# Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2025)

> Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more.

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/tribal%3Apyramid_lake%3A4d80c9035e290638

## Record

- **Collection:** Tribal code
- **Document type:** Tribal code

## Text

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 19, 2025, Special

Members Present:

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman Edward Ely III, Vice Chairman

Nicholas Cortez, Councilmember John Guerrero, Councilmember

Judith Davis, Councilmember Della John, Councilmember

Loren Decker, Councilmember Ceira Sampson, Councilmember

Nathan Dunn, Councilmember Georgina Wadsworth, Councilmember
CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Wadsworth called the December 19, 2025, Special Tribal Council meeting of the Pyramid Lake
Paiute Tribal Council to order at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary, took roll call. All Councilmembers were present at roll call, anda
quorum was established for this meeting.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Chairman Wadsworth presented the agenda with the following changes: add to New Business #8. Request
for approval Personnel Revision Section 10-6D(1). Annual Leave Compensation for Law Enforcement
Program, add #9. Request for approval Pyramid Lake Fisheries Request for Permit Revenue and the addition
of an Executive Session after the Chairman’s Report.

Councilmember Cortez asked to add to New Business #10. Request to Rescind Resolution No.: 103-24
Governing Body Interview List.

Councilmember John requested to remove from Unfinished Business #2. Approval of Economic Development
Committee Budget. This item will be removed from the agenda but will stay tabled.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the December 19, 2025, Special meeting agenda with corrections.
Councilmember Sampson seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)
abstentions. MOTION PASSED

PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment.
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council
December 19, 2025, Special minutes

CONSENT AGENDA
The following items were listed under the Consent Agenda:

1. Approval Consolidated Higher Education Program Scholarship.

a. Enrichment Scholarships: Crystal Reynolds, Robert Hicks Jr., Gaylene Williams, Sierra Gotcher,
Shelby Smith, and Jaileen Yarrow
b. CHE Scholarships: Morty Manning, Devyn Williams, Kayla Williams, Nakai Brown, Corrina
Vidaurri, Antone Manning, Jazmine Davis, and Sharman Henry
2. Approval of Kemp Jones LLP November 2025 Invoice
3. Approval of Speech Path Building Request
4. Approval of Quarles & Brady LLP November Invoices:
a. November Invoice #6952136 b. November Invoice #6952137

Councilmember Wadsworth requested to pull #3 for discussion.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve items #1, #2and #4 on the consent agenda. Councilmember Davis
seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION
PASSED

ITEM #3. Approval Speech Path Building Request
Councilmember Wadsworth pulled because she was unsure that this request was for.

Karen Shaw stated the request is providing a certified speech path for the communities, for Natchez
Elementary School, it’s reinforcement for the students for one Saturday a month. They’re currently serving
nine students. The reason they are not using Natchez school is because it’s on a Saturday and the school
would have to provide access for maintenance and security.

Councilmember Wadsworth motioned to approve items #3. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion.
Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Councilmember Davis approved but should a funeral service occur, and they ask for the building they have
priority and will take precedence.

PRESENTATION
1. Quarles & Brady LLC Update. Jason Croxton, Quarles and Brady LLC

Mr. Croxton stated Ms. Thomas is recovering from a medical condition and is not available to present. With
the federal government back up and operating, there was significant impact on federal funding and the ability
of the federal government to administer the needs of the tribes. Now that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

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is back open there is currently a temporary budget in place and they are tracking a full fiscal budget for 2026
and hopeful there will be funding opportunities for tribes as part of the fiscal budget.

They've were asked to meet with legal counsel representing Obsidian Cannabis. He reviewed their
presentation and the materials they provided to the Council. He’s reached out to the group but hasn’t
received a response back. They will take a close look at the risks and issues associated with cannabis,
enterprise or operation on a reservation to provide a complete review on behalf of the Council. Since the last
meeting with the Council, NV Energy Easement agreement has been fully executive and submitted to the BIA.
The next step is for BIA to complete the environmental review process and then NV Energy will make a
payment to the Tribe this year in the amount of $800,000. Next is the fiber optic line easement which is under
construction by the State of Nevada, Office of Science, Innovation and Technology (OSIT.) They will be
passing through the freeway corridor. Part of that easement would include an interconnect for the Tribe that
would come from the main easement onto Tribal land and allow the Tribe to connect to that important
infrastructure. He’s working with Benjamin John to prepare a revised easement which he recirculated back
to Nevada OSIT and they will continue to work through negotiations. They also reviewed agreements related
to the Human Resources Department and one related to the Wells Fargo account. NextEra is seeking Council
direction on a new easement agreement and certain amendments to the community benefits agreement for
their battery project called Dodge Flat II.

As Pilar Thomas has informed the Council she is retiring at the end of this year and he will be taking over
with providing the reports.

Councilmember Dunn asked for more information regarding the Wells Fargo agreement. Mr. Croxton said he
didn’t review it but there were services associated with that account and there was a need for an agreement
to be put in place that had not been finalized. There were issues with a broad waiver of sovereign immunity
and disclaimers of liability. This is ongoing but he will provide a detailed update.

In response to Obsidian’s no response, Marisa Mauwee, representing Obsidian, apologized for the lack of
response, said they had issues with their emails plus she was unsure if she was allowed to respond because
she was under the impression it was only the legals speaking to each other plus it being the holidays,
everyone is taking time off. Chairman Wadsworth responded yes, only the legal counsels, because she wanted
to speak on behalf of legal.

Councilmember John asked if the phase II project was all batteries or does it include solar. Mr. Croxton said
this is for their battery project, this is storage, they would store power and then turn around and sell it on
the market when there is a demand for it. Mr. Croxton said he will take a closer look at it but in certain cases
if there has been a parcel of land that’s been developed for a solar farm and then a new battery project is
built on the same land, there may not be a need for further environmental clearances but he will look over
the documents and provide an update. Councilmember John said they were told it was private land, and they
didn’t have to do a NEPA. Her concern is protection for the Tribe if something environmentally occurs.

Councilmember Dunn had a question regarding one of the invoices for $2,923. Asked if it was for the increase
that was supposed to take effect after January 1, 2026. Wondering if this would be added to the monthly

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invoice. Chairman Wadsworth said it’s not for the terms of the contract; this is for litigation which is an extra
fee.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

1. Request for Approval for Chairman to Sign the Opioid Participation Form and Conflict Waiver. Wes
Williams, Legal

Mr. Williams explained this is another negotiated settlement in the Opioid litigation. This one is with Purdue
Pharma which was one of the primary manufacturers of opioids. They are the ones that pushed the scheme
to get people hooked and get doctors on board. This has taken longer than the other settlements because the
owners of this company, the Sacklers family, tried to take out all the money from the company before this
litigation hit. They then tried to file for bankruptcy for their company, and this has been in the courts, even
to the Supreme Court for a few issues but it’s now back in the District Court and a settlement has been worked
out. $175 million will go to the tribes and a separate agreement will go through the States, counties, hospitals
and other plaintiffs. They are recommending the Tribe approve this settlement. There is the participation
form and the Conflict Waiver form that the Chairman has to sign.

