Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2026)

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

January 16, 2026, 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 January 16, 2026, Special Tribal Council meeting of the Pyramid Lake Paiute

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

ROLL CALL

Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary, took roll call. Councilmember Guerrero connected at 6:04 p.m. All

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

Councilmember Guerrero attended via zoom.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Chairman Wadsworth presented the agenda with the following changes: addition of Wes Williams Jr. 2026-

27 Tribal General Counsel Attorney Contract, remove under new business #2. Approval Easement

Agreement State of Nevada Office of Science, Innovation and Technology and #3. Request for Approval Co-

Stewardship Agreement BLM Winnemucca District Office, and an addition of an Executive Session.

Councilmember Guerrero connected to the meeting via zoom at 6:04 p.m.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the January 16, 2026, Special meeting agenda with additions.

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

abstentions. MOTION PASSED

PUBLIC COMMENT

Katherine Yriarte, Candidate for Washoe County Commission in District Five. Ms. Yriarte explained that her

priority is to align with all District Five residents. She is committed to improving care and resources for

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

January 16, 2026, Special minutes

seniors, persons with disabilities and their caregivers, will advocate for fair infrastructure and essential

services investment, ensuring no community is overlooked or underserved, she is focused on increasing

economic development and creating meaningful opportunities that benefit everyone and most importantly

committed to protecting the autonomy and identity of all tribal lands in all county decisions by respecting

and honoring tribal sovereignty. She is seeking a true partnership built on respect, collaboration, and

consultation. She would like to schedule a public meet and greet which is convenient for the communities.

She is here to learn, to listen and to begin an ongoing dialog.

CONSENT AGENDA

The following items were listed under the Consent Agenda:

1. Approval Consolidated Higher Education Program Scholarship: AVT Scholarship - Shyleah Antone

2. Approval Wes Williams December 2025 Invoice #4459

3. Approval 5th Annual Autism Awareness Walk/Run April 18, 2026

4. Approval BTFA Tribal Officials Authorized to Initiate Disbursement Form with resolution.

5. Approval Law Offices of Wes Williams Jr 2026-27 Tribal General Counsel Attorney Contract

Councilmember Dunn requested to pull #5 for discussion.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve consent agenda items #1 through #4. Vice Chairman Ely

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

PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 003-26 BUREAU OF TRUST FUNDS ADMINISTRATION TRIBAL

OFFICIALS AUTHORIZED TO INITIATE DISBURSEMENTS

ITEM #5. Approval Law Offices of Wes Williams Jr. 2026-27 Tribal General Counsel Attorney Contract

Councilmember Dunn asked if they were going to initiate an RFP for the Tribal Attorney anytime? Chairman

Wadsworth said they did one the year before because this one is for the second year and Mr. Williams was

the only one who submitted a bid. The only item changed on the contract is the dates.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the 2026-27 Tribal General Counsel Attorney contract for Wes

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

zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Teola Shaw commented regarding item #3. 5th Annual Autism Awareness Walk/Run, she did a sensory fair

and received special recognition through the Medical School at UNR because they were the first to do

something like that on the Reservation and were able to do it in a couple other places like Las Vegas,

Duckwater, Reno, and Carson City.

Karen Shaw said because of the project she did, she was asked through UNR to present nationwide even at

Harvard, but it has to go through all the screenings first.

MINUTES

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1. Approval of Minutes:

a. September 19, 2025, Special

Councilmember Dunn said on page 17, asked to include the dollar amounts for the 638 appraisals and he

asked for the removal the sentence, “The next step for the Council is they could revoke his business license,

his food servicing license and he would close his business but that is up to the Council.” His last correction

was on page 18, adding both regular and diesel when Councilmember John stated there was no diesel at the

Nixon Store.

Councilmember Sampson said on page 18, instead of MIT it should say MIP when under the Comptroller's

report.

