Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2025)

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

Post Office Box 256

Nixon, Nevada 89424

Telephone: (775) 574-1000

Fax (775) 574-1054

SEPCIAL MEETING MINUTES

Tribal Chambers ~ Nixon, NV

February 21, 2025

Members Present:

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman Edward Ely III, Vice Chairman

Loren Decker, Councilmember Nicholas Cortez, Councilmember

Judith Davis, Councilmember John Guerrero, Councilmember

Nathan Dunn, Councilmember Della John, Councilmember

Georgina Wadsworth, Councilmember Ceira Sampson, Councilmember

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Wadsworth called the February 21, 2025, Special Tribal Council meeting of the Pyramid Lake

Paiute Tribal Council to order at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary, took roll call. Councilmember Della John arrived at 6:05 p.m. All

other Councilmembers were present for roll call and a quorum was established for this meeting. -

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Chairman Wadsworth presented the agenda for the February 21, 2025, Special meeting with the removal of

the Executive Session for an Interview and the addition of Councilmember Guerrero’s request to add

discussion on the Minor Trust under New Business #8.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the agenda with the addition. Councilmember Decker seconded the

motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

PUBLIC COMMENT. There was no public comment.

CONSENT AGENDA

Following items presented on the Consent Agenda:

1. Approval Group Donation Request Autism Run/Walk

2. Approval Wes Williams January 2025 Invoice #4350

3. Approval Sponsorship Request - Pyramid Lake Jr/Sr High School Graduation Dinner

4, Approval Ratification Poll Votes:

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

a. FY25 IMLS Native American BasicGrant __b. Elder Energy Request for Virginia Calico

c. BIA Office of Emergency Management Supplemental Funding Infrastructure Damage

5. Approval of Elder Energy Request Ronald Guerrero

6. Approval of JGFP Group Liquor License

Vice Chairman Ely requested to have a possible Executive Session for item #6 under Consent Agenda.

Chairman Wadsworth said they will move it to his report for discussion.

Councilmember Della John arrived at 6:05 p.m.

Councilmember Dunn requested to pull #3 for discussion.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve items #1, 2,4 & 5 on the Consent Agenda. Councilmember Cortez

seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

Item #3. Approval Sponsorship Request - Pyramid Lake Jr/Sr High School Graduation Dinner

Councilmember Dunn asked what amount they requested the previous year. Chairman Wadsworth said he

wasn’t sure, but it is a sponsorship and approved in the budget.

Councilmember Della John asked if the other schools received anything since they have members in other

schools. Councilmember Wadsworth commented, they don’t have dinners for those students.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the Sponsorship for the Pyramid Lake Jr/Sr High School

Graduation Dinner. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0)

opposed with one (1) abstention (Della John), MOTION PASSED.

Councilmember Della John said she abstained because her grandson is a graduate, and he would benefit.

MINUTES

1. Approval of Minutes:

a. January 3, 2025, Regular Incoming

The Tribal Secretary said these minutes were previously tabled and all corrections were made.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the January 3, 2025, Regular Incoming Meeting Minutes. Vice

Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

b. February 7, 2025, Regular

Vice Chairman Ely said the only corrections were made where Councilmember Wadsworth was listed twice

but his name was missing.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the February 7, 2025, Regular Meeting Minutes.

Councilmember Decker seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

PRESENTATION

1. Quarles & Brady LLP Legal Update. Pilar Thomas, Quarles & Brady LLP

Ms. Thomas stated they didn’t have a monthly update for January because there wasn’t a lot of assistance

that was requested during the month other than monitoring and the federal financial freeze which was

completely lifted. She had a phone call with NV Energy on the Nevada energy Easement Agreement to work

through the last set of comments the Council had in the easement agreement. She has taken those

comments back to NV Energy and they are going to do more financial analysis as well as some additional

statistics because the Tribe asked for additional related transmission line information. She is hoping they

will get back to her within the next week or so on the agreement, but they are getting close to finalizing the

agreement and forwarding it on to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for them to finish the regulatory

process, complete their review and approve so they can get them reinstated. Moving on, the last time she

was before the Council the federal freeze was in place, it has since been lifted or rescinded except for some

grants that are still frozen. She shared with the Executive Team the status of some federal programs that

are still frozen, she doesn’t think the Tribe has any grants that fall under the still frozen category. She had a

call with several tribal lawyers, and the consensus is these grants are getting undone, and funds are

becoming available again. There is still litigation from state and nonprofits against the federal government

regarding frozen grants because the unfreeze is occurring sporadically. The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) said they are releasing all the EPA Grant funds except for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction

fund, which includes solar so there is still inconsistent information coming out. She encourages the Council

and the Executive Team to continue to pay attention to what is happening with the grants across the board.

If the grants are still frozen, it’s likely because they haven’t completed a review the agencies were supposed

to complete to determine if the grants complied with the revocation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

(DEI). Whether they comply with Environmental Justice, the new or lack of Environmental Justice Policy

climate. There is funding that came from the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act,

which the Tribe received, that has those conditions in them from the previous administration. If the Tribe

still has funds that are frozen, she has sent an email with recommendations to determine what is happening

with the funds. They are starting to see agencies effectively amend grant agreements to bring them into

compliance with the new executive orders. It’s important for the grants office to pay attention to the

changes because every agency is being upfront with the fact they will be making sure every grant award is

being complied with. This administration is going to be looking for an opportunity to terminate grants. This

also includes continuing grants. Moving on to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), there has been a lot

of change in federal policy related to the management of BLM lands very early on in the administration, the

Acting Secretary issued some orders that brought all the decision making on leases, right of ways, NEPA,

etc., back to Washington, DC for all BLM activities. A follow-on secretarial order suspends all renewable

energy project approvals. She is not sure what the status is with NextEra project but believes they are still

in the NEPA process. There is a change occurring at the Department of the Interior that will affect both on

reservation and off reservation. For instance, with the NV Energy easement agreement, the Nevada

contacts they have been working with don’t have the authority anymore to approve easements, it must go

back to Washington DC. There is other policy action that is occurring, it seems the President or the Council

on Environmental Quality (CEQ) just revoked the NEPA regulations which the Tribe follows. They just

changed the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) regulations, and she will have a summary

document for the Council, so they are aware of what is happening at the federal level and what the

implications are for the projects that the Tribe is working on. All the changes in DC are having a direct

effect with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s projects and with other tribes.

Councilmember Della John asked if Ms. Thomas heard about an Assembly Bill that was introduced which

would eliminate Indian reservations? And opening National Park land to mining? Ms. Thomas said

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Congress, every now and then, will introduce bills to reduce the size of national monuments but most

National Park lands are protected by statute. They are currently in a phase with this administration where

they are going to be emphasizing and promoting through their energy dominance, policy, critical minerals

mining, oil and gas development and this administration will take any action it thinks is legal to do that. The

President has authority under current law to withdraw national monuments, to reverse previous decisions,

to open land, public lands up for mining. They cannot do mining on Indian land without the Council’s

approval. They can try but there would be legal reasons why they would not be able to that without the

Tribe’s permission. Councilmember Della John said they have students attending Indian Universities who

have had cut staff and students went back to school to find out their classes were cancelled. Is there

anything the Tribe can do at this point to support those students and schools? Ms. Thomas said she doesn’t

think there is any intent for the tribes to sue. There are two types of Bureaus of Indian Education (BIE)

schools, the ones that are on tribal land where the BIE provides direct services to those tribal members on

the reservation and the BIE schools that are not on tribal land, like Haskell and SIPI which is owned by the

BIA and operated by BIE. To address the BIE schools recommend reaching out to the National Indian