Councilmember John asked if it came with specific uses. Mr. Williams said it’s basically the same as other
settlements, the terms for what it could be used for, they negotiated for pretty broad language, but the main
point was that it be used for healthcare issues, cultural issues, treatment and anything related to that.

Dawna Brown, Pyramid Lake Tribal Health Clinic director said this is the first they have heard of this one.
The last one they used for education and just more outreach. Once the Council makes their decision then they
will receive more information on it.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the Chairman to sign the Opioid Participation Form and Conflict
Waiver. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)
abstentions. MOTION PASSED

NEW BUSINESS
1. Request for Approval of Election Services Agreement 2025 General Election.

Chairman Wadsworth said this agreement has a limited waiver of sovereignty, so he asked Mr. Williams to
review.

There were no questions. This agreement has been used every year.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the Election Services Agreement for the 2025 General Election.
Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)
abstentions. MOTION PASSED

2. Request for Approval of PLTHC Contractors for 2026. Dawna Brown, PLTHC Director

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Ms. Brown stated the Health Board met the previous Monday and gave their approval of the 2026
contractors. All provider licenses are current.

Councilmember Sampson said the Health Board did approve the contractors and there are two who were
pharmacists. She noted there was an inquiry about expanding the pharmacy service hours. She would like to
see the pharmacy open until 4:30 p.m. instead of closing at noon because of the two pharmacists and they
also increased their wages. Even though Wednesdays are for meetings, there are now two pharmacists where
one could stay in the pharmacy. Ms. Brown said they will now alternate so they both can have a chance at
attending meetings.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the contractors with exception of McCullough and Zeller.
Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with two (2)
abstentions (Sampson, Cortez). MOTION PASSED

For the record, Chairman Wadsworth read the contractor names: Ronald Centric, Robert Dubanksky, David
Duncan, Umari Duffus, Adrian Emm, David Giles, Victoria Lilligard, Elaine Montoya, Alan Mandell, Daniel
Brady, Nicole Romaneschi, Dawa Sherpa Lama, Thomas Quoc Tang, and Noah, Yaeger.

Councilmember Cortez said there were a couple that were on the list and thought they were removed. Ms.
Brown said Tonya McCullough and Ryan Zeller were removed, their contracts ended. They will be posting
new RFPs for those positions.

3. Request for Approval of TERO Forms. Elena Sanchez, TERO Manager

Ms. Sanchez provided a slide show of an overview of the TERO program. She explained she will be sitting
down with businesses that come on to the Reservation to discuss the percentage of their workforce required
for Natives. Currently the TERO fee is 2.5%. Her office provides training or skills requirements that most
businesses need, First Aid, CPR training, OSHA 10 and 30. She does go to sites to see how the Native
employees are doing and to see if they are getting everything they need, their PPE and they are doing the job
they were hired to do. She would like to come back to the Council to discuss fees they could collect which is
not in the ordinance for compliance issues. One question she gets is the difference between tribal and Indian
preference. Indian preference means any person that is registered with a federally recognized tribe, the other
one is Tribal preference which means Pyramid Lake membership. They are unable to go by Tribal preference
because it goes against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). What she does, in this case,
is give the vendors names of Tribal members within the TERO program who they can hire based on their
certifications. Next year she is looking to work with Western Nevada College because they have a CDL
training program. For January she has an MSHA schedule, along with CPR training and Microsoft Programs
training for Tribal employees. Any businesses who come onto the Reservation must comply, even ones
contracted by homeowners.

Councilmember Dunn asked during the recruitment process are all the applicants required to complete a
background process within the Tribe. They don’t, and once Ms. Sanchez receives their application, she inputs
them into her TERO program and forwards them to the companies that need people with specific training,
and they will do the interview and background. She is just the middle person. The applicant becomes an
employee of the contractor, and their rules apply to that person.

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Councilmember Cortez asked if there were statistics on how many are applying. Ms. Sanchez said she doesn’t
have any statistics, only because the companies are not coming to her and asking for people. This is one of
the reasons she needs to sit down with companies one on one. Councilmember Cortez said the reason he
asked was because he didn’t receive a monthly report from TERO and the previous month it was slim, he
would like to see statistics and numbers.

Ms. Sanchez is asking for assistance with the forms, currently she is providing assistance to Tribal members
that get jobs, $300 for PPE items which aren’t supplied by the company. Councilmember John said Thurman’s
project can provide tools, he’s another resource. Ms. Sanchez said she is also working with Nevada Works,
and she has spoken with Michael Brady with Luna to see what can be provided through their unions, but they
have to be a union member.

Vice Chairman Ely said $300 is a good recommendation for a once-a-year number to purchase boots and a
coats for Tribal members.

Ms. Sanchez said she will be doing an open house in January at the TERO building. She will invite businesses
who already have licenses with the Tribe and others she hasn’t yet worked with. She also provided example
logos for the TERO program. She provided a lot of forms for the Council to review but she will narrow them
down and bring back to the Council for review.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to table the request for approval of forms. Councilmember Sampson seconded
the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Wadsworth). MOTION
PASSED

4, Request for Approval Land Assignments with Resolutions. Richard Frazier, Tribal Land Manager
a. Jeremy W. Wright - Nixon Home Site
Mr. Frazier explained this is a 1.0-acre home site located on W. Pyramid Lake Rd. in Nixon.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the land assignment application for Jeremy W. Wright.
Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)
abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 099-25 LAND ASSIGNMENT - JEREMY W. WRIGHT

b. Janet D. Davis - Nixon Home Site
Mr. Frazier explained this is a 0.7-acre home site located on Hillside Street, Nixon.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the land assignment application for Janet D. Davis. Councilmember
Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION
PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 100-25 LAND ASSIGNMENT - JANET D. DAVIS

C. Randall O’Neil - Nixon 5.2 acres

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Mr. Frazier explained this is for 5.2 acres located off Eagle Street. Nixon. It’s an extension for his existing
agricultural assignment N-43 and 44. He is asking for the area outlined in red on his map and the irrigation
ditch runs on the south side of it.