Councilmember Davis said on page 6, right before item #5, Utility Scale Feasibility Study, need to add that

the Council requested an update letter from the legal attorney regarding the Pyramid Lake Cannabis for a

legal opinion because without it, it doesn’t look like they had a reason to move forward and that is what they

are waiting for.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the September 19, 2025, Special with changes. Councilmember Cortez

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

PASSED

b. October 3, 2025, Regular

There were no changes.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to approve the October 3, 2025, Regular minutes. Councilmember Sampson

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

PASSED

c. November 21, 2025, Special

There were no changes.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the November 21, 2025, Special minutes. Councilmember Cortez

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

PASSED

d. December 19, 2025, Special (previously tabled)

Councilmember Dunn said the roster was missing Councilmember Guerrero.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the December 19, 2025, Special with change. Councilmember

Sampson seconded the motion. Votes were eight (8) for and zero (0) opposed with one (1) abstention

(Guerrero). MOTION PASSED

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PRESENTATION

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

No representative present. The Council and audience were informed Pilar Thomas, the Tribe’s representative

for Quarles and Brady, had retired and Jason Croxton will be taking over her presentations.

Councilmember Davis asked about the status of the contract since Ms. Thomas has retired. Chairman

Wadsworth said the contract is a two-year contract with Quarles and Brady LLC. Councilmember Cortez said

the contract needs to reflect that Ms. Thomas is no longer the primary contact and Mr. Croxton is now the

primary with a different salary rate. Councilmember Davis agreed Mr. Croxton and the other attorneys were

all at different cost rates. Chairman Wadsworth said he will check on modifying that information in the

contract and bring it back to before the Council.

2. Dissertation Update. Audrey Andrews, PhD candidate at the University of Nevada Reno.

Ms. Andrews said she is almost to the end of her project with the Tribe about the Reno Divorce Ranches

located within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation. In total she identified 67 Reno Divorce Ranches,

with six of them within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation. The Council graciously allowed her to

survey those ranches which are the Pyramid lake Guest Ranch, Hardscrabble Canyon Ranch, Monte Cristo, S

Bar S and Big Canyon Ranch. She received funding for this project which was split half with the Tribe. She

received $500 from the Society for Historical Archeology, $250 was donated to the museum. She received

$3,000 from the Nevada Archeological Association and $1,500 was donated to the museum. She and Billie

Jean Guerrero, Museum Director, are currently working on an exhibit for the Museum and they received

$4,750 and 100% of that will go to the museum. She will be graduating this semester and will submit in late

March or early April a copy of her dissertation for the Council’s review. People that have helped her with her

project are the Council, Chairman Wadsworth, Jason Mitchell, Teresa Pete, Billie Jean Guerrero, Levi Frazier

Jr. and his grandson Gabe and Bo Williams, who have all been integral to the project. The project is still

ongoing because they have the exhibit this summer. She informed the Council, she is the new Tribal Historic

Preservation Officer for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, so this will be her next journey.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Selection Pyramid Lake Fisheries Board of Trustees Civilian Position (1 vacancy)

There was one applicant, Elena Sanchez, with an option to repost.

Votes were Elena Sanchez - six (6) votes and repost - 2 votes with one (1) abstention.

Elena Sanchez was selected for the one vacancy on the Pyramid Lake Fisheries Board of Trustees Civilian

position.

Councilmember Dunn said he would like to see the applicants speak before the Council on why they are

interested in committee positions, so the membership could hear why they put in an application, rather than

the Council voting on a name.

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2. Request for Approval Procurement for Carpet Replacement Museum. Billie Jean Guerrero, Museum

Director

Ms. Guerrero is requesting approval for carpet replacement for the museum. She has been the Museum

Director since January 16, 2016, ten years and one of the things she recognized was the carpet needed to be

replaced. Local companies were contacted about bids, and the only responsive bid came from Royal Floors.