Education Association (NIEA) or the American Indian College Fund and find out what they are doing for

their students. Councilmember Della John asked about immigration and federal enforcement, can the Tribe

make a statement to say it’s a federal procedure and the Tribe’s Police will not participate? Is there a type

of procedure? What happens when they come to the schools, what type of protocols can they provide to the

people to make them safe? Her grandson didn’t want to go to school because he saw this occurring on his

phone and had a meltdown. He is worried about his Mexican friends and is sure the whole community feels

the impact. If you're in this country illegally then it’s civil, but if it’s a warrant that is criminal, there is a

difference, and she doesn’t think the kids and community know that. Ms. Thomas said she is assuming the

Tribe is employing people who have a legal right to work here; they do have an immigration practice that

represents schools and hospitals, she will follow up with that partner. There is an open question on

whether ICE has any authority on Tribal land. But assuming they do, if they have somebody in mind and are

looking for someone in particular on the Reservation, there is a strong likelihood ICE as a federal law

enforcement agency has the right and authority to come onto the Reservation, just as the FBI or US

Marshals Service. They do have information they can provide for the school and community on what they

can do and what their rights are. Does the local police have to assist, there must be cross deputization

agreements with the BIA with ICE for them to say they must assist them. On another note, this may affect

the Tribe’s Wadsworth Bypass project, the Department of Transportation has just requested transportation

grants that you must comply with immigration policies and ICE enforcement. This is a condition they have

placed on transportation funding, this was a condition that showed up in a secretarial order from the

Secretary of Transportation for receiving grant funding. Your transportation or grants office should or will

be receiving this order.

Councilmember Dunn asked if the Chairman spoke with the Chief of Police regarding ICE? Chairman

Wadsworth said he did and provided a page of information, but he didn’t bring the information with him to

the meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Selection Economic Development Committee (1 vacancy).

There were three (3) applicants who applied for this position: Stan John, Alvin James, and Michael Brady

By ballot, the votes were Stan John (4 votes), Alvin James (0 votes), Michael Brady (5 votes). Michael Brady

was selected to fill the one (1) vacancy on the Economic Development Committee.

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Councilmember Davis noted there was one applicant who did not sign their form and should have been

incomplete.

2. Discussion and Possible Approval of Hemp Tribal Advisory Group Request. Staci Emm, Dan Coen &

Nikwich Wright, UNR Cooperative

Ms. Emm stated she directs tribal programs for UNR’s Extension. They were previously before the Council

last year and the Tribe supported the Industrial Hemp Project, which was funded, and they are now starting

to implement the process. They will be coming to the Council for months to come with starting up this

process, so no decision is needed now. The project is a multi-state project run by Oregon State University.

They currently don’t have a cease-and-desist order form the federal government on the project, so they are

moving forward. This project was to build a Northwest consortium looking at industrial hemp that not only

included trying to put in test trials of growing industrial hemp but working with the consortium on any

economic development opportunities that could occur in transportation, warehousing, fabrication, and

various types of things looking for fire resistant building materials. They are finding that hemp products

doesn’t burn the same way wood burns. Because of the fires in California and all the houses that burned, and

they are now doing 3d printing of using hempcrete to build houses. The Warm Springs tribe is looking at

trying to identify some patents for fire resistant windows and doors. That is what is most exciting about

industrial hemp. There are also other tribes making straws because it’s also biodegradable. They have spent

the last five months with Duck Valley setting up their advisory committee and they have allowed them to

share all their documents with the Tribe. She would like to get the Council’s permission to share those with

the Chairman’s office so they can get those documents to the Council. In their process they set up an advisory

committee that the Tribal Council appointed, that committee is coming up with their own bylaws and that

committee is going to work on the USDA code. To confirm, they are not talking about cannabis, they are

talking about industrial hemp that is under the point 03 THC levels. If the Tribe wants to do any trials, the

Tribe has to have codes approved by the United States Department of Agriculture and those codes will go to

the someone on the Reservation who has the potential to grow, the ability to store and warehouse all of this.

The Tribe will have to make decisions on legal processes. They do have tribes in the Northwest consortium

that have already done this and can share their codes with the Tribe so you can look them over to see what

it’s all about. The Duck Valley Advisory Committee is probably three months old, and they were trying to

push their codes through before this growing season but that is not going to happen. They are probably

looking at another six months of development. There was also a tribal resolution that set up the advisory

committee. This is their preempt meeting and we are hoping to be here every month building upon this. They

would like to have a couple of hours with the Council to go through the regulations, how to understand the

difference between cannabis and industrial hemp because they cannot work on cannabis at all.

Vice Chairman Ely asked what is the difference between the two, pot and hemp? Ms. Emm said if you try to

smoke industrial hemp you will not get the high that you would get from pot. It’s still a cannabis plant but

the plant breeding is different. That is why they would like to have a community education program to go

along with this program. Vice Chairman Ely asked is this an agriculture product or and industrial product.

Ms. Emm stated it’s an agriculture product. The Tribe will have to appoint a couple people that want to sit on

the Northwest consortium so you can start developing that relationship with Oregon State’s Hemp

Innovation Center with different northwest tribes and there may be different economic development

opportunities that may come out of it. Because of what is happening with federal funding right now they are

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not trying to hire new people but sustain the team they have. There is support for the Tribe if you decide to

set up that advisory council where the extension will help them. They do need office space here; she will be

meeting with tribal departments to see what opportunities there are. Shem might have a foundation that is

willing to purchase a modular unit, they just need the infrastructure for water and sewer. They only service

Washoe County but she is taking the approach that Pyramid Lake is in Washoe County and see if they will be

able to do that. They want to develop the hoop houses and brough on some new staff to assist with that and

an entomologist.

Dan Cohen, Coordinator for Tribal Programs through the College of Agriculture for the entire State which

includes the tribes which are Duck Valley and Walker River. He thanked the Tribe for signing the letter of

support for the Veggies for Seniors program which they will be able to provide to the Tribe. They have a

program to distribute trees throughout the Reservation, fruit trees, blooming trees, and pollinating trees

because they want to introduce bees out here as well. Right now, with the Animal Plant health Inspection

Services they have a bird affluenza epidemic going around that is affecting Nevada cattle and poultry. They

will be having training and will be getting an agenda for the Tribe in Fallon next month. They would like to

get Tribal members to attend. To answer Vice Chairman Ely’s question on hemp and cannabis, they are very

particular on what is designated as marijuana, cannabis, CBD and hemp. They will be educating on what those

stipulations are, especially dealing with a tribal environment that is very strict. The trees are coming; there

is anonprofit that got 350,000 to distribute throughout Nevada and are hoping the Tribe will take advantage.

Ms. Emm said for the trees, they will get some social media posts ready for Mr. Wright to provide to the Tribe

to post to their websites and they will start taking orders. Duck Valley received 200-300 trees, they wanted

more but they also want to let Walker River, Pyramid Lake and Washoe have some trees also.

Councilmember Della John talked about when the Tribe received 100 trees and they were delivered all at

once and there were only two of them at the garden to receive them, they got the maintenance crew to dig a

trench to plant and put in a drip system. All this was done in one day.

Mr. Cohen said they brought a new crop specialist to help with the programming, and he is going to be

available to assist in what is going to be beneficial to the climate.

Ms. Emm said the Nevada Department of Agriculture director was talking about Home Feeds Nevada which

goes out and buys products form local producers and then puts them into food banks. Pyramid Lake and

Walker River have their own funds, but they also need to start working with the Tribes Food Distribution

Program to link them to other producers that may have products to expand what is available here on the

Reservation. They will have some growing workshops because their goal is to increase management in the

hoop houses that are here, to make sure they are being utilized. If they have pest management problems,

they will provide advice to help with that.

