Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2023)

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

Post Office Box 256

Nixon, Nevada 89424

Telephone: (775) 574-1000

Fax (775) 574-1054

SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES

Tribal Chambers ~ Nixon, NV

December 15, 2023

Members Present:

Steven Wadsworth, Vice Chairman

Harriet Brady, Councilmember John Guerrero, Councilmember

Judith Davis, Councilmember Genevieve John, Councilmember

Nathan Dunn, Councilmember Della John, Councilmember

Edward Ely III, Councilmember

Members Absent: James Phoenix, Tribal Chairman Natalia Gonzales, Councilmember

CALL TO ORDER

Vice Chairman Wadsworth called the December 15, 2023, Special Tribal Council meeting of the Pyramid Lake

Paiute Tribal Council to order at 6:03 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Roll call was taken by Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary. Chairman Phoenix and Councilmember

Gonzales were absent. Councilmember Guerrero attended via zoom. All other Councilmembers were present

at roll call and a quorum was established for this meeting.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth informed Council of his email prior to the meeting regarding Councilmember

Guerrero requesting to attend the meeting via zoom. As Vice Chairman he denied the request to be on zoom

because he is not traveling on official business and was abiding by Council consensus. He is asking Council if

they would like to override that decision to allow Councilmember Guerero to participate in the meeting.

Councilmember Genevieve John agreed that if they are on tribal business they can attend until they finalize

their policy.

Councilmember Brady said they attended via zoom because they were on official tribal business attending

the NCAI conference.

Councilmember Davis said she asked all last year what the policy was, but they did not have one and they

still do not have one, but now they have one drafted for discussion that night. Shae remembers when zoom

first started it was during COVID and some were allowed to attend via zoom that did not have COVID. Until

the policy gets presented and approved by Council she does not think, as a Councilmember, they should deny

a fellow Councilmember who was voted on by the membership their duty to voice their opinion on behalf of

the membership.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Councilmember Ely said when COVID started and zoom was allowed, he believes back in January three years

ago, a date he remembers because he was sworn in at home via zoom. Was there a resolution passed to allow

zoom or was it Chairman directed? If it was the Chairman’s directive, then it would be his to deny but if it

were a resolution then it needs to be rescinded or changed. He agrees if you go on Tribal business, you should

be able to zoom in but if you are on personal business, then that is your choice. When he went on vacation,

he did not ask to zoom because that was his personal choice or personal time. Was there a resolution that

allowed them to conduct business via zoom?

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said there was no resolution, it was born out of necessity to keep everybody safe.

Councilmember Brady added when she was at home, she also heard what the membership was saying that

Council is supposed to be in the Council chambers. They voted them in and expect them to do business.

Personally, she does not like to be in a remote location because there seems to always be problems with the

internet which makes it difficult, but at the same time she made sure she was present. It was confusing

because she was sworn in over zoom, and she felt left out not being in chambers. Back to the issue of zoom,

from what she is hearing from the membership, there is an expectation from people to be in the Tribal

chambers to conduct business. She tries to make sure she is always present unless she is away on Tribal

business or sick.

Leona Collins, in the audience, said if you are going to be on zoom, there should be a requirement to show

your video and not just a name on the screen.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said the policy is on the agenda for discussion but since they were going through

the roll call and Councilmember Guerrero did state he was present, that is why he is leaving the decision up

to Council to allow him to attend since he has already denied his request since he is chairing the meeting. He

feels they must make sacrifices of their time and effort to being present in chambers. If that means sacrificing

being at another event, that is what they were elected to do. He made the decision to deny but if Council

wants to allow Councilmember Guerrero to attend via zoom that is their choice. Vice Chairman Wadsworth

went through roll call for Councilmembers to voice their opinion.

Councilmember Davis said yes because the policy is on the agenda for discussion and once it is passed and if

changes are made then it will take effect that night, but they can’t talk about a policy that is presented in draft

form and expect it to go ex post facto for something they can’t approve at the moment.

Councilmember Genevieve John said no, because when they ran for office, they knew there would be choices,

family events or things they want to do personally but they would have to make a choice or attend a Council

meeting.

Councilmember Dunn said he is allowing him to attend.

Councilmember Ely said yes, if there is a policy up for discussion, it does need to be addressed with only for

COVID.

Councilmember Della John said yes because precedence was set in the past with this policy.

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December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Councilmember Brady said she is uncomfortable with this because she thinks about what they said, what

Councilmember Genevieve John had said and what the membership had said about the expectation, so she is

leaning towards no because they all know what they were signing up for and everybody must give up

something. For herself, it is to be present to represent the people.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said there are four in consensus to allow Councilmember Guerrero to participate

in the meeting via zoom, they will continue with approval of the agenda.

Councilmember Guerrero said there are no policies in place and this policy should have been in place in 2019.

In 2021 he asked for consensus, and it was approved. They need to realize when they approve these policies

they need to go through the committees and the one on the agenda is through the Vice Chairman, was that a

directive? The policies need to go through the committees.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Vice Chairman Wadsworth read the agenda with addition of an Executive Session with legal counsel, Pilar

Thomas, Quarles & Brady LLP.

Ronald Guerrero requested to be added to the agenda so Council can produce a solution regarding his

complaint where he was not allowed to be heard, he was denied due process by Chairman Phoenix. The

complaint was investigated before and is the same complaint. To bring it before the Council is the last part

to exhaust his remedies.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said the decision is up to the Council, but he did say Council has heard this before

through his and the Chairman’s report.

Mr. Guerrero said he did not agree with their reports and wants to show Council where his rights were

violated.

It was asked if they had copies of his documents.

Mr. Guerero said that would be part of his solution. The Council could ask him to come back later, so he could

submit his documents to the secretary.

The council agreed to bring Mr. Guerrero forward at the January 5, 2024, Outgoing meeting, he is to submit

his agenda request and documents to the Tribal Secretary. Even though Mr. Guerrero said he already

submitted his request, Vice Chairman said it is now on record and he should resubmit his documents and

request for Council to review.

Councilmember Ely motioned to approve the agenda with the addition of #8 Approval HR Reclassifications

warehouse Worker Food Distribution Program and addition of an Executive Session after the Vice Chairman's

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

(0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

PUBLIC COMMENT.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Leona Collins, Tribal Member. Ms. Collins said her comments are regarding the Primary Election, do they

need to continue to have a Primary? During the last primary, out of 488 registered voters, they only had 146

people vote at a cost for the one-day election was $8,250. For two elections this is $16,500. It seems like there

is a lack of interest in the elections with fewer people wanting to run for positions. When it was created it

was to narrow down the number of applicants because at that time there were so many. But she thinks they

are past that point by seeing the outcomes or the lack of interest. It seems the $8,250 could be spent

somewhere else better. They used to have the elections at the gym with lunch and everyone came around

lunchtime to vote. It kept their numbers up. Putting it in perspective, the cost versus the actual elections

itself.

CONSENT AGENDA

The following items were presented on the Consent Agenda:

1. Approval of Minutes: a. November 3, 2023-Regular b. December 1, 2023- Regular

2. Approval of Wes Williams Legal Counsel November 2023 Invoice #4175

3. Approval Tax Department Burning Man Retailer Permits (18)

4, Approval of Kemp Jones LLP October 2023 Attorney Services

5. Approval Ratifications of Poll Votes for Elder Energy Request Dean Calvin and Reynelda James,

and Elder Emergency Request Angey Dunn.

6. Approval of Numaga Cook Nutritionist Position Increase

7. Approval of Tribal Council Donation Policy with Application

8. Approval HR Reclassification Warehouse Worker - Food Distribution Program

Councilmember Brady requested to pull #1 & #3 for discussion.

Councilmember Geneveive John requested to pull #7 for discussion.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve items #2, 4, 5, 6 & 8 on the consent agenda. Councilmember Brady

seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED

Item #1.

Councilmember Brady said she sent out corrections to Council and they were minor.

Councilmember Brady motion to approve the November 3, 2023, Regular and December 1, 2023, Regular

minutes.

Councilmember Genevieve John said she had corrections to both minutes.

Councilmember Brady pulled her motion.

Councilmember Genevieve John motioned to table the November 3, 2023, Regular and December 1, 2023,

Regular minutes. Councilmember Ely seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed

with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

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December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Item #3.

Councilmember Brady said when she was looking at the committee minutes it says there are 29 instead of

18 and is wondering why there is a difference? And why is there a delay in getting these approved when the

date on these is for August 14, 2023.

Benjamin John, Business Officer said it has to do with the Tax Commission only meeting once a month and

when they finally did get it approved and relayed the information to the Tax Department to forward to

Council, it’s already behind the time but they had to wait for the process to get it to Council.