Councilmember Davis said on page six of his application it says his plans are to have it leveled out for another
field, but it’s not checked off under THPO. Mr. Frazier said he is not sure why, maybe they were not in the
office; not sure what that reason would be. Councilmember John asked if it was already an existing field,
already disturbed? Mr. Frazier said not to his knowledge, but this is where his grandparents lived. Vice
Chairman Ely said the map does look like there was some kind of structure or foundation there.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the land assignment for Randall O’Neil. Councilmember Decker
seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION
PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 101-25 LAND ASSIGNMENT - RANDALL O’NEIL

d. Mervin K. Wright Jr. - Nixon Home Conveyance
Mr. Frazier explained this is 0.5-acre existing home site located on Eagle Street in Nixon.

Councilmember Decker motioned to approve the land assignment for Mervin K. Wright Jr. Councilmember
Davis seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION
PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 102-25 LAND ASSIGNMENT - MERVIN K. WRIGHT JR.

e. Teresa A. Pete - Sutcliffe Home Conveyance
Mr. Frazier explained this is a 0.66-acre existing home site on Desert Flower Lane in Sutcliffe.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve land assignment for Teresa A. Pete. Councilmember John seconded
the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Decker). MOTION
PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 103-25 LAND ASSIGNMENT - TERESA PETE

f. Harlen Ely - Sutcliffe 3.0 acres

Mr. Frazier explained this is for a 3.0-acre assignment located west of SR 445 in Sutcliffe, west of his father’s
church building. He applied using the old application which was before the new one was approved.

There was discussion regarding using the new form and getting all the required signatures, so the applicant
doesn’t say they didn’t know about a specific item. Mr. Frazier said the new form wasn’t in effect, yet when
he submitted his application and his improvement plan changed a couple times before it got to the
committee. The committee recommended approval of his land assignment request. Councilmember Davis
asked where the stamp is that shows the committee received it. On the application it’s stamped September
22, 2025, and why did the committee not question why it’s not on the new form if they just received it. Brenda
Henry, Tribal Secretary explained the stamped date is the date it was received and approved for posting in
Tribal Administration. Mr. Frazier stated that even though the form was received, they were waiting on the
land improvement plan before it went to the committee.

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Chairman Wadsworth stated what he is hearing from the Council is they need to put something in place for
a specific time frame to get and submit their work plan, otherwise they would forfeit.

Mr. Frazier said this is the last application like this; the updated form was approved after this application.

Councilmember Sampson said she would have liked to have seen them reach out to the applicant to inform
them there is a new form and to resubmit their application.

Councilmember Sampson motioned to table the land assignment for Harlen Ely and to have him resubmit his
request on the updated application. Councilmember Decker seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for
and one (1) opposed (John) with one (1) abstention (Ely). MOTION PASSED

Councilmember John opposed because he has been trying to get a home site since 2022 and has tried to work
it out.

g. New Moon Thompson - Wadsworth Home Conveyance
Mr. Frazier explained this is a 0.53-acre home site conveyance located on Jackson Street in Wadsworth.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the land assignment for New Moon Thompson. Councilmember
Decker seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions.
MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 104-25 LAND ASSIGNMENT - NEW MOON THOMPSON

5. Pyramid Lake Fisheries 2025 Fishing Derby Summary. Nathan Dunn and Rutilio Lara, Pyramid Lake
Fisheries Board of Trustees (BOT)

Councilmember Dunn stepped down from his Council seat to present.

Mr. Lara explained the Board wanted to provide the Council with an update of the derby since they originally
came to the Council to request the derby and for the budget assistance they received. The fishing derby was
a blind bogey fishing derby. The selected weight was 18 pounds, three ounces. The winner came in at 18
pounds and one ounce. Second place was 20 pounds, third place was 16.68 pounds, and fourth place was
13.61 pounds. They awarded a cash prize and a seasonal permit. Moving forward, they decided to just stick
with a cash prize to alleviate confusion with some of the selections. They had 107 participants which brought
in $5,350 with their sponsors providing $7,650, vendors with $300 and raffle brought in $652. For the silent
auction items, they had the seasonal permits approved by the Council, which brought in $1,750 with the top
bid at $650 and the other two for $550 each. The total amount of money raised was $15,702. There were
seven fish donated to the fisheries to give to the elder program. There was also an individual who showed
up on site, who had a family who was in need, and he requested a fish on site, so they cleaned the fish and he
was very thankful for it. There were 20 fish that arrived at the scale, so the idea of a mass kill or based on the
comments received on Facebook asking how many fish they would be killing, there were 20 and in his
opinion it was a huge success due to it being a blind bogey, a lot of fisherman were able to return their fish
back to the water. They had six vendors, didn’t have the names to share. Their top sponsors were NextEra
Energy and Pyramid Lake Enterprises, others were A&K Earth Movers, Stetson Engineers, Ray Bear
McLaughlin, Walker River Paiute Tribe, Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, Quality Construction Testing Services,

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all played a huge part in the success of the derby. Some areas they can improve were cash prizes only, add
contact information to the seasonal permits and have fisheries specific numbers on the letters. There was
some confusion about what needed to happen once the winners were selected and what the process was for
giving them the letters, but they remedied that. Mr. Dunn was working with the Tribal Secretary to make
sure the winning information was correct. Adding QR codes so applicants can access social media pages
easier and adding online registration which was one of the biggest complaints. They took a hard learning
curve with heaters and porta potties, which they could use for sure. There was no negativity, everyone had
fun, they had a DJ who hyped up the crowd, and it was a huge spectator event with him there. It was
impressive to see a 20-pound fish in person, totally different from seeing in pictures. They weigh-in time was
good, it was 3pm and gave everybody enough time to get off the water for weigh-ins before it got dark.

There was a question regarding not having seasonal permits for next year. Mr. Dunn said they will continue
with it being for the silent auction. Councilmember Sampson said there was a question about someone having
a copy of the letter on the beach and the Rangers were questioning it. Mr. Dunn said they had a meeting about
it and so they reached out to all the winners and got their information which was provided to the Tribal
Secretary to get those letters officially signed as well as adding permit numbers for tracking purposes.

Vice Chairman Ely said for everyone that participated were happy, they want to see it again next year and
when they emphasized that 100% of the proceeds will be going back to the Fisheries, they really liked that.

Mr. Lara said the fourth-place winner was from Ukraine and it was his first time fishing Pyramid Lake and
he thoroughly enjoyed himself. He thanked the Council for allowing them to have the derby and for
supporting the Fisheries.

Mr. Dunn added'as well a representing the Tribe and the Fisheries and to show there is a need and their main
focus was about preserving the fish, the lake and the land. He thanked the Council for allowing him to be the
representative on the Fisheries BOT. The BOT goal was to have this derby and to take action in becoming
sustainable. He would like to see a scholarship for high school students going into the fish and wildlife field
for sustainability in the future.