Nikwich Wright said when they possibly can get office space, they will start having more 4H meetings. He

has been talking with Washoe County Office for 4H and they do want to come out here and collaborate. He

still needs to get in contact with the Parks and Recreation and JOM to start talking with Washoe County. For

those who have hoop houses he was able to purchase some plants and will be going to distribute them to

everybody. He has various plants, tomatoes, lemon cucumbers and peppers.

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Councilmember Dunn asked if there would be a possibility for others to get hoop houses? Ms. Emm said yes,

currently the Shoshone Tribes are funded by Nevada Gold, they have been hesitant and have not taken any

lithium donations because of that. They have been offered funds but will be reaching out to tribes to see how

they feel about it because the main extension pays for their salaries of the team and there is not a lot of

funding for the hoop houses. They will have the ability to apply for funding to bring assistance to the Paiute

and Washoe Tribes and can start on a small scale. But if the Tribe is okay with taking lithium money, she has

reservations about it because it would be at what cost? That is her job to hit the pavement to find resources.

Mr. Wright said if the Tribe can or if Tribal members are able to, they can apply to geta hoop house through

NRCS as long as you must cover 90%, which is reimbursable.

Ms. Emm asked if the Tribe knew of any funding to send them her way. She just testified on a bill for outdoor

recreation through the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and they want to get

tribes more involved in applying for their Outdoor Recreation funding. It now pays for not only education,

but infrastructure. If you want a trail, if you need infrastructure at Pyramid Lake, those types of things. They

had $87,000 that went to tribes in the last session, $80,000 went to the Ely Tribe and $7,000 went to Duck

Valley but no other tribes applied for their funding.

3. Request for Approval for the Prayer Horse to Ride on the Tribal Lands March 27-29, 2025. Joshua

Dini on behalf of Prayer Horse Inc.

Mr. Dini stated he is the co-founder, chairman and spokesperson for their organization. They are nonprofit

and are still working on their final 501-C3 designation. This is the fourth year of their prayer ride which is in

remembrance of Myron Dewey and the work he did as a water protector and land defender. They will be

riding from Schurz, Yerington, Fallon, Wadsworth, and Nixon, then to Lovelock up to McDermott and to

Thacker Pass. He has two horses in Nixon, and they were gifted two horses from Reno which have been

vaccinated and are up to date with their shots. Although they have five horses, they are looking at having 10-

15 horses this year, but he is not sure of their status. His request is to ride through the lands of Pyramid Lake

to bring their prayers. They ride in the vision of their ancestors for healing, awareness, and unit, and they

continue to work to bring the community together. They will have special guests from South Dakota and

California to speak. They are also asking to use the Museum for a panel, also volunteers from the community

or the leadership to serve on the panel. They are working on a documentary to document to bring awareness

of the work they are doing, to include youth to revitalize the language and culture as they travel to different

places. He is requesting permission to film the documentary while on the reservation. They will be

conducting interviews with the community on issues of MMIW, mining, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault

and Mental Health and will have release forms for everybody to sign. This is what their goal is, it’s to bring

awareness with the ride and prayer with the horses. Everyone is welcome to join them in the ride, run or

walk with them. They start March 21, 2025, and end April 2, 2025. They are asking for monetary donations,

and water for their horses and themselves, also if the community would like to get involved, they need help

with food and cooking.

Councilmember Della John stated for their grazing permit the horses are required to have shots and be

cleared to be able to ride on tribal land. Mr. Dina said his horses are up to date on their shots and the horses

will not be grazing or roaming on the land. They keep the animals close with them near where they are

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staying or in their trailers. Dean Barlese opened his place for them to gather, eat, sleep and to keep their

horses nearby.

Councilmember Dunn said there might be a conflict with the gym at the same time as they are here, there is

a tournament scheduled. Ms. Dressler said they are asking for the museum but if there is a conflict they can

adjust.

Chairman Wadsworth reminded the Council there are two requests: one to approve the ride through the

Reservation and the film request to film a documentary which would have to go through the Inter-

Disciplinary Team (IDT).

Councilmember Sampson motioned to table the request for the Prayer Horse Group to ride on Tribal Land so

a film application can be submitted to the IDT and to bring all requests including the donation request back to

the Council at the same time. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and three (3)

opposed (Davis, Della John, Cortez) with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Councilmember Davis said she opposed it because they could have approved of what was submitted and then

ask for the follow up from the IDT.

Councilmember Della John said she opposed it because they sponsored this event before and Councilmember

Cortez agreed, they have sponsored this event for 2-3 years now.

4. Request for Approval and Update Pyramid Lake Police Department. Chris Parsons, Chief of Police

a. Approval to Accept Reimbursement from the Office of Traffic Safety for Radar Equipment

Chief Parsons said the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) has funds available for equipment and they are in dire

need of new radar gear because they don’t have the budget for it. They were told they can authorize up to

$7,000 for equipment but it’s reimbursement. He has a quote for Stalker which is the vendor they normally

use for two radars, and it comes in just under $7,000. He is asking for approval to accept the reimbursement

before they make the purchase and then the funds will be reimbursed back into their budget 115. There is

no match. If they do traffic safety, they provide funds for equipment. This request is required by the Finance

Department.

Vice Chairman Ely asked if there was a letter from the OTS? Chief Parsons said it’s in an email form which

they correspond back and forth, and he includes their Joining Forces ID number JF-2025-Pyramid PD-00046.

It’s an informal process; they also provide reimbursements for their overtime when they do the “click it or

ticket for impaired drivers.” In this case they have funds for equipment. Most of their radars are 15 years old,

and most of them come from the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) after they are done with them.

Councilmember Davis had a question which was answered about whether they had radars already. Chief

Parsons said they are old and used but they were free from NHP. The new ones would be handheld so they

wouldn’t have to drill into vehicles to permanently mount them.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the purchase of two radars with reimbursements back to Budget

115. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTIONED PASSED

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b. Update Officer Francone NDOT Memorial Sign

Chief Parsons first apologized to the Smith Family for any misunderstanding about Officer Francone’s

highway sign. Staff in his department reached out to the family and they answered all their questions and

concerns and hoped they were satisfied. Unfortunately, the social media posting was missing information. It

should have been double checked before it was posted. The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT)

has an application for memorial signs for which anyone can put in. In this case, there were multiple

applications submitted. In September, NDOTs Tribal Liaison Office, Zachary Shaw and Guinevere Hobdi,

contacted the Executive Team (E-Team) stating they had received an application and were processing it, and

the E-Team directed them to his office. It was a long, drawn-out process and a lot of correspondence between

the Liaisons, the E-Team and himself. They created the signs and in January they were ready, he was asked

by Ben John to get a permit for the occupation which he did. He admits that staff at administration knew

about this project but unfortunately, it didn’t get to the Council level, for which he takes responsibility. The

signs will be a quarter mile in length, it’s not the whole highway, just a section of it. This was one of the

misunderstandings for the Smith Family, Ronald Smith’s sign is two and a half miles west by Popcorn Beach.

He learned things about who Ronald Smith was and that the Tribe put up other signs for military veterans

for members who have done something that needs to be remembered in their military service. The Officer

Francone sign was never intended to offend anybody.