Councilmember Brady said she remembers issues with Chik Fil-A and how they were able to come on the

reservation and yet they had submitted an application, but she did not see it in there. Again, there were 29

listed in the minutes but they were only given 18. They need to revisit and work on the timeframe because

having them approved in December when the event occurred in August does not make sense.

Councilmember Ely agreed, they are approving something that is in the past and already done, this should

have been approved prior.

Councilmember Davis commented that if they denied it, it does not mean anything.

Vernelda Frazier, the Tax Department Director explained what happened with those retail permits was they

had so many new permits this year and when they went to have them paid, they noticed they were not

approved by Council. The Council usually approves when a business puts in for a sales or retail permit and

then during the next year when they return, they just do a renewal which does not go to Council. Mr. John

asked why they need to go to the Council when the Commission already approves them. They told him that

is how it has always been done. They did look at the Tax Code but it is not in there so they will be bringing it

to the Tax Commission to say once it is approved by the Commission, they can approve it, so it does not have

to go to the Council for approval also.

Councilmember Ely asked for confirmation from Ms. Frazier that this year they had 18 new applications for

Burning Man?

Ms. Frazier confirmed these 18 came in late when they came on site, and they paid and received their permit

to set up, but it took this long to get to Council.

Councilmember Brady said she was still unclear about Chick Fil-A, and the comments that were made. She

does not recall approving it so how did it get approved?

Ms. Frazier explained it is not written anywhere but it used to be that only Tribal members would be able to

sell food and this specific one was not under Chick Fil-A but under a tribal member and her husband who

brought it onto the reservation. Their application first went to the Business Office for a business license, then

they came to the Tax Department, and they taxed them. If it had come to them first, then they would have

questioned them and said only tribal members are allowed to sell food and only tribal members are allowed

to have car washes and do trash. She is not sure if it is written down somewhere. Councilmember Davis did

mention a couple of meetings back there is a resolution but that was 15 years ago when food first started

selling on the reservation. They did not get to see Chick Fil-A until they were setting up and already doing

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December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

business after which point they told them they could not tax Tribal members only the non-Tribal members.

When they left, they did not pay very much because they were only there for one or two days, but they should

of went to Council with the first batch.

Councilmember Brady asked how do they know how much revenue is made, are receipts provided?

Ms. Frazier said some do provide receipts but if they are under the group behind the Nixon Store, the main

permit holder that organizes the bazaar manages them and checks them off for the businesses that set up

there.

Councilmember Brady said it seems suspect because they are relying on someone else’s word, there needs

to be a process and documentation.

Ms. Frazier said most of the permit holders email the information after they leave so there is documentation,

but they do not provide that information to Council. When they make a payment is when they show the

paperwork on how they came to the amount.

Councilmember Brady said it seems like they can say, “would you buy this for a lower cost and then it’s like

they would be pocketing what should be coming to the Tribe even though it is up to them on how much they

sell their items,” but that can be coming off the tax bill.

Councilmember Ely said they are talking about two different things. One is the bazaar that is behind the Nixon

Store which is run by one individual, and another is a Tribal member and Chick Fil-A, two separate items

correct?

Ms. Frazier said Chick Fil-A was not with the bazaar. When Chick Fil-A came to get their business license, it

was the Tribal member and her husband that brought Chick Fil-A in, and Ben John would know more about

them. They did not know Chick Fil-A was coming in until they were already here. They do not see any

business licenses unless they are selling any taxable merchandise or food.

Councilmember Ely asked if there is a resolution that states only Tribal members can sell food or collect

trash?

Councilmember Davis said she is sure there is a resolution.

Councilmember Della John confirmed it is a resolution with rules attached to it with four or five pages.

Mr. John said there is no resolution that states that but there is a resolution that says those rules apply to

Tribal members. There is nothing in that document that says only Tribal members can do that.

Councilmember Davis said if you look at the minutes of the Tribal Council meeting that go with the discussion,

it states only Tribal members are allowed during that time.

Councilmember Ely said he remembers that comment, it was during Mr. Johns report, he questioned the

document that put the Tribal members under all the rules but if you are not a Tribal member you do not have

to adhere to any of the rules per the document. They punish the Tribal members or hold them accountable

but if you are non-Tribal, all they have to say is they do not follow those rules.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Councilmember Davis said you must look at the minutes that go with the meetings because they go into the

discussion of how those rules came about.

Mr. John said the Business Licensing Ordinance does state that anybody getting a business license must

follow Tribal rules and regulations, so based on that anybody who is applying must follow that document.

People applying for a license are given that document and it is all online.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the 18 Tax Department Burning Man Retailer Permits. There was

no second to the motion. MOTION FAILED

Councilmember Brady motioned to deny the 18 Tax Department Burning Man Retailer Permits due to being

after the fact. No automatic renewals and request the Tax Department work on a more manageable timeframe

beforehand for approvals. Councilmember Della John seconded the motion. Votes were five (5) for and one

(1) opposed (Dunn) with one (1) abstention (Genevieve John). MOTION PASSED

Item #7.

Councilmember Genevieve John pulled because she did not think it belonged under the Consent Agenda and

wanted it pulled for discussion.

Councilmember Guerrero motion to table until it goes to the Personnel Committee.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth asked why would it go to the Personnel Committee?

Councilmember Guerrero misunderstood and pulled his motion.

Councilmember Della John requested it be posted to the community.

Councilmember Brady said she submitted a comment, she did not think a Councilmember should be able to

apply because they get a stipend, and they should be giving and not taking. That was her concern.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth asked if anyone wanted to make a motion to post for 30 days?

Councilmember Dunn said he will make that motion.

Councilmember Davis said she would like to clean it up before posting it to the public. Her comment was on

the top page it says Tribal members and organizations, she was unsure about what organizations they were

talking about; type of donations, it says individual, she suggests it say minor individual; number 1, must be

an enrolled Pyramid Lake Tribal member, it’s not listed anywhere; she said minor because it goes from age

five to eighteen, they consider eighteen an adult which is farther down, it should be five to seventeen; on B,

must be an eligible Tribal member, which is not listed; on C, must be an enrolled Tribal member and 18 years

or over instead of adult individuals above the age of eighteen.

Councilmember Dunn asked to withdraw his motion.

Councilmember Davis continued with her changes with C, it says in the amount of $100 per month, per 12

month period for specific emergencies, are we mixing emergency request with donation requests because

there are two separate line items, this item they should strike; for the rules for donations, only the parent or

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guardian of the minor, change from student to minor; and at the end of the sentence request for their minor

child, add minor in there. Another thing they had talked about was no donation request should be asked on

behalf of another adult which should be added into this policy.

Sherry Ely-Mendes said this is a draft and when they ask for it to be put out for posting, that is what they

want to hear back is those types of comments. If the Council wants to post, please send her comments via

email with everything that was commented on.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to table until comments are received from Tribal Council and to bring back at

the January 5, 2024, Regular Outgoing meeting. Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were seven

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

A comment made that when this item is brought back to the Council, it is to be listed on the agenda as

Individual and Group Donations.

PRESENTATION

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

Ms. Thomas said they are still following guidance on the COVID Relief which the Council had asked about the

proposed rule and getting information directly on some of the information they were getting from the IRS

and Treasury for updates. She sent to Council earlier in the month the proposed rule for changing the Fiscal

Recovery Fund and how to account for the funds, especially around obligating funds the Tribe might still

have left. If the Tribe has not expended all the funds, the rule says you have until December of next year to

fully obligate them. There were some changes to the definition of that term and the timing of it. She did attend

the consultation of the presentation and forwarded the information to Mr. McCauley for the purpose of

accounting for the Fiscal Recovery Funds. They provided their monthly update of energy projects and the

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Projects. They will have another update for Council in the coming week. The

government is starting to open again for purposes of getting the third Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding

out. Transportation has announced a new round of funding for road programs and the Department of Energy

has announced a new round of funding for grid resiliency programs. The Tribe received an allocation of over

$700,000 for grid resiliency programs. That allocation is an annual allocation, and the Tribe did not apply for

it the last time around but there will be an opportunity to apply for it again. There will be more information

coming out in January from the White House Tribal Nations Conference and both the Department of Interior

and Department of Energy. Again, the third round of funding for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will start

hitting the streets on the federal side. The major contracts that are under negotiation are the Paragon MRG

Design contract for Benjamin John for architectural design for the Travel Plaza and understand that Council

has approved the gist of the contract. There were some updated changes they had to make on the Paragon

MRG Design side, and they worked with Mr. John on those. For NV Energy, they had a workshop with the

Council on the changes for the easement agreement. She went back to NV Energy with recommended changes

from Council and they are taking the comments and requests under consideration. Waiting for word back

from them. Related to that, she understands there is a power line, a distribution power line that is along the