6. Request for Approval of New Year’s Day Bird Count. Donna Noel, Natural Resources Director
Chairman Wadsworth said this has been done every year for the past 25 years.

Councilmember Cortez had a question about the escort, the letter states a Tribal member, but he thought it
was a Tribal member employee.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the New Year’s Day Bird Count with the change that the escort be a
Tribal member employee. Councilmember Sampson seconded the motion. Votes were nine (9) for and zero
(0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

7. Request for Approval of US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Lahontan National Fish Hatchery
Complex Lower Truckee River Monitoring and Research Activities for LCT Recovery for CY26. Erik
Horgen, Fish Biologist, USFWS

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(note: Councilmember John wanted these corrections to the minutes at the January 24 meeting, in going
through the audio | didn’t hear the comments below but did add some language additions when relistening
to the audio, noted in red. “| know | had a lot of concern about

Speaker 10 14:31

the Fish and Wildlife, putting all those four actions all in one action, and it might have been okay to, like,
kill the killed the hunt, the cutthroat or the rainbow, but releasing them into the river. | didn't like that, but
it doesn't really say that here, but | was against that, and then also letting them do the studies. Up the
river when we probably should have our own fisheries doing those studies. That's not reflected in here.
So I'd like to add that | can to the record”.

Mr. Horgen explained he is seeking approval for their 2026 Lower Truckee River activities for Lahontan
Cutthroat Trout (LCT). Their letter was presented to the Pyramid Lake Fisheries BOT and approved, it also
was approved by the Inter-Disciplinary Team (IDT). Their activities will occur in the Truckee River from
Pearson’s Diversion down to Pyramid Lake from January to December. All dates and activities will be
coordinated with Tribal staff and the Fisheries. They encourage anyone to participate with them, last year
they had a lot of the Environmental Department helping them with the non-native removal of rainbow trout.
One of the first things they do is to clean and prep the Numana fish ladder for maintenance and operations
and while conducting this they are in close communications with the Fisheries staff. For non-native rainbow
trout and carp removal, which is completed prior to the spawning season of LCT. A note for the carp portion
of the non-native is tabled for CY26 pending further discussions with the Fisheries Board and employees.

Councilmember Dunn stated it was decided by the Board for the USFWS to select a site at Marble Bluff and
bury the carp. The information probably wasn’t forwarded to USFWS yet since the interim director was on
leave.

Councilmember John asked why they had to be in the river. Mr. Horgen explained they monitor the fish that
move through the dam, but they need to be in the river to monitor their progress as they migrate through
the river within the Reservation so they can see where they are targeting for spawning migrations, any
migration barriers, anything they can address with research. Councilmember John asked what they do with
the research. Mr. Horen said they summarize the research information in their yearly reports and submit
them to the Fishery staff and anyone who requests the information.

Councilmember Cortez asked what the IDT vote was and was there concerns. Chairman Wadsworth said he
didn’t recall any concerns. This did go to the Fisheries Board for approval, Karen Shaw, in the audience didn’t
have any concerns and Betty Aleck, THPO, wasn’t present.

Councilmember John said according to the Public Law 101-18, the Tribe owns the bottom of the river and
the bottom of the lake, normally states will claim it in the West, but the Settlement Act gives the Tribe
jurisdiction, and the Tribe should have control of their own area.

Mr. Horgen continued, they will also be monitoring the LCT migration using passive integrated transponder
antennas and portable units. They have a 4-foot unit on the top of the Numan fish ladder to tell when the fish
have made it to that point. There are more antennas towards Derby Dam. They would like to conduct a Delta
survey below Marble Bluff Dam prior to the season to monitor the access that fish have based on water years

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as close to the spawning season which allows them to understand if they are going to have trouble coming
over the delta given the lake elevation and the water in the Truckee River.

Councilmember John asked if they were looking at the Cui-ui or what fish they were looking at. Mr. Horgen
said they are looking at any fish that would come down the river, that resides in Pyramid Lake and that would
need the Truckee River to spawn. That is what the delta survey is looking at. Then after the spawning season
they like to conduct red surveys that allow them to understand where fish are targeting for spawning and
show them where good gravels are located and areas of interest and how successful the spawning season
was. This along with the rotary screw traps, sample out the migrating fry from these reds.

Councilmember John asked if they reached out to the fishery staff to be involved in these activities. Mr.
Horgan said they do reach out to the Fisheries to see if there are volunteers for any of these activities that
they do within the Truckee River within the Tribal boundaries. Councilmember Wadsworth said in the past
couple of years they have requested this, they said they would be relying on those employees to help make
those visual determinations of the hybrid, so she would think they would want them to accompany them.

Mr. Lara said on behalf of what USFW is requesting, when the staff is available, which right now they are
running on a skeleton crew, they are there. The partnership is always welcome and piggybacking on what
Councilmember John stated, the purpose of the request is so they are respecting the laws that they have in
place, which is why they are here asking for approval.

Mr. Horgen continued with juvenile LCT monitoring using backpack electro fishers. To gain better
understanding outside of the rotary screw traps, which is used in the river where the water is faster, the
backpack shocking is used in the shallow, slower waters on the sides of the river. Lastly there are the longterm temperature monitoring sites. They have a few sites within the Tribal boundary; they are small
temperature monitors which are cabled to a tree or large rock and monitor the temperature every few
minutes. The USFWS will commit to the management priorities that were agreed upon by the BOT and the
USFWS in 2024 and are being carried over through this 2026 letter. Those priorities are they will pass all
native fish upstream of Marble Bluff Dam during the 2026 season, will initiate removal and sacrifice of all
visually suspected rainbow trout, LCT hybrids at Marble Bluff for the 26' spawning season, the sacrificed
fish will be donated to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe for distribution to Tribal members. Will continue to
build upon the rainbow trout LCT hybrid identification guide, which ultimately helps assist the Fisheries in
sorting out potential hybrids at the Sutcliffe spawning channel and lastly will stock up to 250,000 Pilot Peak
LCT into Pyramid Lake for the 2026 season.

Councilmember John asked why they wanted to put those fish in the lake, they are not native. The Tribe has
been cross breeding those for a long time. She doesn’t approve of it.

Mr. Lara said there needs to be clarification, maybe a workshop on the strains of fish that are coming into the
Fisheries. This is the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Recovery Program. They got over that hump with the USFWS
partnership over Pilot versus Summit and now it’s a combination of both strains to ensure that all of the LCT
go into the river and they are all trying to return to their native spawning areas. It’s a greater effort, the
anglers are seeing it, and they are seeing the numbers that are coming in. It’s a partnership and he doesn’t
think they should see it as a fight between the two strains or the organizations as far as recovery and

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conservation goes. It’s only been two years since the Tahoe Truckee Pyramid Water System has been added
to the recovery plan for the region and United States and now that we are on the map, they are just trying to
maintain their standing so they can get more funding and more eyes on and assisting with the LCT recovery.