Councilmember Della John read a statement she wrote, “when she worked for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe,

one of the projects she was assigned, was to complete the construction of the Tribal Museum facility, it sat.

as a shell for almost 20 years. She attended the Reno Sparks Visitor Convention Authority meetings

representing the Tribe to promote tourism and discovered there was an opportunity through the Federal

American Byways program that could provide funding to complete the museum facility. After Council

approval, she submitted the application on September 19, 1996. The Pyramid Lake Byway, proposed by the

first Native American tribe in the United States received the designation of one of the Scenic Byways in the

United States. The designation covered Highway 447, 446 and 445. Signs were developed and approved by

the Tribal Council and placed on these highways. Since the Tribe has a history with and was still in 100-year

water war with the state, many of the tourism projects proposed for our recreational areas did not or barely

passed, sometimes with one or two votes. Her point is these highway designations were initially initiated

and proposed by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe because the highways are located within the boundaries of

the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation established in 1856 or 59 and within the jurisdiction of the Tribe. For

the Veterans Memorial tributes, in January 1999, Bill Inman and Jerry Lazari of VFW Post 9211 in Sparks, cochairs of the Veterans Memorial Commission approached the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to honor all races

that made the ultimate price for fighting for this country. They selected Private First Class (PFC) Arthur S.

Jackson, a Pyramid Lake member and one of Nevada’s highest decorated servicemen. Mr. Iman petitioned

the Council on behalf of Arthur Jackson, who received 32 war medals and decorations from five countries.

He was wounded in action and missing in Germany for several weeks, the French and Belgian underground

helped him return to his unit. In May 2005, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe held a special ceremony for its

veterans. The Tribe dedicated two portions of State Highway to our Vietnam Veterans. John Ira was killed in

action and received a Purple Heart and Ronald Smith received a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart.

In recognition of self-governance, authorities and sovereignty over tribal lands, the Council is to be consulted

to provide input and approval as in past precedence and all activities initiated by outside agencies with

regard to memorials, tributes, designations of any sort within the boundaries of the Pyramid Lake

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Reservation. Her relative, John Aleck, USMC, Vietnam Veteran was a Private First Class and is buried in

Wadsworth. The point is the Council needs to approve these types of things and why didn’t the Tribal Liaison

contact them? Chief Parsons admittedly said it ultimately is on him, but contact was made through the

Executive Team. He is not shifting blame and admits it just wasn’t done. He wished he knew more about the

Veterans, as a U.S. Marine himself, nobody respects Veterans more than he does. He would like to get the

information on the Veterans out on the Tribe’s website, where people can see and learn about them. These

memorial signs are there for a reason which is not to forget who they are and the information that

Councilmember Della John took the time to put down on paper that needs to be put out there.

Councilmember Cortez said it was stated it was known about since September and the Chairman is the head

of the Executive Team, was there any thought about bringing it to the Council? Chairman Wadsworth said

the first time he was made aware of it was when the Police Department was placed under his supervision in

January. He didn’t think it was going to happen so quickly because they were not getting any updates, only

updates on the process and then the signs were done. He just didn’t think it was going to occur so quickly.

Councilmember Cortez said his issue was it didn’t come through the Council, nobody had any notifications

and then the post was out there, and the Council was questioned about it, they were blindsided. Information

wasn’t properly dispersed amongst the membership, let alone the Council. Chief Parsons said he received a

call that same day from Rhonda (no last name) and they talked about it. He didn’t know his officer in charge

of their Facebook page was going to post it.

Lela Leyva, Tribal member, said it caught them off-guard because it said “renaming” and that word is what

upset them. Speaking on behalf of Ronald Smith Family, they agree that Officer Francone, Pyramid Lake

Tribal Officer lost his life in the line of duty serving the pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and its membership and

it is appreciated. However, renaming State Route 446, which is dedicated to Ronald Smith, is wrong and

leaves the family feeling disrespected. Ronald Smith’s service to his country, the United States, was

admirable. He was a US Army paratrooper during the Vietnam era and was injured in the line of duty. He was

one of the fortunate ones to return home. He was a decorated Veteran receiving the Purple Heart, Silver Star

and many more. The feeling of dismissal of the service is disheartening to his memory. The process to get the

state route was a long tedious process as was explained. It was handled by one of his daughters, Melanie,

who had assistance to get through the process. Officer Francone’s service needs to be recognized and

deservedly so. Their suggestion is to name the Police Department after him or build a monument in the area

where he lost his life in his memory. Ask the Burning Man organization for a donation to assist since it

occurred during that time. Officer Francone’s family needs and deserves to see that the Pyramid Lake Paiute

Tribe and its members do not take lightly his service, and sacrifice needs to be honored.

Chief Parsons recommended coordinating with the NDOT Tribal Liaison, to have the current signs, which he

thinks were installed by the Tribe and not by NDOT, submit new applications for those signs to have them

put on the NDOT right of way, since most are off the right of way.

Diana Mitchell recommended an area by the Museum for a Veterans wall to acknowledge all the services and

the Veterans names. It can be a place where family can sit and light a candle. Need to check out the wall at

the Sparks Marina, it has all these things. It’s powerful for them to acknowledge the Veterans that were

drafted and were not given the opportunity to volunteer and with the younger generation, not many are

joining the services. This could be placed to acknowledge all Veterans because not all of them are mentioned.

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Vice Chairman Ely agreed Officer Francone should be memorialized, and it was a tragedy because he was

serving the Tribe, but the community didn’t get a chance to hear about it, the Council didn’t get a chance.

Ms. Leyva said when they did Ronald Smith’s sign they were asked to move it back onto Tribal land. It was

noted Officer Francone’s sign is within NDOTs right of way.

Chief Parsons said he could have them remove them because they weren't supposed to install them until

Monday. He can find another location off the Reservation to have them installed if that is Council’s wish.

Ms. Leyva said to build a memorial where it is now to include the police logo, his name and service record,

make it as big as you want with a bench, or a mini park so his family can visit it. Ms. Mitchell said they are

grieving just as well as everybody, let’s not revictimize them.

Councilmember Guerrero asked for the length of the memorial, is it 3/4s of a mile? It’s not the whole highway.

With this being a done deal, let’s work on other memorials, the Veteran memorials, like Hawthorne, they

have memorials every % mile apart with names on big green signs located on NDOTs right of ways.

Councilmember Dunn recommending the NDOT Liaison to present before the Council to talk about these

issues for future references. They would be educating themselves and getting to know the Tribe’s concerns

as well. Councilmember Guerrero said they are meeting with NDOT on February 27, 2025, and the Council is

invited.

Councilmember Della John said what is upsetting is that NDOT makes them go through all the hoops to do

something here and then they do something and not tell the Council. It’s our Reservation and we are

supposed to be in charge of our lands, but they don’t seem to recognize it. Looking at the impact on the people,

always in living in trauma, people take advantage and do what they want, and they must live with it, but she

doesn’t like it.

Councilmember Davis would like to officially apologize to the family because they as the Council didn’t know

about it and for Chief Parsons to stand before them to take the blame. They have an Executive Team of four,

and it wasn’t in any of their reports either. Everybody dropped the ball. She would like to take the Chief up

on his suggestion, that area is where it happened and it impacted Pyramid Lake. She suggests leaving it where

it is but as Chief Parsons suggested, getting those other signs built and closer to the highway where they

should be, so they are uniform across the board.

Chairman Wadsworth said listening to Councilmember Della John and Lela Leyva’s histories, they need to

put this information on the Tribe’s websites, both the plpt.nsn.us and pyramidlake.us sites but they will need

the family’s assistance to get this done.

Chief Parsons suggested, as a Veteran and as one who put these things together before for a Veterans

memorial page, it’s particularly important to designate Veterans if they are a Gold Star Family. A Gold Star

family is a family member that has died in action.

Moving on, Councilmember Cortez asked about Chief Parsons report where it states there were more

citations given out in January, did he look further into giving the beach monitors the ability to cite for civil

citations. Chief Parsons said they are still looking at that, still talking with the Ranger Supervisor and Human

Resources (HR), it is a change to their job description, and they need to make sure they have the authority.

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They would also have to be sworn, which they currently are not. Some of the beach monitors are not

comfortable with the thought of doing that because they would have to be asking for drivers’ license

information. It increases the confrontation level and originally, that was what they wanted them to be.