Truckee River that is in despair, one of the poles is falling over. Mr. John and she talked with NV Energy about

it, and they want to reroute that power line to continue to provide service to a handful of residents and down

to the fishery. The rerouting of that power line will require a new easement, and she did ask NV Energy for

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some additional information on that. She is not sure if it is currently under an easement, but it would need a

new easement for that distribution line. There are some options for the Council to think about, including that

new easement and the negotiation of the existing easement agreement. They are also reviewing an animal

control inter-local agreement with Washoe County also known as an IGA, they made some edits and some

changes and will get it back to Council. Finally, NextEra, as the Council knows, is expanding the Dodge Flat

footprint onto the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. She has not received any further information

from the Council or the BLM about the NEPA process that BLM must go through. They will be happy to assist

with evaluating that project under the NEPA process. Katie Frailer, the Tribal Relations contact has been

requesting a meeting with Council to update on the expansion of Dodge Flats and some new requests they

will be making especially related to a new easement for Olinghouse which they used for the first project, they

will be asking for an amendment to that easement to use for the second Dodge Flat project. They want to

meet with the Council on that and of course, their option agreement expires in three days on December 18',

She thinks at the time they had the workshops there was a consensus, at least amongst the Councilmembers

present, to wait until next year after the elections when a new Council is seated to try and bring in NextEra

next year. She has not conveyed that yet but if there is still a consensus, she would be happy to convey it to

NextEra. One last item, they did finish the proposed amendments for the leasing agreement for the Leasing

Ordinance to include residential and solar leases. It is currently with Mr. Johns office for review. If there are

further comments on it, they can go ahead and revise those and then put it through the Tribe’s legislative

process which includes review through the Law & Order Committee and bring it back to the Council for

approval. Once the Council approves, it will go back to BIA for their review and approval because if the

Council remembers, they must approve the leasing regulations for the Tribe to get the benefit of the HEARTH

Act.

Councilmember Della John said the Tribe has been trying to add some land through the lands bill, but NextEra

is taking the Tribe’s spots. The Tribe has been asking for additional land since 2020, but the BLM took it off

their availability and they now put it back out there and NextEra is going to use it to expand. Is the land Ms.

Thomas taking about the area south of the reservation?

Ms. Thomas said she understands that NextEra is interested in the BLM land that is south of Dodge Flat One,

which would be Olinghouse. Their first Dodge Flat project, which is on private land is just west and the BLM

is south of that, NextEra wants to stay in that same area where the current project is located.

Richard Frazier, Tribal Land Manager, explained the BLM parcels surrounding the existing solar farm.

Currently, the Tribe had submitted for those BLM parcels through the Truckee Meadows Lands Bill here in

Washoe County. The Tribe had a meeting with Senator Rosen's office and had initially submitted for those

parcels surrounding the area. BLM earlier this year removed those parcels from 1-80 north to the existing

solar farm. They talked with Rosen’s staff last week about resubmitting it with those parcels in it again and

are at a standstill at this point. Wondering where Ms. Thomas’s discussions are regarding Dodge Flats.

Ms. Thomas said she has not seen a map of where Dodge Flat Two is located. A couple of years ago the BLM

had a listening session, but she has not heard anything from BLM or from the Council or Chairman of where

this project is located on BLM lands. If it is on BLM lands that the Tribe wants to get transferred to them

through the lands bill, obviously it could be problematic but not necessarily. For example, on the outside of

Las Vegas, the Clark County Land bill will transfer BLM land to the Moapa Tribe which includes lands that

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already have solar projects on them, and those lands will be transferred to the Moapa Tribe anyway. If BLM

will allow for the development and location of solar on them, it will not necessarily preclude the Tribe from

getting those lands, you will just have a solar project on your land. But the bigger question is if the Tribe

wanted to do something else with those lands, that certainly would be a reason solar development is contrary

to what you want to do with those lands. That certainly would be a reason to oppose the project. She does

not know the status of the lands bills but does know the Clak County bill is on life support now because there

does not seem to be any interest on part of either senator to reintroduce the lands bill down there, not sure

if that is the case up here.

Mr. Frazier said they have not submitted them yet; they are waiting for comments to come back. The Tribe

was asked to remove those parcels from the bill at the Tribe’s request when BLM took them off the table. But

after that happened, he saw the Solar Two Project with those BLM parcels surrounding there and that was a

reason he had raised the question to Senator Rosen’s office. Now the Tribe is at a point where we took those

parcels off our request and now this has come up and we want to put them back on our list again and now

we are at a standstill at this point.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said he will update Council more when it comes to his report. He also reminded

Ms. Thomas she forgot to talk about the NV Energy Marble Bluff easement, whether they were in a current

easement or outside of it.

Ms. Thomas said it is unclear where NV Energy is putting their new equipment, and she had asked NV Energy

to get back to them where it will be located because the Marble Bluff easement is one of the four easements

that are expired and is included in the easement agreement they are negotiating. If the equipment and trench

are within the existing easement, it’s still expired but they wouldn’t have to make any real changes to the

new easement but if it’s outside the existing easement, they will have to amend the easement definition or

description and make sure it covers that equipment and would increase the size of the easement as well.

They are trying to get clarification of where the equipment is going to be located so they make sure they have

all the right authority and agreements in place.

Councilmember Della John asked if they would ensure they were going to pay for it.

Ms. Thomas said she asked if this was the new equipment they are purchasing for this project because with

the new equipment they will be subject to the Tribe’s sales and use tax.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

1. Discussion Truckee Meadows Land Act. Richard Frazier, Tribal Land Manager

Mr. Frazier said there is not much update from the previous month. Mervin Wright and him, did have a

meeting with Senator Rosen’s staff during a zoom call. They did not have any latest updates that affected

anything, they are still getting the language on the bill finalized but they did say they were getting close to

making a press release on the bill moving forward. It does not guarantee it is going to be passed, like Ms.

Thomas said, the bill died in Southern Nevada. This one will be the same since there is so much opposition.

Councilmember Della John asked if they ever said why they were dropping those parcels or if they are adding

them back?

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Mr. Frazier said that was BLM’s move, they initially pulled it and they didn’t explain why they did, there is a

slope requirement between I-80 and North, they can’t do anything with those BLM parcels that are greater

than 30 degrees slope which a lot of parcels fell into, except for the ones around the solar plan up there over

in Dodge Flats but that was BLM’s call and they didn’t explain a lot. That is the reason they had to adjust the

Tribe’s request (describing location on the map: where the orange in the southwest corner of the reservation

and the BLM parcels are right due south of that green.) There are about three BLM parcels that affect what

they are going to discuss.

Councilmember Brady said they need to address this with the Department of Interior and put a timeline on

what BLM is doing. Why haven’t they consulted with the Tribe all this time? They need to push it forward.

Mr. Frazier said he did not think BLM was leading the cause, it is the Trucke Meadows developers that are

leading the cause.

Councilmember Brady said it is a fact that BLM is going along with it because due diligence is on the trust

responsibility.

Councilmember Ely said he does not know how or who to communicate with but thinks the Tribe needs to

take a stronger stance on this, the Tribe asked for this land, and they pulled it out from underneath our

request. Now they put it back on the table and it seems fishy.

Mr. Frazier said they did not put it back on the table, they turned around and had discussions with Dodge

Flat Solar.

Councilmember Ely said they need to tell the Tribe’s story to somebody, and rattle someone's cage.

Mr. Frazier said that there would be the January 4" meeting with Washoe County.

Councilmember Brady said they need to not only contact Washoe County but also the Department of Interior.

Mr. Frazier said the Tribe has gotten nowhere since 2016 on the lands bill, but it never went anywhere, the

bill never passed, it died twice.

Councilmember Brady said this is where ITCN should be involved with all the other tribes, especially with

Moapa being turned down, there could have been something coming out of that. ITCN is supposed to be the

political voice.

Mr. Frazier said the meeting on January 4 is with Washoe County Planning and Building Division and he is

not sure how they are back in the picture; it is because of the bill and parcels for development. He thought

this was forwarded to Council because it is what he received.

Councilmember Ely said he knows it is important to be there because we are in opposition, but the Tribe also

needs to go higher, not sure who that is but someone higher who will listen.

Mr. Frazier said the January 4* meeting is only the partial surrounding solar plan, it is not the whole request.

Councilmember Ely asked if they need to request through the Department of Interior or the BLM a

government-to-government consultation.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said he will go ahead and update Council on something that was on his report.

He received an email from Senator Rosen’s office for a quote because they wanted to put out a press release.