Karen Shaw said they also need to be careful of the Tribe’s own sovereignty and to her that it is something
important to still have the control and understanding these partnerships when you go into other
departments because one could overstep the others.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the USFWS request to continue their Monitoring and Research
Activities on the Lower Truckee River for CY26. Councilmember Decker seconded the motion. Votes were six
(6) for and two (2) opposed (Wadsworth, John) with one (1) abstention (Dunn). MOTION PASSED

Councilmember Wadsworth stated she opposed because she still disagrees with the genetic testing they are
planning to do, she has always been opposed to that. Ever since she was on the BOT a few years back, they
never received any reports from USFWS. It wasn’t until she had to ask for it and to this day, she hadn’t seen
this report.

8. Request for Approval Personnel Revision Section 10-6D (1) Annual Leave Compensation - Law
Enforcement Department

Chairman Wadsworth said he attended the Personnel Committee meeting and has provided the minutes from
that meeting with the resolution for the proposed language change to modify the personnel policy when it
comes to use of annual leave in paying out for the Law Enforcement Program. He also provided the Council
with the redline version of the policy. The language change would be, “Police Department. Officers under the
Law Enforcement Program’s supervision may receive compensation for the hours that would otherwise have
been forfeited. Only time over the 120 hours allowable carryover shall be used for compensation and is
capped at a total of eighty (80) hours per year. Employees are only allowed to carry over 120 hours of annual
leave every year at the beginning of the year, anything past that gets forfeited. This means if they have, for
example, 200 hours of leave, they could only get paid out for 80 hours, anything above that is forfeited. This
includes the Rangers.

Councilmember John asked' why they treat them differently than other employees.

Chairman Wadsworth said the former HR manager prepared a memo that showed the police department doesn’t
have enough staff, they have to keep filling in when an officer takes annual leave and the breakdown provided
shows with the current rate, they would spend on overtime, it would cost the Tribe $28,000 just in overtime
because they have to fill in then if they paid them out, it could save them approximately $9,000 per year in their
budget.

Councilmember John asked if it violated some act by not paying them overtime. When they earn overtime, they
have to be paid overtime, and it can’t be substituted for leave pay for overtime. Chairman Wadsworth said they
are not substituting any time, because they are so short staffed that a lot of times, they have no choice but to pay
them overtime.

Chris Parsons, Chief of Police, explained they don’t get comp time, but somebody still has to cover. When

someone takes leave, they are paid out of straight time, and they have to bring in someone on time and a half to
cover. The Chairman proposed to go back to what it used to be years ago when they used to be able to do this. It

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changed around COVID time, but it was changed where you could request payout at the end of the year with
justification. The Chairman is proposing to go back to that but with an 80-hour cap. It is more cost effective to
pay it out than to pay it than to wait until an officer takes leave and then bringing in someone on time and a half.
They now have less officers than when HR put this together, they are down to four but had six when this memo
was put together. Chairman Wadsworth added they do treat them differently because they are public service, they
are here rain or sunshine. They are unable to brown out like the fire department. Chief Parson added they work
24/7 to protect everybody and they can’t just call Lyon or Washoe County and say they’re taking the day off and
the BIA doesn’t have the staff in the entire State of Nevada to cover, even for a day. He did mention in the
Personnel Committee meeting that this covered the officers and rangers so there was no questions, the rangers are
essential part of public safety, they cover half, they try to have two officers on 24/7 and they provide the second
officer for the day shift.

Councilmember Cortez said for this policy he would like it to reflect the justification aspect of it, he would think
the Chairman would want to see that the officers have attempted to take leave, rather than having a guaranteed
bonus at the end of the year. Chairman Wadsworth said it is included but you have to take the policy as a whole
and it’s included under the purpose.

Chief Parsons further explained they are short staffed and it’s harder for them to take vacation. He explained to
the Personnel Committee, summer starts in May through June and July, with the holidays and everything and then
it’s right into Burning Man for almost two months, then it’s October and the entire department is trying to take
vacation which is near impossible.

Councilmember Sampson asked if this included the beach monitors. Chief Parsons said they are not included; it
comes down to public safety. Councilmember Dunn said they are enforcing the laws so why are they not

included. Chief Parsons said that it would be up to the Council or Personnel Committee. Why didn’t he approach
the committee to include them since they are under the department. Chairman Wadsworth said Chief Parsons
didn’t approach the committee, he did, it was a part of the overall scope for officer retention. Councilmember
Dunn recommended including the beach monitors. Chief Parsons said he appreciates the effort, but you have to
have an officer on duty to respond to domestic violence and things like that and he would like to include the beach
monitors and dispatchers, but the budget has to be able to support it. There was a caveat provision in the policy
that states it?s dependent on the remaining budget available from the funding sources, but it was struck out at the
Personnel Committee meeting, the reason should be in the meeting minutes.

Councilmember Davis said she would keep that information in but not include the beach monitors because they
are not on call 24/7. Councilmember Wadsworth said they are able to take vacations and to use their leave
whereas the officers are not.

Councilmember Cortez said he would still like to see the verbiage within the policy stating there should be written
justification to go along with the request. He would like to keep the provision of remaining budget because they
are saying it’s guaranteed, then they might as well account for an extra 80 hours per employee guaranteed in the
budget. Councilmember Wadsworth didn’t agree because it’s up to their supervisors if their employees need to
take a break or vacation as with any other supervisor who has employees who are working long hours, you want
them to be here working level headed and the police officers probably need it more and need to be encourage to
take the time but if they are unable, you need to be able to compensate them. Councilmember Cortez is saying for
those who are here for five years or more, they will collect 80 hours, and they need to budget for it. Chief Parsons
said the budget part would be the justification letter at the end of the year requesting. He would need to inform the
Chairman in the letter that there is sufficient budget.

Vice Chairman Ely said he understands what Councilmember Cortez is saying but there is also a point where they
are trying to have longevity for our officers also. We train them, we outfit them, and then they leave. Maybe this
will help the longevity of the officers to stay here so they return the investment back to the community. It’s a

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tough decision but they are on the right track to compensating for it and 80 hours is adequate along with the letter
of justification.

Councilmember Sampson said she likes the provision that this is dependent upon the remaining budget that is

available from the funding source be included. This is based on past budgets and past audits with some of the

findings, particularly with the Police Department going over budget, that needs to remain in for accountability
purposes.