Councilmember Sampson said she read in the Natural Resources (NR) report that individuals drive pass the

water inspection decontamination area and they have notified the rangers of that issue and reading from the

report, nothing has been done. Reading the numbers from their report and the Chief of Police’s report they

are inconsistent. Why isn’t a Ranger stationed at the site to ensure the fisherman stop? In the NR report they

state there is consistency with people driving by and when they report it to the Rangers, they are told they

must be by their vehicles, or they must see them in order to cite them. With the lake being the biggest money

maker, they are not getting any revenue. She would like to see more consistency with their stats on the beach,

the beach monitors report a total of 1,652 permits checked and the Rangers have their permits checked at

245 with the permit sales at $782 and $24,000. She would like to see a ranger set up at the decontamination

site to ensure that people are stopping because that will be more funds generated for the Tribe. The Popcorn

Beach area was closed to boat launches because of the aquatic invasive species concern and if people are just

driving by and their boats are not being inspected, what will happen if they close the lake and lose those

funds? She would like to see more consistency in their report because as a Tribal member that’s negligent.

Chairman Wadsworth said it comes down to staff, they have three Rangers now, they have one on duty each

day and that is a lot of beaches and a lot of duties they must do, including monitoring the river, the ranges,

750 square miles of Ranger purview.

Councilmember Davis said there is inconsistency, but they must remember back in November at the Water

Team meeting, she asked the Aquatic Invasive Species manager how many they checked over Thanksgiving

because that is a four-day weekend and there was nobody there and the lake was full of fisherman, the lake

was full. There must be accountability all the way around.

Chief Parsons said in his conversations with the beach monitors, Rangers and the Ranger Supervisor, who

have been having these discussions over the last 2-3 months since the Council has been mentioning these

concerns, especially with the inspection station. The automated permits system has some values lacking for

them, if somehow the system could say whether a boat was checked because the beach monitors and Rangers

can pull that information on permits, they can see if an individual has a permit whether it be fishing, boating

or day-use. When it comes to the boat inspections there is a disconnect, he will confirm with the Ranger

Supervisor to see if Environmental has been calling, they haven’t been calling him, but they may have called

the Ranger Station, he isn’t saying they haven't called but he will look into it to see if they are not responding.

He does know a lot of people come in before the station opens.

Vice Chairman Ely said he gets the importance of the revenue passing by but the one concern they should

have are the safety of the lake. The boaters only have 1-2 places to dock if they arrive early. He can’t see why

the Rangers, or the Police, periodically drive through the area checking for passes. They put it on their dash

and they’re good but if you don’t have it, they get cited, go to court and either pay a fine or say they are

innocent. Chief Parsons said that is how it used to be but now they are getting their permits on their phone

and not a hard copy anymore. The Ranger Station is the only place you can get a physical permit anymore.

Vice Chairman Ely asked why they couldn’t require them to put one on their dashboards, if they want to come

out to Pyramid Lake then that’s what they need to do. Chief Parsons said he asked that same question but

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February 21, 2025, Special minutes

since COVID, all the places that used to sell permits stopped selling them and the Ranger Station is the only

place to get a physical permit. The Finance Department would have to get a hold of the vendor for the online

system and have it put on the permits and on the website.

Francesca Maipi said if they program it into NAGPRA when they go to purchase a boat permit, if you state

that they must stop at the station ifit’s open and then they check an acknowledgement box, that way whoever

bought a boat permit acknowledges they must stop at the station.

Vice Chairman Ely said in California, they still write out fishing licenses and it must be tagged on your hate

or exposed, its paper, not on your phone and if you're caught you get cited.

Chief Parsons stated you almost need someone at the boat docks all day for boats coming and going. The

inspection station was built at the wrong spot, but there are no utilities at the boat launch.

Councilmember Dunn asked how often the Rangers check the whole boundary of the Reservation. Chief

Parsons said it’s almost impossible to do in one day. For land assignments for cattle, they do a cursory watch

on those when they are not on the beaches. They look at the restricted areas up north, there are things

happening that they need to pay attention to which could then take half the day to check out.

Councilmember Davis said in monitoring the Reservation, they were partnering with Washoe County and

somebody else for the homelessness that was occurring along the river. Chief Parsons said their team came

out to look to see that area that was of concern, but it was abandoned and really didn’t need that much

cleaning. That was a start, but they are still in discussions with the Chairman, but they haven't been able to

get a good date to meet. He is trying to put together Tribal programs to direct Tribal members to programs

that can assist them, usually it’s for housing assistance which the Tribe doesn’t have much help in. He

mentioned this at the last housing meeting; it’s just going to take time because they don’t have programs in

place to do what they need to do now. Councilmember Dunn asked about the Social Services program and

their resources. Chief Parsons said not for a homeless person, unless they’re an elder or juvenile, where they

can make them a ward of Social Services. There is the Victim Services that can help with shelter, but they

must be victims of a crime. Chairman Wadsworth added sometimes it’s them refusing the help they are trying

to give to them because they would complain that they are just being shipped to Reno, but the Tribe just

doesn’t have the resources here to help, and they are trying to transition them to one of the services that can

but they refuse that help.

Councilmember Della John said her husband was out on the north end in November and he saw the US Fish

and Wildlife Officer out there. Do they notify the Police or Tribe when they come on the Reservation? He was

on the railroad bed walking around. Chief Parsons said normally they do notify them if they are on the

Reservation. They are not supposed to be taking any enforcement on the Tribe without notifying them. If

there are any questions about them, give the Police a call and they will figure it out and send somebody out

there.

5. Request for Approval Food Distribution Program. Francesca Maipi, Food Distribution Program

a. Approval to apply for the 2025 AARP Community Challenge Grant for the purchase of a

Water Dispensing Machine.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

Ms. Maipi explained she is asking for approval to apply for the quick impact grant. A grant where the work

must be done before the end of the year. She already has a dispenser chosen, it’s the cheapest but it comes

from a great company out of California, and they can set it outside, which she would like. It’s a dispenser they

can customize for one, three or five gallons. They will tap the water to bring it to the dispenser. The Council

had a concern for the weather and vandalism. Ms. Maipi said if there is a concern she can move it to inside

the facility. The only reason she wanted to have it outside was to make it more accessible for people after

hours.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the request to apply for the 2025 AARP Community Challenge

Grant for the purchase of a Water Dispensing Machine. Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion. Votes

were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

Consensus of the Council was to have the dispenser inside the facility.

b. Approval to Register for the Walmart Sparks Good Registration and to Create a Donation

Account.

Ms. Maipi explained she got the green light in June from the accounting supervisor to move forward with

creating a Walmart Spark Good Account because with the Walmart Distribution Center and all the physical

Walmart stores, if you want donations from them, you must go through this process and then they can donate

to you.

Councilmember Davis asked if they received donations from them before. Ms. Maipi said not directly, they

went through Catholic Charities and then they would turn around and provide them with what they could.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the request to register for the Walmart Sparks Good Registration

and to Create a Donation Account. Councilmember Della John seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for

and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

Ms. Maipi asked if they could appoint someone to do this or can she procced to do it. It does involve linking

a bank account to it. The other part of her request was if the Council would consider creating a donation bank

account so the General Fund bank account wouldn’t be exposed to anything if that were to happen. Her first

request was to sign up for the Walmart donations and the second part was to create an extra bank account

so they can link it to that one and any department can use that account. Chairman Wadsworth said they might

need to discuss this with the Comptroller because there might be other costs with opening another bank

account.

Councilmember Wadsworth said in her report they serviced 26,006 people? Ms. Maipi said that was from the

beginning of January to the end. Councilmember Wadsworth asked how many were Tribal members? Ms.