Fallon Floors declined and there was no bid from Carpet King. The bid she received was for $49,367.26, which

is the first phase and includes all the main area where the displays are, the side ramp and the little room off

the side that they call the TV room. For the next phase they will seek other bids.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve Royal Floors for the Carpet Replacement at the Museum. Vice

Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Votes were seven (7) for and zero (0) opposed with two (2) abstentions

(Guerrero, Cortez). MOTION PASSED

3. Request for Approval to submit FY26 Family Violence Prevention and Services/Domestic Violence

Shelter and Supportive Services/Grants to Native American Tribes (FVPSA) Grant with Resolution.

Constance Athayde, VSP Director

Ms. Athayde explained this is a formula grant, one they apply for every year and the last one they received

was $55,000. This grant is due at the end of the month, and they never know exactly how much they will

receive. It’s ano cash match grant.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the submission of the FY26 FVPSA Grant with resolution.

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

abstentions. MOTION PASSED. RESOLUTION NO.: PL 004-26 FVPSA GRANT

a. FY25 Impact Report.

Ms. Athayde explained this report is a compilation of her monthly reports which include the highlights of the

program. Pictured in the report is their 2-day Wellness in the Workplace training which was led by an

individual from the Blackfoot Reservation. Since COVID they've had challenges and experienced decline but

instead chose to focus on strengths and move forward. One of the issues was under-utilizing their funding,

The ARPA funding which was set to expire September 30, 2025. The funds had been sitting for four years and

had not been touched; the funds totaled over $350,000. It would be a poor reflection on the Tribe if they

didn’t use those funds. Additionally, staff possessed a wealth of knowledge that hadn’t been tapped into for

some time. To enhance productivity, they focused on both the office building and the personnel to make

improvements in efficiency. They have started to use a database with double encryption, and are hiring new

staff, and currently recruiting an Outreach Specialist. The building was in general disrepair, especially the

shelter which they used some of the funding for. A lot of the issues occurred during COVID when they were

holed up in their offices and weren’t doing much communication or data gathering. Everyone was gathering

their own data with no cohesion on sharing data and dependance on outdated methodologies which led to

their service delivery being more reactionary, waiting for someone to come into the office and asking for

assistance instead of reaching out to people and being more proactive. It keeps people in survivor mode

living from emergency to emergency rather than working on wellness activities. There were a lot of

impromptu happenings around events and outreach instead of planning for events. With data gathering and

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reporting, she started creating electronic copies along with paper. The policies and procedures were

outdated; they may have been applicable when the program started but things change so they're updating

them. They served 61 people in 2025, 30 received shelter, 1,499 days were in an emergency shelter (the

emergency shelter is transitional housing) which is their shelter or in a hotel, and transitional housing was

1,133 days. They have started counting all support and assistance they provide, to landlords and for clothing,

even a bottle of shampoo is counted. Total financial assistance was $81,076. Their budget for 2025 was

$1,836,359. She took their multi-year grants and divided them up, for example the Tribal Sexual Assault

Services grant is $1.2 million which she divided and in one year it was $396,000 that they could have utilized

but they haven’t been able to utilize the full funding at that amount. Donations are $18,000 and they are

currently trying to do a carryover so they can replace two of their three heaters. Some of the goals they have

for funding; one is to increase the transitional housing occupants and their services, she provided a report to

the Council before where this grant was awarded in 2022 and when she came on board in 2024, the funding

still had not been released to the Tribe due to various things. She was able to hire a transitional housing

advocate and to secure a 21-month extension. She was offered a 12-month extension, but she said they

needed the full 21-months. They are fostering collaboration with Tribal departments and have held eight

wellness meetings with them. Throughout the year they held five coordinated community response team

meetings and sponsored a two-day Wellness in the Office workshop. The departments that attended were

Victim Services, Human Services, Food Distribution, HR, Museum, Language and Culture, Numaga and the

Health Clinic. They are hoping to have another conference and hope to see all departments attend. She

stressed they are all a part of the Tribal government and as Tribal people they need to collaborate to survive.