He talked to Emily Landy Rose, a staffer in the Senator’s office and he told her she did not want a quote from

the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe because the Tribe is not happy. He explained all of these reasons why the

Tribe is not happy and she said it’s through committee, but she did mention that what the Tribe is asking for

on the map is over what they are requesting the limit to because they are trying to limit it to 10,000 acres

and the Tribe’s request is over that. They admitted that and just like the rest of the federal government, they

are trying to treat all the tribes the same. He said they cannot treat the tribes the same because Pyramid Lake

is one of the few who have a big chunk of our ancestral land. He said ask the Cherokees in Oklahoma how

they feel about their ancestral lands because they are not in it. They cannot treat the tribes the same. He

recommended itas an idea, take it to their committee, if it is contiguous to the reservation, it should be 15,000

acres, and she asked him, well where did he produce that number? Can you give her an example? And he said,

well, where did you come up with 10,000? Throw an arbitrary number out, I am going to throw an arbitrary

number back. But she did say, the parcels that the Tribe is talking about are not 100% off the table, if they do

come back up, the Tribe would have to readjust (our orange) on the map and go to those parcels if it gets to

that point.

Mr. Frazier said that will come after they have submitted their request to, he is not sure what the process is,

he doesn’t want to say Senator Whoever, they have to go through it just like Truckee Meadows is doing, then

the Tribe gets the chance if it comes back to them for comments, then that is when the Tribe will be able to

readjust or resubmit. But the Tribe cannot do that until that happens because we are already cut off from

them because we have our 10,000 limits.

Councilmember Brady asked how is that fair?

Mr. Frazier said the Tribe’s first submitted for 36,000 acres and they cut it down to 10,000. Again, that

arbitrary 10,000 number they gave him is what they gave the Tribe. It was based off what the Navy gave

Fallon and Walker River, their limit was 10,000 acres, so they said Well tribal requests should be 10,000

acres. He is not sure why they related it to that but that is where it is today. He has not heard anything recent

from their staff and he is not sure how soon they will say they are going to release it to the public.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said he did not give them a quote.

Councilmember Brady said they do need to come up with a quote because silence is condoning, and people

need to know that the Tribe is in total disagreement.

Councilmember Della John said to give them a little history and it was taken off the table without any

notification or consultation with the Tribe.

Mr. Frazier said they did notify the Tribe about taking it off the table, but they are back in discussion with

Dodge Flat. His comment to Senator Rosen’s staff was that the Tribe had submitted those initially and were

asked to remove them from our request, yet BLM turns around and is in discussion with Dodge Flat Solar, for

the same exact parcels.

Councilmember Brady said with what was said there was a failure with the government-to-government

consultation.

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Councilmember Della John said it is a collective way of dealing with the Tribe. She does not know why they

do that but that is what the government does, and it is not appropriate because we are supposed to have that

consultation because everyone’s needs are different. And the Tribe had plans for that area, the Tribe has

always had a plan ever since 2019.

Councilmember Brady said she would like to see everything that has been said and what Councilmember

Della John said put together and that be the statement and send it to Senator Rosen’s office and if they do not

publish it then the Tribe does a press release.

Councilmember Ely asked who they directed to do this.

Mr. Frazier said it would be the Chairperson. He does not believe the Chairman sent in his comments from

back in June but there was a letter sent in.

Councilmember Brady remembered the Chairman saying he was not tracking it.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said he will review everything and work on it and he did not need a directive.

Mr. Frazier said they did not give them any information on the wilderness areas north of the reservation.

This is separate from the lands bill, but it is the same game but two separate items.

There was Tribal Council consensus for Vice Chairman Wadsworth to draft a letter to Senator Rosen’s office

stating the Tribe’s opposition.

2. Request for Approval Land & Resource Committee to Post 30 days:

a. Tribal Land Assignment Application

Mr. Frazier said the copy of the Council has now included the edits from the last meeting.

Councilmember Brady said her comments start on page 8 where the signatures for the various departments

are and it just says signature and her question is should not that have the name and title of the departments?

Mr. Frazier said, as they discussed the last time, he is not sure if it needs to go only to the department head

or if they have a committee, does it need to go there?

Councilmember Ely said it should go to the department head.

Councilmember Genevieve John said her comment is on the application, she thinks it is too confusing, there

should be one for a home site and one for a business. There should only be three applications, one for a home

site, commercial assignment and agriculture.

Mr. Frazier said there is a place for you to list what type of application it is for.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they are asking for a posting and Council has heard some comments.

Councilmember Ely said if they are going to do it like they did with the donation policy and clean it up before

they post it, he thinks they can go through the draft and get the comments to Richard and clean it up.

Mr. Frazier said he thinks they should both go together.

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December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Jolyn Sander, in the audience, said the application does not have to be posted, just the ordinance. The

application does not have to be posted it just has to be approved by Council.

Councilmember Brady said on page 2 number 5, she thinks it needs to be extended because it says, “I agree

that any of the land different than what is stated in this application shall be approved by the Tribal Council

in advance,” and she thinks there should be a statement saying something to the effect that not receiving

advance approval could jeopardize of the land assignment or cause an immediate revocation of said land

assignment, so they know there are consequences.

Councilmember Ely said misuse of this land may result in?

Councilmember Brady said she is talking specifically about advance because this makes a statement that it

shall be approved by the Tribal Council in advance. And that there should be a statement that adds on to that

that says, “not receiving advance approval from the Tribal Council could cause immediate revocation” or “the

said land assignment may be jeopardized.”

Councilmember Davis said if you do not get advance approval, you are violating section 5 anyway.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said it’s already in a couple paragraphs down, agreements and understanding, “if

I fail to carry out the agreements or condition and land use plan contained in the application or with the

approval of said assignment, that the assignment shall be subject to revocation by the Pyramid Lake Paiute

Tribal Council.”

Councilmember Davis said on page 2, under successor number one in the middle where it says ineligible to

receive and assignment, it says,” thereon, and” replace and with “or.” And on the old application at the very

end where it says the foregoing designations made by me can be changed at any time. She would like to see

“by me” inserted back into that line because that is what it said in the old application.

Councilmember Della John asked when they revoke an assignment, how do they deal with the improvements

that person made? Normally, you take something away that has improvements, you must compensate that

person.

Mr. Frazier said that question came up awhile back, but they still do not know. From his memory there have

not been any assignments that have been taken back.

Councilmember Ely said that according to the ordinance if the assignment is revoked everything goes with

the land.

Councilmember Brady said she can see the point where they changed it because of the “by me” twice,

however, if you just do the forgoing destinations “may” be changed at any time by me with written

notification of such change forwarded to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe?

Councilmember Dunn asked for that ending, would you put the Land and Resource Committee on that just

so it matches up with the rest of the document?

Councilmember Della John said it’s a person’s natural right to own property. Our Tribe doesn’t recognize that

legally but a long time ago when they were leveling land and someone was living there and says he wants

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

that place or I will trade you something and then some might have paid for that improvement then they get

kicked off with no compensation. That does not seem right. That is why she is worried about the

improvements a person is making to make it more valuable. They will hand it down to their kids. She does

not think you can take away their place and not compensate them, it seems civil to her and not right, just her

opinion.

Mr. Richard said the Council is the only one who can take it away and not the committee and they would

provide comments on the revocation which the committee would consider.

Ms. Sander responded to Councilmember Della Johns comment that only the Council would have the power

to take back land, not the committee because one the Council approves a resolution, it falls back to Council,

not unless the Council directs it back to the Land and Resource Committee for a hearing or something like

that. And the only time you would take someone’s land back is if they were in violation. She has been on the

committee for quite a while, and they have never taken anybody’s assignment away from them.

Councilmember Dunn asked who they notify for any changes.

Ms. Sander said if the land assignment holder wants to make changes or change a successor, they would

provide a notarized letter which would go directly into their file. If they are changing their assignment from

what it was approved for, say from an agriculture assignment to a business or commercial assignment, that

would have to go to Council because it would require a resolution.

Mr. Frazier said they would also have to go back to their land use plan because most are not designated

business sites, most are residential and there are no more agricultural sites available because of the water

situation.

Councilmember Brady wanted to go back to page 2, number 5. Her point was she saw where there was a

need to streamline what was being said. She suggests striking the first “by me,” then put it where

Councilmember Davis said, you just take out the double one, so the “forgoing designations may, can be

changed at any time by me with written notification.”

Councilmember Davis agreed, it makes more sense.

Councilmember Davis asked about page 6, the land use plan. If somebody does not have anything and they

want to get a field, but they also want a home, is that two applications? One to build their home and one for

their field? If itis in a virgin area?

Mr. Richard said if you are going to get an agricultural assignment, naturally you are going to put a home on

it at some point.

Councilmember Della John said it only turns into two applications when you get HUD to build your home,

HUD will take that quarter acre, and it goes to them for 50 years and then you must reapply for your house

that you paid off inside your own assignment.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said his understanding is they no longer do scattered sites for homes. If they were

going to put a home there, they might have to file for a loan which would have nothing to do with HUD.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Councilmember John said it would have to do with the loan, encumbrance of the land because they cannot

pay for the home, they will have to finance it. If an individual wants to put his own home in his own place,

then they should make it easy for them to do.