Maipi said she wouldn’t be able to break those numbers down to Tribal members, only Native Americans.

6. Request for Approval Resolution for OVW FY25 Grants to Indian Tribal Governments Program.

Constance Athayde, Victim Services Director

Ms. Athayde said she is asking for approval of a resolution for the OVW Fiscal Year 2025 Grants to Indian

Tribal Governments. After she submitted the resolution and other documents to the Tribal Secretary, all

notifications of funding for OVW were withdrawn from the website, so upon the Executive Officer’s

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

suggestion, they decided to keep the resolution on the agenda in the hope that the funding will be made

available again.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the Resolution for the OVW FY25 Grants to Indian Tribal Governments

Program. Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with

one (1) abstention (Wadsworth). MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 110-25 OVW FY25 GRANTS

TO INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS PROGRAM

Councilmember Wadsworth abstained because if they took it down from the website, they would have this

resolution out there floating around, it should have been done when the grant application was...Trish Conner,

Executive Officer interrupted, and Councilmember Wadsworth didn’t get to finish her sentence. Ms. Conner

said the grant applications are being pulled, and they are being put back with only a four-day lead time, so

they wanted to be ready for it and that is why she advised Ms. Athayde to bring it to the Council.

7. Discussion and Approval of the Pyramid Lake License Fund to Build Community Rodeo Grounds.

Wyatt Victor, Tribal Member

No representative present.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to table the request for the Pyramid Lake License Fund to build Community

Rodeo Grounds. Councilmember Sampson seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0)

opposed with one (1) abstention (Decker). MOTIONED PASSED.

8. Discussion Minor’s Trust. John Guerrero, Councilmember

Vice Chairman Ely stepped out of chambers at 8:34 p.m.

Councilmember Guerrero said he has been getting phone calls and emails. He wrote an email to the Chairman

and the Council stating he is writing on behalf of Tribal members for their children’s statements of their

minor trust fund accounts. Their concerns are they are not receiving information, sometimes up to 1-3 years

and he would like to see if they can direct the Chairman to look into it and to provide updates back to the

Council.

Councilmember Guerrero motioned to direct Chairman Wadsworth to follow up with Breakwater on why

minors are not receiving statements. Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for

and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions.

Vice Chairman Ely returned to chambers at 8:37 p.m.

EXECUTIVE TEAM

1. Executive Office. Trisha Conner. Report Submitted

a. Approval Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between PLPT and PLHA for Cultural

Monitor Services for Sacred Visions Subdivision Project.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

Ms. Conner explained this project is going to be starting next month, they are going out to bid now and will

be breaking ground in March and they need a cultural monitor. The MOU is an agreement that the Tribe

will be reimbursed for the monitoring services, including IDC. They have two monitors who will be rotated

in, they are both on-calls, and this is only for the excavation, not for the buildup.

Councilmember Guerrero motioned to approve the MOU between PLPT and PLHA for Cultural Monitor Services

for the Sacred Visions Subdivision Project. Councilmember Sampson seconded the motion. Votes were nine

(9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Councilmember Davis asked them to make sure the cultural monitor is on site where they are supposed to

be. Previously, there were complaints when they were installing the fiber optics line towards Sutcliffe that

the monitor was out walking around instead of monitoring the dig. Ms. Conner said they will be providing a

vehicle for the monitor, and she will advise the staff. Councilmember Davis had another question regarding

the Parks and Recreation Department, in his report there is a lot of UNITY listed, was that addressed? Ms.

Conner said it was, and he was working on it prior to the direction from the Council. Councilmember Davis

had another question about item #2 on his report where he attended the Special Tribal Council meeting in

light of the new budget and his comment was Parks and Recreation will not be affected as Parks and

recreation is Tribally funded but that’s a ripple effect, because if there is no grant programs to pay the IDC,

then these other programs that live off the IDC aren’t going to be here, so education for the staff is needed.

Councilmember Cortez said she mentioned in her report that she was talking about a furlough plan, did they

develop a plan yet, because the Council was waiting for one because they have had two Council meetings

already that involved furloughs, and they need something in place that provides a timeline that they can’t

delineate from. This is to protect not only the Tribal assets and the employees. Ms. Conner said they will be

meeting on it next Thursday. Councilmember Cortez asked if there were any updates on the employee health

insurance. Ms. Conner said they need a little direction from the Council, it’s not ready for action just yet. They

have met with the current broker and if they stay with Hometown Health, we could go with an EPO, it’s

different from HMO and PPO, however, the cost is put on the staff, the employees but there are cost savings.

They just met with another broker, and this will be a different insurer, it was Blue Cross Blue Shield, it would

be PPO, but they still need to meet with the Housing Authority, PL Fisheries, Enterprises, and the rest of the

Executive Team. Today they met but it was only her and the HR Department. Next Thursday they will meet

with everyone else and if they think it’s something the Council would entertain with action and a good fit

then they will bring it forward. Councilmember Cortez asked about the TERO program waiting for payment

for rent, have they received that? Ms. Conner said she wasn’t sure, but they were looking to possibly rent out

space, but the manager is a new employee, and she told her to just hold, wait and look it over but it is an

opportunity if they want to make income. She currently oversees TERO, Parks and Recreation, Museum,

Social Services, Tribal Court, Enrollment, Victim Services and THPO. Councilmember Cortez said Social

Services mentioned two out of state proceedings they are working on and was wondering if there is a process

in place for that. Ms. Conner said she is not 100% sure but will follow up with the director. Councilmember

Cortez asked if there is a timeline when they will start receiving general assistance funds again. Ms. Conner

said she would follow up with the director on that question.

2. Business Office. Benjamin John. Report Submitted

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

a. Approval of Resolution in Support of OCED Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote

Areas.

The Business Officer was not present; Ms. Conner spoke on his behalf. This is a concept paper that ifapproved

by the Department of Energy, they would then be asked to submit a grant application. The resolution must

be approved by the leadership that says yes, they are committed to doing this project. The concept paper is

due on February 27, 2025, if approved for the grant application, the application would be due on August 28,

2025. The concept plan will identify and describe the project plan, technical solution, business case, project

team form, and the micro grid feasibility study. The feasibility study will go with the recently awarded Bureau

of Indian Affairs (BIA) Tribal Climate Resilient grant which, Benjamin John, Business Office received. The

Tribe’s cost share is 5%, which can be met through cash equivalents, in-kind contributions and the cost share

can be spread among the vendors. All that will be configured in the concept paper if approved and they can

actually submit a grant application which will cover IDC.

Councilmember Della John asked what the dollar amount is? Ms. Conner said the concept paper would

explain all that, but this is not a grant application just yet.

Vice Chairman Ely asked if this was the process to start an energy commission or public utilities commission?

Ms. Conner said no, not this one. This is the feasibility study, it builds up the capacity of how much money it’s

going to make and whatare the issues it’s supposed to overcome. Mr. John brought this to the Council through

a poll vote and it identified the different buildings that he identified for clean energy. This would be the

feasibility, the other one would be for construction, but they go hand in hand.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the Resolution in support of OCED Energy Improvements in Rural

or Remote Areas. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Councilmember Wadsworth asked to remove or

add designee instead of the Vice Chairman.

Councilmember Cortez amended his motion to include Councilmember Wadsworth’s suggestion. Vice

Chairman Ely agreed. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to table the remainder of the Business Officer’s report. Councilmember Dunn

seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED.

3. Programs Office. Sherry Ely-Mendes. Report Submitted

Councilmember Dunn motioned to table the Program Officer’s report. Councilmember Sampson seconded the

motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

COMPTROLLER REPORT. Kamilyn Johnson. Report Submitted.