Councilmember John said she couldn’t understand when they work them overtime, pay them overtime and now
pay them extra, and then they earn leave as well and then they are going to pay them 80 hours after that.
Councilmember Wadsworth said it’s a total of 80 hours, they might be over by five hours, then they only get paid
for five hours, not the 80 hours. It’s capped at 80 hours, so if they have 81, they only get paid for 80.

Chairman Wadsworth asked Chief Parsons how many of his officers took vacation during Burning Man? The
response was none. Councilmember John said they were compensated because of the agreement. Chief Parsons
reminded everyone they worked for four weeks straight with one day off. They work because they are dedicated
to the Tribe, Burning Man was paying the Tribe because they would be out there regardless of whether Burning
Man was paying the Tribe or not, they would still be out there doing the same job. And when the Burning Man
funds run out, which it does because they don’t provide them enough, they still don’t stop their operation to keep
the pressure off the Tribe. When Burning Man comes through, they work very hard during that time, every day
during the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, they work hard every day because they don’t know what is going to
happen, some days nothing happens but some days everything happens and they still only get paid for their
regular 80 hours. Anything over, they get overtime and if they can, they take leave. They have a dedication to the
Tribe, they not just going to say they are shutting the doors, they don’t get four different pays, this is the same as
it’s always been, anything over 80 hours is overtime. They get paid straight time for vacation, for sick leave and if
someone takes vacation time, he has to have someone come in and cover for them and that person is coming in on
their day off and so they get time and a half.

Chairman Wadsworth said he only brought this up because of some of the comments about how they treat them
different from other employees. He can’t think of any employees other than law enforcement and possibly EMS
where they don’t go on vacation for four weeks.

Chief Parson stated even now, there is only one officer on at night for the whole Tribe. They are barely able to
have two people on for 12 hours a day right now but that is the way it is and there are people out there who will
take advantage of that because this is a big Reservation and they can’t cover it all. He has one Ranger and so there
are three days a week you don’t have a Ranger. When the beach monitors need assistance, they call an officer to
cite, and they are also patrolling and looking for permits as best they can.

Councilmember Cortez said to pass this for tonight he would add, “this provision is dependent upon the remaining
budget available from the funding source and with justification approved by the Chairman.”

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the Personnel Policy & Procedures Section 10-6D(1) Annual Leave
Compensation for the Law Enforcement Program with the added, “this provision is dependent upon the
remaining. budget available from the funding source and with justification approved by the Chairman.”.
Councilmember Decker seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and one (1) opposed (John) with zero
(0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 105-25 PERSONNEL POLICY & PROCEDURES
SECTION 10-6D(1) ANNUAL LEAVE COMPENSATION - LE

9. Request for Approval of Pyramid Lake Fisheries Request for Permit Revenue. Pyramid Lake Fisheries
Board of Trustees

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Councilmember Dunn stepped down from his Council seat to present.

Mr. Dunn said the Board is proposing 20% of the permit revenue to go back to the Pyramid Lake Fisheries to
assist with operations, spawning and basically a starting point for generating the revenue for the lake.

Mr. Lara stated there were potential resolutions for the distribution of the revenue but there are no
resolutions that dictate where the permit revenue goes.

Councilmember Davis asked if this was the same proposal they came before the Council with a couple of
months ago, but it was tabled because they didn’t have a budget.

Mr. Dunn understands it would be more appropriate to bring this forward during the budget process, but
they wanted to get it out there and they would be asking for 20%.

Mr. Lara said during their last Board meeting they had a discussion with their Bureau of Trust Funds
Administration (BTFA) representative and their investments coming back to the Fisheries will be cut. This is
a projected number but at this point they are going to be cut back monthly at around $8,000 monthly. He
doesn’t have all the numbers, but they are going to lose next year based on the estimated investments coming
back to the Fisheries. Councilmember Wadsworth said they should request an audit through the BTFA. Mr.
Lara said once they get everything set up with BTFA they would like to request a Special Council meeting
with the Council and their BTFA representative, so they can explain all the numbers to the Council and how
much more constraints they will be going through in the next calendar year.

Vice Chairman Ely said three or four years ago when he first got on the Council and was on the Fisheries
Board, the budget would allow them to draw down $85,000, the next year it was $80,000 and last year it was
down to $65,000 and now BTFA is recommending they only draw down $57,000 monthly. Now they are
down to five staff members and they're hoping they don’t have a major electrical malfunction, or a pump
doesn’t go down because they just don’t have the funds. He thinks it’s a good idea to have Ryan Otiz attend
and explain the numbers. Mr. Lara said their projected annual budget for next year won't even hit $700,000.

Councilmember Cortez said this may come up in the future but the funds that were given to the Fisheries
from the Tribe had'a standing resolution with repayment.

Vice Chairman Ely said that is the reality, if they don’t’ get funds the Fisheries will have to shut down. If they
can’t sustain their income to pay salaries and to raise the fish, it will shut down. They turned a bunch of small
fish out this year, raised 100,000 less last year, 100,000 less this year simply because they ran out of fish
feed. Mr. Lara added they are being put back into the water at a smaller size, so the predation is at a higher
risk. They just don’t have the funding to keep the pumps on, to keep the pools going, the feed coming in, so
they have to release them.

Carla Eben, in the audience asked why they’re not using TROA. Chairman Wadsworth said one of the main
points is Economic Development and his opinion is that is where it starts, at the Fisheries, that is the baseline.

10. Request to Approval to Rescind Resolution No.: PL 103-24 Governing Body Interview List

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Councilmember Cortez said it was brought up at a previous meeting in regard to interviews and wanting to
see the director interviews come back to the Council, rather than sticking with the ones set in the resolution.
For accountability purposes, they want to have directors in their positions for a long time, but it defeats the
purpose of this when they find out about directors until after they’re hired.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the rescinding of Pyramid Lake Resolution No.: PL 103-24
Governing Body Interview List. Councilmember Decker seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and
one (1) opposed (Wadsworth) with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Benjamin John, Business Officer, asked if the Council is going to address it since they rescinded the resolution,
they have not only directors, there are managers and other classifications, so are they again without
direction. Chairman Wadsworth said it’s going to be department heads which is on the resolution.