Mr. Frazier said that kind of situation would come back through the residential lease that Ms. Thomas and

Mr. John are working on.

Councilmember Della John said it creates the same thing that the Housing Department does.

Councilmember Ely asked is that a misuse of land when they put in for agricultural and they want to put a

home on it for residential. He knows it is understood that they might put a home on the assignment, but it is

not defined.

Mr. Frazier said a lot of the questions would be clarified when they bring the application to the committee. It

is not like they will bring it to Council without those questions being asked by the committee.

Ms. Sander said that would be a part of their plan if they want to put a home on their assignment. And the

Council needs to remember there are no sites running along the river unless it is the Dead Ox area but then

they would have to put in a well and that would come before Council for wells. Look at how much land has

been given above the store going towards Sutcliffe with Council approving 50-100 acres and they all say they

are going to put in wells. How does that affect community water? What type of water table is there?

Councilmember Della John said there are all kinds of water rights on Dodge Flats, but it is agricultural water.

Mr. Frazier said that is something he mentioned before when most of the available land is already gone.

Everybody here probably has an assignment that did not have to go through this, and they are making it hard

for the few remaining percentage of people that are trying to do something.

Councilmember Ely commented on the old assignments, back 100 years ago did not have to do this but now

the Tribe is limited to land.

Mr. Frazier said the main factor in all this is the availability of water; if you cannot get water then you have

an empty lot sitting out there.

Councilmember Ely motioned to table the Tribal Land Assignment application for changes and to bring it back

to Tribal Council at the January 5, 2024, Regular Outgoing meeting. Councilmember Della John seconded the

motion.

Mr. Frazier thinks the application and ordinance should go hand in hand.

Votes were five (5) for and two (2) opposed (Dunn, Genevieve John) with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED

b. Tribal Land Assignment Ordinance

Councilmember Ely asked Mr. Frazier if he thinks these should go hand in hand and why does one need to be

posted for 30 days? And the other one does not need to be posted.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Mr. Frazier asked if it was the comment at the last meeting that they both needed to be posted?

Councilmember Davis said her thought is they need to post both because they are now asking for extra steps

for the membership and departments. It is not the same application they have had for many years.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth asked Councilmember Ely if he wanted to rescind his vote regarding the

application since it has already been voted on, to post for 30 days.

Councilmember Ely asked if that is the consensus.

Councilmember Davis said she has a lot of questions about the ordinance.

Councilmember Ely agreed with Councilmember Davis’s comment for them to go through both the

application and ordinance and then they can decide whether to post.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they can provide comments to Mr. Frazier because it is a lengthy ordinance

and because there were some Councilmembers who did not have the full ordinance, he would like to

recommend they table.

Councilmember Davis motioned to table the Tribal Land Assignment Ordinance. Councilmember Della John

seconded the motion.

Ms. Sander said tabling is fine, but she would like Council to provide their comments in writing because they

do have a meeting coming up and they can look at those comments and start implementing because it still

has to go to legal review and it’s going to take a while and there is the three-month moratorium in place.

Councilmember Ely asked if livestock is considered agriculture? If it is, it is not included in the ordinance.

Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

3. Request for Approval Law & Order Committee Part 5 Adoptions with Resolution. Paula Wright, Law

& Order Committee Secretary

Ms. Wright said she presented to the Council Part 5, Adoptions for the Law-and-Order Code. This will be

Chapter 6 in the Juvenile Justice Chapter and is the conclusion of that chapter. She went through the

document and made the recommended changes from the last meeting to clarify and to specify some of the

gray areas that were indicated that needed to be changed.

Councilmember Dunn requested to have Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe spelled out instead of listing as “Tribe”

and on procedure item I. That there are no known signs that the child is currently experiencing victimization

from human trafficking, exploitation, or abuse. He was confused on how that fits in with this chapter, why do

they need to know about the abuse or victimization of that person to be adopted?

Ms. Wright said it says there are no known signs that the child is currently experiencing victimization, so

they are looking at a child who has not been a victim.

Councilmember Dunn asked if those kids are the only ones being allowed to be adopted?

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Ms. Wright said this only says they are looking at the big picture for the child, and they do not want to have

a child that has been victimized by the quote/unquote adoptive family. They want the child to be placed in a

safe home.

Councilmember Dunn said it not be about the person or persons adopting and not about the child?

Ms. Wright said the para-I that he is referring to would be a part of the investigations that the judge would

order the petitioners to follow. Currently the civil court has ordered the Human Services Department to do

the home studies. They have four home studies that have been ordered from the civil court and they have

two home studies that are currently going through their department for adoptions.

Councilmember Ely asked if it is included as another safety net for the judge to review as another tool for the

court to exercise to make sure things are safe. He does not see any harm to it being in there but wonders why

it is in there.

Ms. Wright said that para-l. is for precautions.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said this is talking if the child is already in the home of the petitioners filing and

sees it as a precaution since this is the procedure that is now going to be laid out.

Councilmember Brady said when this was presented to them before it was red lined and one of her concerns

was, she wanted to see Wes Williams, Legal Counsel, comments. Regarding what Councilmember Dunn was

asking, maybe para-H. needs to have para-!. underneath it, so you know you are talking about petitioners and

not something separate. She also had a question on para-E, that the petitioners are fit and proper people,

which seems subjective because everybody runs their household differently, and she sees why there is a

question on the criteria. Who is making that judgment?

Ms. Wright said background investigations, everybody that processes an application or petition goes through

background investigation, and should have no criminal history of abuse, especially child abuse.

Councilmember Brady said it still seems subjective, and it goes back to what Mr. Williams’ comments were.

Councilmember Ely said he is looking at his flash drive where it says Wes Williams review and it does not

have any comments, but it looks like he did review it.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said based on Councilmember Brady’s comments they can invite Mr. Williams to

discuss this with them.

Ms. Sander asked where they got the ordinance or did, they write it?

Ms. Wright said it came from the old Law and Order Code, they forwarded it to Mr. Williams for review and

he incorporated much of this.

Ms. Sander said all the instructions, the fit and proper, she does not recall that being in the old code. Is that

something the Law-and-Order Committee implemented?

Ms. Wright said it was a comment that Mr. Williams implement it.

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December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said this item is already tabled and will remain in unfinished business until it

comes back with Mr. Williams present at the January 5, 2024, Outgoing meeting.

Ms. Sander said when she was working on the Law-and-Order Committee in the past and they were working

on major ordinances like this they would have working group meetings and have the court involved and any

other departments that are involved with children so they could get everyone’s input. The BIA would be

involved also, and Mr. Williams would be at the meetings.

Ms Wright mentioned they do have a new ordinance coming up and they will have a working group on that

one.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Request for Approval Pilot NV Quality Improvement Tribal Model with approval for Chairman to

sign QTIM Agreement for Childcare Centers. Sherry Ely-Mendes, Program Office, and Rhonda

Laughlin, QITM

Ms. Mendes said they are working with the Children’s Cabinet on several different levels for quality

improvement at the Day Care Centers and the program Ms. Laughlin is going to present is one of the

programs the Day Care Centers would like to work with, and it includes free training for the workers,

observation and working to upgrade their education working with kids.

Ms. Laughlin said this triangle model is called the early education for all Native American children. Their

mission is to have respectful and competent partnerships to fully implement tribal model work for

improvements in early childhood education systems or quality coaching, continuous quality improvement,

financial support, community engagement and advocacy for early childhood communities to benefit

families and young children in America. This program was developed by focus groups who were invited to

participate in the development of the QITM model which included tribal leaders, childcare programs, and

community members. In Nevada, tribal quality improvement programs will continuously identify and work

to improve their programs by supporting the workforce, ensuring each has access to developmentally

appropriate curriculum, and honoring and incorporating Tribal culture. When they created this model, they

contacted 38 states about their tribal engagement in quality improvement systems. Early on there were

few states that engaged in their tribal early education programs, but it has begun to change since they

started this model.

Councilmember Genevieve John motioned to approve the Chairman to sign the QTIM Agreement for Childcare

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

zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

2. Request for Approval Law & Order Committee Request to Post 30 days. Paula Wright, Law & Order

Committee Secretary

Councilmember Dunn stepped out of chambers at 8:44 p.m.

a. Chapter 15 Liquor Ordinance

Dp

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Ms. Wright stated Chapter 15 Liquor Ordinance is already in the Law & Order Code, but it has not been

approved by the Tribal Council. There are gray areas that need to be clarified, for example who is the Liquor

Commission? It is not stated in the ordinance. They are requesting posting for 30 days for public comment.

Councilmember Genevieve John asked what the changes are in the ordinance and is this ordinance new and

never been approved? Ms. Wright stated there are no changes, the suggestions would be after the comment

period. This ordinance has been in the code since 2013.