Ms. Johnson said she had an update for the Council but didn’t get it in the packet in time. She provided a

handout of the 2024 Budget on how they are doing as of February 21, 2025. Based on the budgeted funds for

2024 they have unspent so far, which is over $2 million. Last time this was reported, it was $2.9 million

unspent. It did decrease a little bit which was expected as they closed everything out. In Finance, they did get

the tax forms out, and they are still working on reconciliations. They met with FEMA with the Chairman and

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

are trying to get some movement on the 2017 issue. There are several projects they can apply for to be

reimbursed. Not sure if they qualify for reimbursement but they are going to try. The Chairman sent a letter

asking for an extension, but they have not heard back yet. The due date to file an extension is the middle of

February but they advised them to start working on it. They did bring in boxes from storage and line up the

staff in Finance. Councilmember Davis recommended using the EMS staff because they were the last ones

that were stationed here with FEMA and all the records. Chairman Wadsworth said when FEMA was here,

there were five of them, they offered to help go through the documents also. What she meant by lining up

staff in Finance was contracting services for someone to help them temporarily do the work for them and

this would be paid for by the Finance Department. Councilmember Davis said Finance is going to pay for the

contract then turn around and get reimbursed from the FEMA funds? The Tribe spent this money to do this

work for FEMA and now we're going to hire additional staff to come back and do the same work for FEMA,

then take it out of the FEMA money that we’re supposed to get back. Nothing should be charged to the

reimbursement we may be getting back from FEMA. Ms. Johnson said payment of the contract would be

coming out of Finance’s budget. Chairman Wadsworth added you can’t reimburse an IDC program.

Councilmember Guerrero said any reimbursements funds should go back into the Vidler Fund. It was

included in a resolution in 2017 that 75% of the reimbursement would be returned to that fund.

Councilmember Della John said they also used Ramah Funds which need to be reimbursed also.

Councilmember Davis explained that when the floods occurred, the Tribe knew they had to step up and do

something and used what they had. They pulled from the Vidler funds, Ramah funds, and Transportation also

pitched in funds for the Sutcliffe Road. When they filed with FEMA and if a reimbursement was issued, it was

supposed to go back to these funds. That is where the funds came from to get the work done first.

Ms. Johnson said the cash report was done but she didn’t have time to review in time to present it to the

Council. She is expecting the audit to be uploaded to the clearing house by the end of the next week, and they

have submitted their responses to the findings this week and so expect it to be finalized soon, then they will

have a presentation to the Council.

Councilmember Dunn asked if there were still any drawdowns or issues with drawdowns. Ms. Johnson said

she hasn’t heard of any issues, its business as normal but she is planning on meeting with the Executive Team

next week and she’s spoken to her accounting staff about the end of the month when they ask all the

departments to get their invoices in for the prior month, post them and do the IDC, then do the drawdowns.

Councilmember Davis asked if the 638 programs from BIA are mature so they can draw down the whole

year? Ms. Conner said because of the continuing resolutions they haven't been allocated the whole amount,

but they have pulled down what they have been able to do.

CHAIRMANS REPORT.

Chairman Wadsworth said with the continuing resolution it is business as usual but because most of the

drawdowns are for reimbursement that is the problem. They are trying to develop the furlough policy even

more. He is meeting with the Executive Team, and they have a sample furlough policy which the plan is to

edit to fit the Tribe’s needs. The next big date they need to watch is March 14, 2025, which is the day the

continuing resolution ends, and they don’t know what is going to happen. Continuing with his report, as

reported at the Water Team Meeting (WTM), they met with the Nevada Department of Environmental

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

Protection about the Atrium Apartments. He included in his narrative that it was a bit of a wasted meeting

because Chris Mixson, Water Attorney, didn’t go through it in detail at the WTM but NDEP was not prepared.

At the meeting, there were two guys sitting across from them, one was trying to pull the data on the water

quality data, but he was using the wrong data, the wrong point and the other guy knew he had it wrong and

they weren’t talking to each other because he knew he was at the wrong point. You need to be down below

where it’s dumping into the river, and the guy didn’t know that it existed. Mr. Mixson did mention the part

about getting the process for the fines, the process of levying those fines against whomever they are going to

levy them against and what the process is going to entail. He is sure they will have another meeting when

they get the correct data. Ever since January 28, 2025, when they first received information on the federal

freeze they have been in reactionary mode because they have to continue to operate as normal because they

don’t have a choice, they just can’t allow it to control everything they do or what they are trying to accomplish

as a Tribe so they just have to continue to move on, especially with the uncertainty. He had a meeting with

Congressman Amodei on February 3, 2025, and reported that meeting with the Council on February 7, 2025,

_and he also met with Senator Cortez Masto’s staff. He attended the UNR Tribal Leaders Summit and met the

Governor. The main thing he focused on at their roundtable where the Chairmans spoke about their issues,

he expressed the Tribe’s need or the lack of respect the Tribe received from the state and cities, specifically

focusing on the Atrium Apartments. The former Governor and now President of UNR, Brian Sandavol said he

had no idea this took place. Said even though it’s a city issue, it would be nice to get support from the

Governor's office about why the Tribe wasn’t informed. They had a small conversation afterwards and he

was shocked about it. There is also an assembly bill that is going through now, but it all shows the lack of

respect, they didn’t have any respect of the people down wind of them. Councilmember Dunn asked about

the outreach to the health clinic for data that was suggested by the Council. Chairman Wadsworth said he

asked Dawna Brown, Pyramid Lake Tribal Health Clinic (PLTHC) Director, for data but it’s difficult because

around that time in 2023-24, they still had COVID numbers which skews everything. He hasn’t received

anything yet from the clinic though. He met with Dan Mosley and Albert John for the transition move at the

Pyramid Lake (PL) Fisheries and Mr. Mosley is not at the PL Fisheries anymore and Mr. John has stepped in

to fill the position. He will be contacting the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration (BTFA), there is an

Economic Development Fund in the Tribe’s name at BTFA with around $3 million and they don’t know what

it is for and not sure where it came from. There is also another fund with $3 million which was some kind of

labor settlement. His thought is the PL Fisheries needs $1.1 million minimum to operate. Councilmember

Guerrero said he doesn’t think the Tribe needs to bail them out. They bailed the Tribe out one time and

nobody got paid back. It was noted they are all a part of the Tribe.

Councilmember Davis said the Chairman needs to find out what it is first then bring it back for discussion.

Chairman Wadsworth said it was an idea, with $3 million, if they can’t use it for economic development then

the idea is to supplement the PL Fisheries which can sustain them for 4-7 years depending on how their

interest goes. It’s just an idea to think over. He brought it up with Mr. Mosley and Mr. John while he had a

meeting with them for their transition. Councilmember Davis said she would have thought he would find out

what it’s for and bring it to the Council first before giving them the assumption that it was earmarked for the

PL Fisheries. Now they knew about it before the Council did. The same thing with the donation letter, it was

addressed to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, but they already knew about it before the Council did. Chairman

Wadsworth said he didn’t say it was earmarked but it was an idea and yes, he agreed it should of came to the

Council first.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

Councilmember Della John said when the funds mature, the team must give them directions for reinvesting

it because it’s a part of the different dockets they have there, so you must research. Chairman Wadsworth

said when the BTFA initially told him about it, they asked about the $80 million they had in the bank, and

they didn’t know the Tribe had a plan for those funds which is the Economic Development Plan. This was

from BTFA, they didn’t know the Tribe had a plan; they wanted to develop a plan in order to spend those

funds. He attended the Executive Session for the National Congress of American Indians in Washington DC.