EXECUTIVE TEAM
1. Business Office. Benjamin John, Business Officer

Mr. John said most of his report is about work with Ceira Sampson, Tribal Treasurer and the Finance
Department. Met with the consultant for the travel center but ran into a couple of issues, the cost of the
additional engineering that needs to take place so they are taking it a little slower so they can build up their
funding. There was another issue since the Council is not willing to do limited waivers of sovereign
immunity, most of the companies they have talked to are not willing to change theirs and it narrows down
who they can use to do civil engineering and the general contracting for the job. Actually, slowing down is
going to work to their advantage in this case. Had a call with Bank of America and they straightened that
issue out. He attended a few software presentations that he thinks will be beneficial if they could afford
them in the future. Adding to what Jason Croxton spoke about regarding the easement agreement between
OSIT and the Tribe, he thinks due to the nature of the technicality of the project, Greg Gardner, IT Manager
would be better to explain to the Council, if there are questions about what they are exchanging for the
right of way. HOES

Councilmember Wadsworth said the previous Comptroller was looking into hiring a payroll firm, who is
handling that now? Mr. John said that it would be up to Ms. Sampson and the new Comptroller, he is not

sure of the status. Chairman Wadsworth said that is what they are doing now, they are paying an outside
company to do payroll.)

2. Programs Office. Sherry Ely-Mendes, Programs Officer.

Ms. Ely-Mendes said her report has no big items to report for the past month. They had their weekly
meetings for the bypass, the road safety plan and they were invited to do the Road Safety Audit out of
Fernley because they had previously worked with Kimberly Horn and they wanted them to give them some
sense on how to do that. She attended the Education Advisory Board meeting on teams which were
standard items, everyone is working to close out the year, and she is working on reports for daycare and
the roads department for the end of the year report. With the Numaga Elder Center, they turned in the
grant for their Title VI grant for the coming year. They do need one more van driver and kitchen aid, which

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are hard to come by because it’s only a 30-hour week. They are still trying to figure out how to get the RTC
funding down because they have to spend it to get it back and they only get $20,00 a year from them, so
they have to start looking for more grants for that program. There is one thing they learned this year due to
three incidences or concerns with elder’s health, they would like to see a CHR, either on board with
Numaga or a CHR at the clinic that rides with them to check on the elders. If they can’t get one through the
clinic, they will get with Ms. Shaw, Contracts and Grants to write a grant for a CHR to be housed at Numaga.
In regard to the Numaga events, they invite everyone to Halloween and the June Lake Party but the
Christmas party is for the Tribal elders only.

COMPTROLLER. Shelley Harjo, Comptroller

Ms. Harjo stated she met with the staff individually and thinks they are a good group of people; they just
haven't been able to utilize them to their potential. They have been in disarray for a while now with no
direction, so she is trying to get them all on board and make them comfortable. They’re receptive but there
was just no direction occurring. She appreciates Ms. Sampson and Mr. John stepping up, the staff needed
that. She will build the team into a more efficient department, but it will take baby steps. She went over the
2023 audit with the staff and explained to them how their job relates to what is happening within the audit,
the whole grant cycle, and how that pertains to their jobs. One thing she has found is that when
departments ask for reports, they might be asking about various employees and what they get is all
different. So, when she ran reports in MIP, she also got several different reports and so that is one thing she
will be working on so everyone gets the same report, and the Council is getting accurate information. She
credits Tribal Consulting who were initially hired to maintain the books for 2024 audit to get the audit prep
ready. During the turmoil in 2023 they had to get an amendment to their contract to jump in when the fire
started in Finance, they have been doing the quarterly reporting that nobody thought of because of the
important vacancies in Finance that have not been filled. The organization chart in Finance is so outdated,
and job descriptions, what staff are doing is not necessarily what is in their job descriptions or in their
duties which creates turmoil where they don’t know what they are supposed to be doing.

Vice Chairman Ely asked if she sees in the future, they would be able to separate from their contractor and
hire their own employees. Ms. Harjo said that is one of her goals because there are some gray areas where
the staff are not sure who they are answering to.

In regard to scheduling a budget meeting, Ms. Harjo said the issues are starting to show in 2025 and so they
are not up to date on reconciliations which take away from the daily process. She would like for the
contractor to stay on board to at least get them through 2024 and maybe the second quarter 2025, that will
give them some general ideas of where they are for budgets in 2026. She is hopeful they can get that done
in the first quarter, but they have a long way to go to close out 2025. She would suggest they continue to
use the 2025 budget at least until the first quarter. They all rely on each other in the Finance Department
and that wasn’t there before, but they are starting to trust each other, and you can feel the difference. They
have to get accuracy down, to start paying attention to their attendance because she is seeing some trends.
She is hoping for the end of March or early April or May for budgets.

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Karen Shaw asked about appropriations at the beginning of the year, for education she depends on
approval in January for her program. When will they know, will they be taking another cut after the 20%
cut last year. Ms. Harjo said she can’t give a percentage or if they are going to cut or stay the same because if
the reconciliations aren’t made, they are not going to have accurate financials.

Councilmember John asked how many are actually staff. Ms. Harjo said payroll is a contractor, AP is Tribal,
general ledger is Tribal, two accounts payable, one is a contractor and one is Tribal and the grants who is
Tribal. The grants specialist, payroll and the accounting supervisor are vacant and the rest are contractors.
There is also the front desk and accounts receivable, tribal. She has found that there are Standard Operating
Procedures (SOPs) but they are outdated because things have changed.

In regards to directors getting correct reports, she has a contingency plan that she put in place for ensuring
that each department head also remembers that they are a customer to finance as well, because they spend
money and they have a budget, they need to stay within that. What she is finding because she recently
signed off on a budget that had 15 budget mods and to her when you create a budget, your saying I’m
putting $5,000 in travel as a program director and that is what they are going to do but they go on these
additional travels then they are not following their scope of work, not following their budgets. That is a
department issue not a finance issue.

Councilmember Sampson said what Ms. Harjo is trying to say is there are consistent departments that are
calling their granting agency and asking if they can move this money into their travel account after they
have expended their travel account, that is what they have been catching. There are no internal controls
now, no accountability for the department heads but the finance department should not be signing number
15 budget mods because they can’t control their own budgets. Ms. Harjo said it’s going to be a work in
progress because it’s been, the norm for a while.

Ms. Harjo said she will be creating a document management system because as a new employee she can’t
find the current policy or the current changes. It’s difficult to enforce it on staff if they don’t have it. When
the policies are approved by the Council they don’t have a revision date on them.

Councilmember Cortez said it was mentioned she was receiving assistance from the appointed Treasurer
which is set to expire at the end of the year. Is that going to be hindrance for the Comptroller? Ms. Harjo
said she would like to see her go through the first quarter and if she was to lose her now it would be a
detriment to the department. She has learned a lot and taken leadership steps and commended her for
jumping in even though she doesn’t really have an accounting background but is able to logically think
about the need for backup documentation and other things.

Councilmember John said the departments need to have the estimates of the revenue, and their budgets so
they can do their budgets.