Councilmember Davis said this ordinance is in the code and they have been using it? Has the judge cited these

codes? Ms. Wright said no, but it came to their attention when it was asked by the Tribal Secretary's office a

couple of months ago.

Councilmember Ely motioned to approve the posting of the Liquor Ordinance for 30 Days. Councilmember

Genevieve John seconded the motion. Votes were five (5) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention

(Della John). MOTION PASSED.

b. Chapter 3 Civil, Part 4 Evictions

Councilmember Dunn returned to the chambers at 8:47 p.m.

Ms. Wright said the Civil Court Judge has been following the Reno Sparks Indian Colony’s Eviction Ordinance.

This is drafted as a new ordinance, but they plan to have a working group because they will need involvement

from the Pyramid Lake Housing Authority, homeowners, landowners, and the Realty Department because

they all are involved when evicting individuals from their homes or property. This would also include people

setting up a permanent campground at the lake, and how they deal with that situation.

Councilmember Davis said she would like to see the working groups start before they put it out to post

because she can see where it might get confusing.

Councilmember Davis motioned to table Chapter 3 Civil, Part 4 Evictions. Councilmember Brady seconded the

motion.

Councilmember Ely asked who is going to put the effort into developing the working group. Ms. Wright said

the Law & Orde Committee will coordinate this group.

Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

c. Chapter 10 Exclusions

Ms. Wright said back in 2021, Councilmember Guerrero came to their meeting and brought a document that

he did a copy and paste. He added the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe heading on it, but the number sequence did

not line up according to their code sequence. It also puts the Tribal Council in a position where they are the

judge and jury, which she is not sure how the Council feels about excluding people. She thinks it would be

more appropriate if it were adjudicated through the Tribal Court.

Councilmember Davis said it is in the Constitution and By-laws that the Tribal Council give the authority and

the Constitution supersedes any ordinance. Ms. Wright said the Exclusion Ordinance that is in the books

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December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

currently is only one page so there is room for changes. Back to Councilmember Guerrero’s document he

provided to the committee back in 2021, they will take into consideration the document and will have a

working group because this is something the committee needs everyone to work on and not just the

committee.

Councilmember Guerrero said the document had all the requirements included in it and he feels the

committee overlooked it when they gave the committee a directive to look at the ordinance and they

bypassed it and wanted to write their own Exclusion Ordinance.

Ms. Wright said when they received the document from Councilmember Guerrero it was plagiarized, and

they could not adopt something that was given to them and approve it. This is a serious matter, how are they

going to deal with non-Indians and even their Tribal members who are habitually committing crimes to

injure people. There are many factors to consider and that is why they need to have it posted for 30 days.

Councilmember Della John said an individual must have an actual conviction; number one says violation. The

violation must be a conviction. Ms. Wright said that is what has been on the books since 2013 and has never

been approved.

Councilmember Della John said she did not think they had the authority to exclude tribal members. Vice

Chairman Wadsworth said it has been done in the past.

Ms. Wright said there is a tool that Law Enforcement uses which is a trespassing violation. They have had to

use it at the lake during the summer season with individuals that were harassing or being a public nuisance.

They would give them 30 minutes to get off the reservation, usually for non-Indians and if they do not comply,

they would get a citation.

Councilmember Davis said it states on the permits that they can be voided at any time.

There was a comment from the audience about a conflict of interest because Ms. Wright worked in the Social

Services Department. Ms. Wright said they can avoid that by having someone else present to the Council.

Benjamin John, Business Officer, said he wanted to verify and confirm there was a Liquor Ordinance that was

approved with PL Resolution No.: PL 044-92.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve Chapter 10 Exclusions for 30-day posting. Councilmember Ely

seconded the motion. Votes were three (3) for and four (4) opposed (Davis, Della John, Brady, Guerrero)

with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION FAILED.

Confirmed there was no approval for a 30-day posting for the Exclusion Ordinance.

3. Request for Approval Earthworks Consideration of Letter Opposing Senator Mastro’s Mining

Regulatory Clarity Act. Ian Bigley, Earthworks Southwest Region Organizer

Mr. Bigley said he grew up in Reno and has lived in the Great Basin and depends on clean water and land to

continue to be healthy. This bill would remove the claim validation process for occupancy rights. A mining

company on public land would not have to prove that minerals exist to get full occupancy rights, be able to

exclude other land uses and build permanent facilities. If this is removed from the bill it will have significant

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repercussions. If there is no requirement to prove there are minerals or anything to have those occupancy

rights. It is logical then that a mining company could claim land without having to prove anything, exclude

other uses, until that company gets something convinces them to relinquish the land. It opens the door fora

lot of what could be characterized as foul play to be legal. On the context of this legislation coming from

Senator Masto, it can be understood as being in direct response to what is happening with Thacker Pass. With

the federal court case, the issue had to do with claim validation. And although it may not seem like it, the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lost that federal lawsuit. The judge ruled that BLM violated the law;

however, she broke from judicial precedent and did not vacate the permit for that mine. This law would have

made it so that BLM would not have broken the law to begin with. There has been a solicitor’s opinion about

the Department of Interior (DOI) saying that without having this occupancy rights from validated claims,

there are alternative routes, mining companies can look for special use permits and other ways to cite these

permanent facilities under existing law, they do not need to have this massive change. The current statis of

this legislation was introduced earlier this year and had its first hearing on December 12". It is yet to be

scheduled for a markup and a vote in the Senate. Senator Masto did say on federal record in the hearing that

this legislation would have no impacts to Indigenous rights, and she would not support it if it did. She stated

that in a federal hearing this past week.

Councilmember Della John said a lot of the owners of these mines are from different countries, they have

seen it with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) laws already in Nevada to promote mining because

that is money for the State. It will impact reservations, and they need to think about mitigation because it

will affect the water, the air, and roads.

Councilmember Ely asked Mr. Bigley how big was his organization, who is involved, is he an attorney or an

environmentalist?

Mr. Bigley said he is not an attorney; he is an advocate for the land and Earthworks is a mid-sized national

nonprofit. They work on both mining issues as well as oil and gas extractions issues and have centers both

in the country and international. He is not here to ask for a signed letter but for education to share about this

piece of legislation and a template letter is for the Tribe to decide if they would like to use or act on. The letter

could be edited, or the Tribe can write their own. At the Tribe’s discretion, Earthworks on the Tribe’s behalf

can submit the letter into the federal record so other senators, if this bill goes to markup, will also see the

letter.

Councilmember Genevieve John motioned to approve drafting a letter with the Tribe’s opposition.

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

abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

4. Request for Approval of Renewal of BIA 638 Contracts for Water Resources and Minerals & Mining

Program with Resolution. Trisha Conner, Contracts & Grants Administrator

Ms. Conner said at the last meeting she came before the Council to ask to renew seven programs for the Tribe

BIA 638 contracts and she left off a couple of programs: The Water Resources and Minerals and Mining

Program. She is introducing the scope of work and a resolution for the Council’s approval for BIA to renew

these two contracts.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the Renewal of BIA 638 Contracts for Water Resources and

Minerals & Mining Program with Resolution. Councilmember Ely seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for

and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Brady). MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 128-23

2024 BIA 638 CONTRACT RENEWALS (2)

5. Request for Approval of Roads Department Equipment Purchase. Sherry Ely-Mendes, Programs

Office

Vice Chairman Wadsworth stepped out of Chamber s at 9:19 p.m. Councilmember Davis took over facilitating

the meeting as the senior Councilmember.

Ms. Mendes said the Roads Department is looking to purchase a new piece of equipment, a Broce Broom

Sweeper for $72,705.

Councilmember Genevieve John motioned to approve the Roads Department Equipment Purchase.

Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0

abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

Councilmember Dunn said he noticed the Roads personnel were purchasing gas out of their own pocket. Ms.

Sherry said they should not because they have a GSA card for gas, she will follow up.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth returned at 9:21 and resumed control of the meeting.

6. Request for Approval Contract Big Picture Development Museum Outdoor Awning. Sherry Ely-

Mendes, Programs Office

Ms. Ely-Mendes said this was an item that was on their check list for capital improvements. It is an awning

like the one built for the Quagga Mussell Station but lower to the ground for the Museum. There will also be

a cement pad to bolt the awning down too because the one currently there is beat up. The bid for this one is

$185,750 from Big Picture Development, including an awning and cement pad. She does not have a copy of

the 3-bid packet, she forgot to include it with this request. There were 3 bidders that came out, Erin Crawford

who did not provide a quote, Pack Construction did not have the time for the project. They did not have a

specific budget amount for this project, they just went with the scope of work that she provided. The capital

improvement fund is currently around $900,000.