He is still working on his narrative. The new Secretary of the Interior, Bergum, former Governor of North

Dakota, talked for 25 minutes straight, not too impressed with him. He is a big proponent of mining; he told

everyone the reason they need to open mining in this country is because they can do it cleaner and better

than any other country. Mining is a dirty practice, you can’t make it any cleaner, it does nothing but destroy

and take away land. He said he gets along well with the Tribes in his state, the seven tribes in North Dakota

and he brought up the need for BIA and law enforcement funding so hopefully with his experience with the

tribes he can try to push for more funding for tribes in this area. They didn’t do any caucuses while he was

there because of the OMB memo that went out with the funding freeze which threw everything out of whack.

They did a 101 class on Congress and went through all the steps on how people are elected to Congress, years

served and how many are in the Senate. His highlight was the last day when they broke out into groups, and

he put himself in the Environmental and Natural Resources group. They met with various congressional

offices, met a congressman out of California who is on the US Forestry Committee, met with both Senators

Cortez-Masto and Rosen and the new Senator out of Arkansas, Bozeman who is the Chairman of the

Environmental Committee, by the way his state does not have any federally recognized tribes. The same

message to all of them was Tribes are not DEI; they pounded that into their heads. Ms. Thomas talked about

it at their last meeting; Tribes are not DEI. One of the Chairmans brought up when the grants came out during

the Biden Administration, they specifically told the tribes to put in for DEI and they said the only way you're

going to get these funds is if you had DEI language in your grant applications. They did a roundtable with

Senator Murkowski out of Alaska who is the head of the Internal Affairs Committee and Senator Shatz is the

Minority member. They started out talking about healthcare and after walking around Capitol Hill all day, he

was carrying his insulin and brought it to the table and told them, with them removing the $35 cap on insulin

prices, what does his people need to do to get their insulin? As a Tribal Chairman with health insurance that

pays for this, he has 3,000 members that must pay, or the Indian Health budgets must pay for it. With

removing the cap, they are taking away from the people. Murkowski spoke at NCAI and hopefully what he

says is true. When he spoke with Senator Amodeéi, he said he was a fan of the NEPA process, but they had

already heard from Ms. Thomas, and they are already done with NEPA.

Councilmember Cortez asked if there was a follow-up for the BIA funding when it comes to building space?

Chairman Wadsworth said he didn’t have the information yet. At the next meeting he will ask the Business

Officer for an update. Councilmember Cortez asked about his concerns of the individual trying to pick up

people for treatment. Is there follow-up? Chairman Wadsworth said he talked to the Health Clinic about it,

but the discussion moved to transportation about who they transport. The clinic doesn’t have CHRs anymore.

He will have to do more follow-up. Councilmember Cortez said at the meeting there was going to be a warning

put out to the public. Councilmember Dunn said they have one CHR, but they've been given a different task.

Councilmember Sampson said they don’t have any CHRs, they've been charged with transportation only

because when asked, Ms. Brown said it was due to medical degrees in checking patients and following up on

them. Chairman Wadsworth said he talked about it with Ms. Brown because they need to put out there the

kind of services the clinic offers specifically for drug and alcohol, they can do it there. Councilmember Cortez

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

said the Health Board follows what other tribes do and how they put out notices and follow up. It would be

nice to see that there are tribes that give a constant update because things are changing every single day with

the Executive Orders and when you look at our Tribe, there are no updates, it would be nice for the public to

have that information accessible. Chairman Wadsworth said he had this conversation with members of the

staff because they worry about it also. Just because it’s an Executive Order doesn’t make it right or legal, it’s

just reactionary with all the Executive Orders. The Tribe can’t operate that way because it doesn’t do well for

morale and mental health. Just like the Executive Order doing away with birthright citizenship, that’s an

illegal Executive Order, it’s not enforceable. Whenever there is an Executive Order, you must take it with a

grain of salt. To him, it’s a fear tactic and not sure how to put that out. Councilmember Dunn suggested putting

out assurances that we're still here and if they have questions, who to contact and to not jump to conclusions.

Councilmember Cortez said it was the day before Memorial Day when the Indian Health Service employees

were receiving layoff emails, and all the surrounding tribes were putting out information that if you're an

Indian Health employee check your email to see if you have a job or not. Luckily the next day that was

rescinded by the Vice President. Chairman Wadsworth said that is what they have been dealing with, getting

a notice then 24 hours later it’s pulled back. Every day it’s a new problem, a new announcement about

whatever craziness occurs. The Department of Governmental Efficiency is proving they don’t know how

governments work and they don’t care about people. Councilmember Sampson said the letter could be

worded to say the Tribe is aware these notices are coming out, in the event it does affect the membership,

the Tribe or departments, the Tribe will address it immediately and will have the membership’s best

interests in mind. We are following this closely but will maintain normal daily operations. Councilmember

Cortez said it’s helpful for the staff who are still hearing every single day, is today the day they get furloughed

because there is no plan in place. Chairman Wadsworth said they do have things in place in policy; it needs

to be fine-tuned but they will be talking about it next week. They will continue to operate as normal even

though the uncertainty is there.

Councilmember Guerrero had a concern with CEMEX, if the departments are going to utilize it for staging,

then they need to come to the Council to request it. Chairman Wadsworth said they had someone approach

the Tribe that wants to use the shop and the area for truck parking, but it’s just in the beginning stages.

Councilmember Davis said that was her concern because somebody was putting rock there and nobody told

them about it. Chairman Wadsworth said that rock is for the Numana Dam. Councilmember Guerrero said

they can give a consensus for the use of the property. Chairman Wadsworth said the Transportation

Department, Natural Resources, Roads, and the Business Officer were there when they went through the

assessment, and nobody has requested to use the property. Councilmember Davis stressed it needs to be the

Council’s decision on who uses the property. Chairman Wadsworth said he does have people calling to

resume mining and he just tells them no, not interested. Councilmember Della John said signs need to be put

up, no trespassing because people walk out there and it’s dangerous especially with the banks.

Councilmember Davis said these were addressed at the last meeting and her concerns were the treatment

center texts, he was going to put out to the membership about the social media posts where she was asking

for people to take. Her second request was the outreach to the membership regarding carrying their Tribal

IDs because they not only have Tribal members within the Reservation, but they are all over the United

States.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

Councilmember Cortez asked for an update on the employees’ interim status. Chairman Wadsworth said they

only have one right now, it’s the Realty manager. Councilmember Cortez said the reason that the job

description was pulled was because there were supposed to be edits to it, but they were not done yet.

After completion of the Chairman’s report, the Council moved into Executive Session.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to move into Executive Session. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion.

Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council

moved into Executive Session at 9:33 p.m.

Trisha Conner, Executive Office was asked to remain for the Executive Session.

Councilmember Guerrero motioned to move out of Executive Session. Councilmember Wadsworth seconded

the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

Tribal Council moved out of Executive Session at 9:33 p.m.

After discussion in Executive Session the Tribal Council made the following motion.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to deny a liquor license to JGFP group. Councilmember Dunn seconded the

motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to direct Chairman Wadsworth to direct the Business Office to start the

process for a liquor license violation. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for with

zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Tribal Council, Councilmember Dunn made a motion to adjourn the

meeting. The motion was seconded by Vice Chairman Ely. Votes taken were all in favor, motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 10:01 p.m.

Submitted by,

undal:

Brenda A. Henry

Tribal Council Secretary

CERTIFICATION

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 21, 2025, Special minutes

The foregoing minutes were adopted by the Pyramid Lake Tribal Council, governing body of the Pyramid

Lake Paiute Tribe, at a meeting duly held on the 6% day of June 2025, having ten (10) members present,

constituting a quorum, by the vote of nine (9) FOR and zero (0) OPPOSED, with zero (0) ABSTENTIONS.

Minutes attested and concurred by:

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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