Ms. Harjo said it’s contingent on all the departments turning in their spending, but they are finding they are
not and she is finding the staff aren’t calling the departments and telling them they have an outstanding
invoice, so it works both ways. If they have big accounts that have a lot of outstanding invoices, that has a
reflection on the anticipated revenues and without everything not being reconciled it’s not a true number.

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Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the extension of Ceira Sampson as the Tribal Treasurer until the
end of March 2026. Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0)
opposed with one (1) abstention (Sampson). MOTION PASSED

Chairman Wadsworth said in regards to Ms. Sampson, she is an appointee and they don’t’ have an EAN that
has an appointee box on it, so they put her as temporary which means she is not eligible for Cola or holidays
but she is an appointee, same as himself. Does the Council want to leave it the way it is. The Council agreed.

Leona Collins asked if the staff are cross trained or will they be cross trained? Ms. Harjo said that is a goal
she set for the department which is to be able to cover for each other.

CHAIRMANS REPORT
1. Request for Approval Submission of the T-Mobile Hometown Grant for the Museum.

Billie Jean Guerrero, Museum Director, explained they have been working on this grant since the beginning
of this year to submit a grant through T-Mobile, called the Hometown Grant. It’s a $50,000 grant and they
would use it to improve the irrigation system at the Museum. They have trees that were planted about 25
years ago and a lot were lost because it was done with a drip system and they have an issue with gophers. In
2022, they added the first phase of the medicine garden, and they have two more phases they would like to
implement which include wetlands and desert themed plants but are limited with one spigot. They would
like to add additional spigots and a drip irrigation system, which is what this proposal is for. They received
a bid for $49,008.12 which is a revised bid. They are seeking the Council support to do this and because its
contractual, it would not require the indirect funding, and they have letters of support. Throughout the year
they had obstacles, first they had to go to the PUD Board which met after the deadline, then they had to
modify their scope of work. They have a bid that is within the amount but with construction, the costs go up
every day. oes

Councilmember Davis said in the PUD Board minutes they have a partnership with the Native Plant Farm
and Mashburn Construction. What is Mashburn Construction? Ms. Guerrero said they had a meeting with
Mashburn on how ‘to run the water line, the main line is by the road, by the Sutcliffe Highway and another
one in the back of the Museum where it’s more feasible to run, a clear line without interference.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the submission of the T-Mobile Hometown Grant for the Museum.
Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with two (2)
abstentions (Cortez, Guerrero). MOTION PASSED

Chairman Wadsworth continued with his report. He spent a week in Seattle attending the NCAI conference
which he updated the Council with his travel report at the last meeting. They held the directors’ meeting and
are planning a pizza party for the employees sponsored by the Executive Team. There was the Bank of
America issue where they had to go over the Tribe’s accounts. He provided more interviews for a student at
UNR about the data centers which is a hot topic. He has another request from a reporter from France who is
based out of San Francisco who will be coming out in January. There is a meeting held with the BLM
Winnemucca Office and THPO about the disturbance of the road just east of CEMEX that goes right along the
border. The road actually was already there, but they widened it and that is what you will see in the THPO

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report. It appears they may have also damaged some cultural artifacts off Reservation. They will keep the
Council apprised of that issue after the follow-up meeting in January. BIA is also involved because of the
damage to the Tribe’s road, but the maps didn’t show it was a Tribal land. If there is prosecution, BIA will be
the lead, and the Tribe will be joinder. He had a meeting with Chris Mixson, Stetson Engineers, the Water
Team going over next year’s plan. What came out of that meeting was that the Nevada State Engineer, Adam
Sullivan, was let go. He pulled up the article in the Nevada Independent to confirm. He was trying to get the
push that anything within a mile of surface water, i.e., the Truckee River, anything within a mile, impacts it.
This is one of the possible reasons he was let go. He was getting that outside pressure from the mining
companies and from the Governor. That is what the Tribe may be up against next year, the science of not
following good science and general knowledge of the ecosystem. When he does interviews, he mentions the
map in the chambers and points out that Pyramid Lake has to worry about this entire ecosystem, Tahoe, all
the way to Pyramid Lake, including the Truckee River, Carson River and Lahontan Valley Reservoir. Also,
ITCN was not able to renew their lease, and they have to move out of their main building downtown by the
29th of the month. They were trying to renegotiate their lease, and the property management firm wouldn't
bulge on their monthly rent. For the Tribe, they still manage the Head Start.

Chairman Wadsworth read a notice to be put out to the Tribal membership regarding a distribution. “Happy
Holidays, Tribal members, the Tribal Council would like to take a moment to reflect on the roller coaster of
year that we have all lived through together, starting with uncertainty with the federal government that saw
funding pause and then reinstated weeks later. This led to widespread interruptions for all aspects of our
daily schedules, including our work and personal doings. All of this, of course, culminated in the government
shutdown some seven months later. It’s had a very harmful impact as we navigated through our furlough
policy and made the necessary changes to ensure that our operations help the community as a whole, both
with keeping all of our services open and with ensuring that we could protect the river and lake. The staff
that kept afloat during these last couple of months is to be commended for their hard work, long hours and
resilience. The shutdown, coupled with key missing staff for the Tribe, placed undue pressure to make sure
we could still function. This is highly important, because we feel that many of the pieces are still missing and
that would have allowed us to look at a possible holiday check for all our members. We are all committed to
getting the appropriate help that we need to help make Pyramid Lake a better place for our members. Thank
You so much for your understanding, patience, participation and kind words throughout the year. Happy
Holidays and a Happy new year.”

Councilmember Dunn recommended “Holiday Distribution” instead of Holiday Check.
EXECUTIVE SESSION

Councilmember Cortez motioned to move into Executive Session. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion.
Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention (Guerrero). MOTION PASSED. Tribal
Council moved into Executive Session at 9:26 p.m.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to move out of Executive Session. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion.
Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council
moved out of Executive Session at 10:00 p.m.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council
December 19, 2025, Special minutes

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

Councilmember Cortez motioned to deny using the Chairman’s signature stamp on checks for check signing
purposes. Councilmember Dunn seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with
zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

ADJOURNMENT

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

‘meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Dunn. Votes taken were all in favor, motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 10:01 p.m.

Submitted by,

Found ald.

Brenda A. Henry Hel

Tribal Council Secretary

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing minutes were adopted by the Pyramid Lake Tribal Council, governing body of the Pyramid
Lake Paiute Tribe, at a meeting duly held on the 16“ day of January 2026, having ten (10) members present,

constituting a quorum, by the vote of eight (8) FOR and zero _ OPPOSED, with one (1) ABSTENTION.

Minutes attested and concurred by:

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/tribal%3Apyramid_lake%3A4d80c9035e290638. Public record. Not legal advice.