Councilmember Genevieve John said her contention is the Council has not seen solid financial reports for the

Tribe. They hear about these funds but have not seen anything in the paper.

Ms. Ely-Mendes said that would be a question for the Comptroller, but she was given an amount and told to

do these projects, and she moved forward with it. With the gym it will be upwards of $500,000 to get

everything done but they will be piecemealing it and making sure they do not overspend.

Councilmember Guerrero said regarding the quoted amount they need to do their due diligence, $185,000 is

a lot of money. They need to find contractors who will hire Tribal members, they never hire any Tribal

members for projects on the reservation.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Councilmember Davis said for $185,000 they can put that funding towards the Wadsworth gym they are

acquiring, get it open to the community.

Ms. Ely-Mendes said if it is the Council’s decision not to go with this project that is up to them, but they did

pay Big Picture Development to come and do the survey of the gym already.

Councilmember Ely asked did she advertised with the Reno Gazette Journal (RGJ), and she got no responses,

correct? Ms. Ely-Mendes said she received three responses, they came out and looked at the project and two

were unable to do it, with Big Picture Development providing the only quote.

Councilmember Ely asked Councilmember Guerrero what would be satisfactory with him to do the

procurement process over again. Councilmember Guerrero listed specific items that they should be looking

for.

Councilmember Brady said she agrees with Councilmember Davis to get the Wadsworth gym ready for use.

Councilmember Davis motioned to deny the Contract for Big Picture Development for the Museum Outdoor

Awning. Councilmember Della John seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) fer and one (1) opposed (Ely)

with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

Councilmember Ely asked if they pivot too many times on the use of the capital improvement list will they

run out of time for appropriating or obligating the funds because there is a timeline on it. Councilmember

Guerrero volunteered his expertise to help, he can go into the Wadsworth gym and do a scope of work.

Ms. Ely-Mendes said she just cannot give it to him because he is a Councilmember.

7. Request for Approval Contract John T. Handyman Tribal Court Flooring. Sherry Ely-Mendes,

Programs Office

Ms. Ely-Mendes said John T Handyman provided a more breakdown of what the costs would be, and he is

currently working at the Tribal Court on contracts already approved by Council. The total for his bid was

$41,000 which is for the entire building floor. He has liability insurance and a business license through the

Tribe.

Councilmember Ely asked if he has gone through the Tax Department. Ms. Ely-Mendes said he has all his

information on file with the Tax Department and has a one-million-dollar insurance.

Councilmember Ely motioned to approve $41,000 for the Tribal Court Flooring. There was no second to the

motion. MOTION FAILED

EXECUTIVE TEAM

1. Business Office. Benjamin John. Report Submitted

Mr. John said he did not have a lot of action in November. There were a couple of items he wanted to get the

Council’s opinion on, the first is a lady that wants to have a tour boat/party business on the lake which is fine

on the surface, she gets a business license or boat permit every day but the only thing he is not sure about

which he would like Council’s input on is tracking the boat and possibly going to closed areas on the lake.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

The regulations brochure addresses fishing guides who are not authorized to go into specific places, but it

does not address tour boats.

Councilmember Davis said in their motion and resolution to close those areas, it supersedes and should also

cover anything.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth agreed, when they get a boat permit, it is still closed, it does not matter if itis a

fishing with a guide or a boat permit, it is still closed.

Councilmember Brady said the potential is there, just the word “tour,” they already have problems with

people not following the rules and getting away with it.

It was suggested to him to just tell her no, since there are no regulations, procedures and policies in place

that deal specifically with that type of business. He will get that recommendation done but wanted to run it

through the Council to see what their thoughts were.

Councilmember Della John said a tour business should be run by the Pyramid Lake Tribe and not by an

outsider.

Mr. John said the other issue would be the fee, for fishing guides the fee is $7,500 verse the cost for a business

license, there are discrepancies between the two.

Vice Chairman confirmed the Council's decision is opposed to the idea.

Councilmember Davis said she remembers this application; it went through the Inter-Disciplinary Team, and

they had issues with it.

Mr. John said the second item he wanted to run by the Council was an item he has been researching and he

has found a company that would come onto the Reservation and take their broke down vehicles, but the

Chairman would have to provide a document saying it is on tribal property and they would handle everything

else.

Councilmember Davis asked if this would be open to Tribal members or just Tribal vehicles.

Mr. John said it is open to anyone but he’s looking at the program that is under the Natural Resources

Department is a voluntary program for Tribal members, this would be for those Tribal members who don’t

want to give up their vehicles voluntarily and they become a problem, this program would be able to assist

when the Council would intervene and say we want these vehicles off the reservation. He was just looking at

it for the organization for those vehicles that no longer run but of course, they would have to first set

guidelines for this process. They would not get rid of vehicles that were purchased with grant funds without

first coordinating with that agency. This company would be handing in all the paperwork that is required by

DMV, or they would scrap it. It is a company by Mound House going to Carson City. He can follow up if that is

what the Council would like.

Councilmember Ely said he would be interested in seeing that happen, especially for those vehicles at the

State yard.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Mr. John said he was told there is enough here that the value will be offset with the ones that do not have any

value. They might charge the Tribe maybe $100 per vehicle, which is still less for them to get rid of on their

own. In regards to his report, item #6, in general speaking, when this area was identified and a project

became interested he discussed it with Natural Resources because it is a big deal with projects in the north

end near Sand Pass where it may not be highly visible, the interested party is in a holding pattern due to the

holidays but he will follow up once they contact him for coordination.

Councilmember Ely asked about one of the items in his report where he spoke with P. Varmen, SIP

Development, can he provide more explanation?

Mr. John said it is manufactured walls for homes, where there is wood on both sides with insulation in the

middle. It is about building tiny homes. This is the second proposal he has received on this type of request

and has investigated it; the funding is through the federal government. He gets a lot of calls like this because

the funding is there, and it is a bonus because it is on Tribal land.

Councilmember Della John asked about item #6, how much water is involved? And don’t they already have

solar on Dodge Flat? Can they coexist?

Mr. John said that it is a solar request and he spoke to Ms. Noel about it. She investigated the capacity there,

which was not an issue with them, but they were looking to increase the transmission capacity there but for

them they can do either but would prefer a larger one.

Councilmember Della John said she was thinking about the cattle, but she thinks they can build the solar

higher.

Mr. John said they have already talked with the Cattleman’s Association, and they do not have any issues and

do not want to stand in the way of the project on Dodge Flat. He mentioned they were not asking for

rangeland on Dodge Flat, but it would be an exchange from this land in the north.

Councilmember Della John reminded him that the cattle are out there for three months at a time.

Mr. John said that it would be something they would talk about and he let them know because they just sent

the information to him but it wasn’t what they had talked about and he told them he would have to look into

it to see if people were agreeable and if it is feasible. But this is something that is still moving along and he

wanted to keep the Council updated.

Councilmember Della John asked how solar makes money?

Vice Chairman Wadsworth explained it is the electricity and people buy it. Mr. John said that is the electricity

part of it but why this is beneficial is that the Tribe has a little bit of leverage, the power company legislated

this, and they are required to do this, they do not have a choice. The problem is they do not have anywhere

in northern Nevada to do this, there is not enough open area. So, when they approach the private landowners,

who know the same thing, they want $1,000 an acre and they can use the land. Feasibly they can’t do that

because they have to justify paying the X-amount of dollars and it has to be approved by the Nevada Energy

Commission who says they aren’t going to raise the rates just so they can get a return on their investment,

so they won’t allow a lot of the deals to go through. The reason he went through the Natural Resources

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Department was to see if they had any projects out there, if not then they could go through the vetting

process.

Councilmember Della John said they still must negotiate the AUMs out there, which would impact the rancher

out there.

Mr. John said the last time they spoke to the Cattleman’s about looking into Dodge Flat, they were willing to

exchange that area for an area over by Winnemucca Lake that is not obligated like that. They just must see if

it is feasible or not. If they can coexist that would be even better because everybody benefits. He is not sure

why he called it Green Energy Development because it is solar and wind. He was not really bringing it to the

Council, but he might as well ask. In the ordinance, there are provisions for exploring wind development and

he does know they do not want to consider that due to the migratory birds and species. This provision can

be removed, or it can be left in there, it does not hurt anything to leave it in there, nobody can force you to

use it.

Councilmember Della John asked what is the difference between the Green Energy Leasing Ordinance and

the Leasing Ordinance that was proposed earlier? Mr. John said there are different regulations for solar and

green energy and wind development than business leases. However, as Ms. Thomas pointed out they do

overlap and work in conjunction with one another. They just did not have, at the time they did the first one,

solar because they were never approached with it.

