in regard to our Community Q&A Meeting; Mrs.
Tutor will be looking to hold this sometime in September with the whole Health Dept. Present.
(6.) Dance Group: Devin Soulier - Mr. Soulier is a young man who is here tonight requesting monetary assistance
in the amount of $600. This contribution will help fund the activities of a youth dance group he has been actively
involved in formulating. Previously the dance group was supported through our AODA Program. However, there was a
problem with funding eligibility, which ultimately caused the AODA sponsorship to back out. There is approximately 40
youth participants. Mr. Soulier was very cordial and gave a very good presentation, as he explained his situation.
Chairman Wiggins offered some guidance as to possible steps to take to see his dance group succeed. Also Chairman
Wiggins will work with Mr. Soulier and our Background Investigator in attempts to move his situation along faster.
(7.) Water Quality Standards Update: Pam Roberts - Currently working on a draft which is nearing completion.
Presenting this drafted set of rules/guidelines to protect our water quality for Council review tonight. These standards
would enable us to provide a higher level of protection over our waters within the boundaries of our reservation. The
next step will be a 45 day public comment period, within this time period there will be an open public hearing. Shortly
afterwards, Council will be informed and presented with the finalized draft. Once this draft is submitted and approved to
tribal law, it will then be submitted to the EPA.
Chairman Wiggins asked how this compares with the ‘Clean Water Act’. Mrs. Roberts stated these standards go ‘above
and beyond’ the act.
Tribal Member wanted to know how many times have we incidentally polluted our river with sewer discharge and wanted
to know if some proper monitoring measures were being taken to identify this, in other words, how are we managing our
own pollutants.
Mrs. Roberts stated we currently have a water monitoring program here and in the future the tribe will have to review
any known point source to ensure we are within our guidelines and water quality standards.
Member said the reasoning behind his question was according to state regs, municipalities are allowed two unlimited
discharges annually. Member felt we should put a stop to this practice because this is poisoning our water.
Discussion on point sources of pollutants which trickle onto our reservation.
There are three main points to the Water Quality Standards; (1)Designated uses: commercial, recreation, etc., (2)
criteria for these uses: numeric, narrative (3)anti-segregation: strategy to keep clean water clean, 3 tier system.
Chairman Wiggins was concerned about over regulating ourselves in such a way as to create too much ‘red tape’ which
may create a hindrance for future development. Chairman wanted to know what kind of planning was done in these
respects.
Mrs. Roberts stated we may have to analyze the data and perhaps lower the standards if such an occurrence were to
happen.
Discussion on state regs vs. USFW regs and water definitions. The tribe has been using the USFW definitions
pertaining to water.
We are already following federal standards as they are already in effect. What we are trying to do is set our own
standards just like the states do. We would regulate our standards by requiring point source permits which will be
recorded and kept on record with our office. We wouldn’t actually be issuing said permits however we would be issuing
section 4-1 (CWA) certification for said permit. This certification would be required by law.
Chairman expressed his frustration with the negligence of the Army Corp of Engineers in regard to the lack of oversight
and adherence to our water standards.
Question raised as to if our Water & Sewer would be identified as a point source under these standards. Chairman
would like to possibly have our Water & Sewer Manager (Pat Hunt) check into this.
Member raised question about what’s being done about the pipeline crossings (3) over our rivers which are 25 plus
years old. Chairman stated we are currently initializing dialogue with these companies again. Discussion on possible
containment issues involving hypothetical catastrophic events.
Chairman thanked Mrs. Roberts for her presentation and instructed her to present the final draft to Council before the
public comment period.
(8.) Tribal Wildlife Grant Proposal: Naomi Tilson - Council read and reviewed grant proposal. Council Member
Connors would like to know if there is any available funding for invasive control. Mrs. Tilson stated this depends on an
annual basis. We currently still have funds available, there are some efforts underway involving cattail control. However
at this time, this is more of a monitoring aspect. Looking to hand this part in tomorrow and then focus on the purple
loosestrife portion. There are other grants which are more focused on the control portion, this grant is more focused on
the monitoring portion; identifying, analyzing, etc. Mrs. Tilson would like to turn this proposal in by Aug. 20.
Another portion currently being worked on is long term climate change. All these things haven’t been worked out
thoroughly however.
Chairman Wiggins would like to know if we have documented the wild rice catastrophe of 2007, when our sloughs were
shut down due to low waters. Mrs. Tilson stated we did archive this through photos. Chairman stated the ‘Great Lakes
Visitor Center’ is currently working with GLIFWC on the construction of a presentation regarding climate change and
the effects it has on our wild rice, which impacts our Native People.
Tribal member wanted to document on record, the fact that the Army Corp of Engineers refused to let the outflow from
the lochs, as this catastrophe was man-made.
Resolution read and passed to approve the submittal of this grant.
Member brought up an issue of previous dumping and burying of old asbestos and lead pipes on our reservation. Mrs.
Tilson stated she will ‘find out’ about this.
(9.) Tribal Management Grant resolution: Hope Miller - Previously our audit showed weaknesses in our medical
billing system. This grant would help us build on our billing by enabling us to supplement our staff and software
upgrades. Our billing dept. Will be able to sustain this position. However ‘we need to build the billing department first so
this is why this is in the first year.’ Resolution to authorize the submittal of our application for the TMG grant read and
approved.
Tribal Member wanted to know if these audit findings were a result of inefficiencies involving our capabilities regarding
lack of proper medical coding. Wanted to know if our doctor’s needed to be trained in this regard. No answer could be
given at this time.
(10.) Caucus & Election Rules: Ad Hoc Committee - Tribal Council reviewed the rules for the upcoming Election &
Caucus. The rules are pretty much the same. The only change is the mailing of stamped envelopes to unstamped for
absentee ballots. There was a debate as to the stipulations circulating recount protocol. Ad Hoc Committee is confident
in the integrity of their count; as there is a chain of people the count goes through. Hypothetical ‘worse nightmare
scenarios’ were discussed between the Council and the Committee Members.
Motion to amend stipulations to state that a recount is necessary without a percentage request, when the count falls
within 2 votes. Council revisited the rules of our Constitution as there was uncertainty. Nothing in the Constitution which
addresses this area of concern. Motion on the floor. No second, motion dead. Resolution to approve the 2010 Caucus
& Election Rules read and passed. Motion passed to approve the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee.
The meeting went into Executive Session around 10:30 pm