Councilmember Della John asked when they do business leases, and the BIA has resources and attorneys who

review when it involves land, what does the Tribe have in place that does that type of review? Mr. John said

all the Tribe’s regulations and all the ordinances say that they will follow stringent guidelines as required by

the BIA. The benefit to either company with a proposal and the Tribe is that if they go to the BIA, they are

just another company in line who submitted an application to BIA and have to wait, whereas, if they came

straight to the Tribe it would be faster, not less restrictive, just faster.

2. Program Office. Sherry Ely-Mendes. Report Submitted.

Ms. Ely-Mendes said she has taken on three more programs: Social Services, Tribal Court, THPO and

Enrollment to include the programs she already has. These were programs that used to be under the

Executive Officer and were split between her and the Business Office. The programs are hanging in there

doing what they need to do. With the bigger programs that do not deal directly with the community they do

well on their own but the smaller programs that do deal with the community like Social Services and Tribal

Court can be more challenging. She did work on a job description for a planner but with Ms. Conner working

on a grant for an overall plan she would wait until that was put in place then they would have a planner come

on board. Her recommendation is to not hire one until they find out if they get the funding to secure a path,

then they look at hiring a planner because it would be a negotiable position. If they do not get the funding,

they will still need a planner and there will be a job description ready, they will just have to find the funding.

Councilmember Della John said it is an allowable indirect cost.

Mr. John asked the Council when they were on the Economic Development Committee, did they include in

their budget for a planner?

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Councilmember Della John said they did but there was no response to the RFP they put out to the public, it

was extended but nobody applied because there is no office space.

Mr. John asked for that position, does it have to be used by the Economic Development Committee or are the

duties separate? Councilmember Della John said they must be separated because they must do certain

functions according to the plan. That is the reason they asked for the position.

Ms. Ely-Mendes said she found two positions, one for the senior center and the other, a social worker case

worker for the elders. She is revamping the Social Service case worker to make it more open and friendly and

not case management, but service related. She will have to take this position to the Personnel Committee for

approval first. It does not pay much but they can find funding and a place to house them because there is a

stigma when they are at Social Services.

Councilmember Dunn suggested housing them at Numaga, it would be great if they had their own case

worker for the elders because there is a need to follow up with them.

Ms. Ely-Mendes said she would write the position to work with the other programs that would be of

assistance. They did apply for the Grid Resiliency Grant and received it, and they are working on the contract

now. The contract with NV Energy is currently in her office for review to make sure it says what it is supposed

to.

COMPTROLLER. John McCauley (interim)

Mr. McCauley said he was contacted last week to tie up some remaining items for the auditors for the Tribe’s

share and they are following up with the Clinic for a few items there. They are getting ready for the budget

meeting for the following week and will be getting information to the Council. This will include extra funding

the programs are asking for. He stressed these requests do not have to be approved of the first go round.

Having seen where the current levels of expenditures were in 2023, where half was left unspent, Programs

are asking for funding but are not spending so there is room to be amending budgets. For Councilmember

Genevieve John, who asked about a stipend for Christmas and given the unspent funds for 2023, since it has

already been budgeted, if it was to be used, there is a reserve of $4.2 million from unspent budgets in 2023

and it will take it down to $3.2 million.

Councilmember Genevieve John asked where the Clinics funds are invested, is it in a CD or where? Mr.

McCauley said it is in a Bank of America account, which has most of the Clinics funds. It is about $12-13

million. He thinks it is their third-party revenue, and it is in a checking account, but he can check to be sure.

He has not worked with that account, but he knows it is there but has not investigated in depth about it.

Regarding the Christmas funds for the membership, the funds were collected and accounted for. Anything

not spent is going to end up preserved and will amount to $2.8 million of savings of unspent funds. They have

ended the large spending of purchase orders as of that meeting. The departments have had the opportunity

to get these projects going and it is time to seal up everything for the year, only true emergencies considered

at this point. He did reach out to Robert Half, but it was denied. He mentioned the range they have for the

position, but it is right below market, but the issue is mostly the location. Their recruiting efforts that are in

place are not cutting it. To help alleviate it, they have switched their ERP to a cloud-based system and with

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Microsoft 365, they can offer a hybrid system where somebody does not have to come to the office five days

a week, they can work from home. He is trying to mix it up, but it is still the location that is an issue.

Councilmember Dunn asked if that was for a contractor or for regular employees working from home

because there are concerns about working from home that they should be worried about, exposures of

information. Mr. McCauley said the whole concept of working from home is the question of whether the work

is getting done but he understands there can be a hinderance. Councilmember Dunn asked about employees

stepping up and learning a new job function, there are people who have been there a while. Mr. McCauley

said there are positions that you just cannot step up into; they must be trained for it. There are positions that

are difficult, and it would be him teaching accounting one on one to somebody and there will still be a lack of

understanding. They did try it with AP in the summertime but with the issues it caused it was more strain on

him to fix the issues.

Councilmember Ely asked about possibly renting a space in Reno, with ITCN or the Reno Sparks Indian

Colony for a remote location. Mr. McCauley said he did not see the difference between that and remote work.

It is the same breach of information that exists even with people in the office. Councilmember Ely said it is

something to think about.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said with technology, they are already doing it. Information is no longer stored

locally on Tribal servers including Microsoft Office, all the emails are now stored on Microsoft services and

MIP can be accessed with any computer login. And there are other constraints like not having internet yet in

their homes.

VICE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT. Steven Wadsworth, Vice Chairman

Vice Chairman Wadsworth covered some of the highlights of his report. There were notifications for the

attorneys, Water Team, and Superintendent of BIA regarding the Chairman’s status. He has been getting

caught up on the federal cases and Tribal cases for the Realty Department. He has been speaking with Emily

Landy Rose at Senator Rosen’s office about the Lands Bill. He is working with Nancy Shanahan on the

Wadsworth gym conveyance, there were some issues, but they got them ironed out and they have a copy of

the deed, just waiting for the hard copy to be mailed to the Tribe. Ms. Shanahan was a little stressed on that

one because of the signature line, she thought they would have to do the paperwork all over again but did

not have to. There are some things he wants to bring to the Council’s attention, things that the Chairman

missed due to bad timing. One of those was the DC Tribal Nations Summit, they were not involved with it

because that was the week he was on suspension. There are training conferences, the Tribal Land Staff

Conference April 2" through the 4* in Las Vegas and there is also the Tribal Summit with Governor

Lombardo which is January 30t at UNR. Everything else is just trying to get caught up with the day-to-day

activities. There were things that have not dealt with in a timely manner, specifically EANs. There are issues

with the wage scale going back to Chairwoman Davis’s term and they have been trying to correct those.

Unfortunately, due to the policy you cannot bring them down to pay grade, you must go to the next one up

and there are four of those they have discovered which three of them have already dealt with.

a. Request for Approval of Tribal Council Online Meeting Policy and Procedures

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

December 15, 2023, Special Council Meeting

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said this policy was not a directive but a discussion because of what occurred

with Councilmember Guerrero attending a personal conference and still wanting to zoom into the meeting.

He believes Council should be present as much as they can, and he included employees who opt not to be

present, but they should be when they are presenting items instead of being on zoom and presenting from

home.

Councilmember Davis liked the format, but she would like to see the Tribal Council separated from the

departments and employees because it would have to be put before the Personnel Committee and go through

their process where the Council would just be through them.

Ms. Ely-Mendes clarified that when they started doing zoom it was for COVID, it was a procedure based on

the pandemic and when COVID went away the rules were lifted, and this should have been lifted also and

everyone should be present for meetings.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they have now developed this procedure, and it is here to stay but they need

to put some controls on it.

Councilmember Brady she has attended zoom meetings for committees and boards she was a part of and

there must be rules; we have seen the NUMU Chairwoman driving while conducting the meeting and has

even seen other people walking around when the committee member is on the couch; which is

unprofessional. There must be rules written down.

Councilmember Ely said it should only be for Councilmembers suffering from COVID or on official Tribal

travel.

Leona Collins, a Tribal member in the audience, said if you are running for Council, your commitment is here,

and you should have the understanding that you need to be at the meetings in chambers.

Councilmember Brady said it is important that the membership knows who is attending the meetings

because they are part time except for the Chairman. At the same time, you are supposed to have made a

commitment and try to make the meetings including workshops because it is cumbersome trying to catch up

Councilmembers who were not there, then they are asking redundant questions that were asked at the

workshop or meeting.

Councilmember Davis recommended that it be specifically for Tribal business as a Councilmember, for

example when there were Councilmembers that attended the NCAI conference, they zoomed in because the

meeting needed a quorum.

Councilmember Ely asked about being a Council representative on the board and having to attend a

conference in another state. Vice Chairman said he is attending as the elected official.

Councilmember Davis motioned to table the Tribal Council Online Meeting Policy and Procedures until

December 20, 2023, Budget meeting. Councilmember Genevieve John seconded the motion. Votes were seven

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

EXECUTIVE SESSION

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