They are working to increase the livability of the emergency shelter, they've replaced flooring throughout,

replaced appliances and replaced the parameter fence. They've also hired a maintenance staff person. They

cleaned the shelter so that it would be a safe healthy environment for their staff and people who come into

the facility. They recently secured $955,000 in funding and they’ve also been awarded the Tribal Victim Set-

Aside Funding which has not been released yet, the bill is now sitting on the President’s desk, Congress has

passed it. They anticipate it being signed; the amount will be around $230,000 and they will use it to continue

to improve the buildings, continue to improve their services and continue improving collaboration and

working with other departments. It was stressed the funding is great but not if it just sits there, they need to

share it, not just among the membership but with other departments and how they can work together. She

is doing her best to be a steward of the funding and looks forward to working with everyone.

Councilmember John asked if they had police dedicated to response and a response team. Ms. Athayde said

the one officer that normally worked with them has left the Tribe, but the funding is included for the

$900,000 to pay for a full-time police officer. Regarding the response team, they do show up sometimes, if

the Council wants to know who is able to attend or not, they have that information available.

4. Request for Emergency Detention Funding. Chris Parson, Chief of Police, PLPD and Mekala Montoya,

Tribal Court Administrator

Ms. Montoya said since their first submission, they have received 2025 October and December invoices which

makes the new total for detention services $117,683, which would cover from September to December. The

cost is $109 per inmate per day, the invoices break it down to how many days; the number of inmates can

fluctuate between seven and ten during the beginning of the year but in September through December it

went up to about ten to fifteen inmates because those were the mandatory minimums they were sentenced

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to. Councilmember John asked what misdemeanors have mandatory minimums. Ms. Montoyo said

mandatory minimums include domestic violence, and DUIs (second and third). They are the main ones,

mostly DUIs which are 90% and include .08 alcohol and any schedule one or two drug from the federal list.

When asked if they had a probation officer yet, Ms. Montoya said they didn’t but it’s still posted, she spoke

with the Chief of Police and HR and would like to change the description a little because it currently requires

a category one or two certificate and a lot of applicants won’t work for $20 an hour when they can go through

the academy instead.

Councilmember John asked if detention was added to the Police contract. Chairman Wadsworth said it was

and it’s already been expended. Ms. Montoya said they got $193,512 and shortfall is what she is requesting,

$117,683. Chief Parsons said they've already paid $195,000 for 2025 which was through August, they have

$18,000 remaining, the BIA shortened them by about $20,000 but due to the shutdown, it’s hard to look at

their records.

Councilmember Davis asked if they expended the opioid funding. Chairman Wadsworth said he would need

to get with the Comptroller, he doesn’t think so because when they did the budget last year, he made a point

to make sure they didn’t spend all of it. They used it to pay for two officers but not all the funding, he didn’t

want to use it all at once. He is not sure they can use it for detention services because there are stipulations

on the funds. Chief Parsons said he is not sure detention could possibly fit or be tied into if it’s some type of

treatment.

Councilmember Dunn asked if once they are released and come back to Court do they have to follow any type

of wellness court. Ms. Montoya said for DUIs, by law they have to attend AA meetings for one year, go to

substance abuse evaluations and DUI courses. There is also self-help which is stated by law which they take

as any cultural activity, talking circles or powwows, anything that will help mentally and spiritually. They

will be starting the wellness court back up in February but are using their own BIA funding for now so it

won't be full up and running, it’ll be two sessions a month and will alleviate a lot of their first-time DUIs.

Councilmember Cortez asked the Chairman is he’s reached out to BIA due to the fact this is an issue already.

Chairman Wadsworth said the three of them have reached out but they get nowhere because of the small

office in BIA at the Western Office, thinks they are down to seven employees currently and their law

enforcement representatives is back East. Chief Parsons said there is a Chief at the Western Nevada Agency

who supervises two or three officers in Winnemucca. They do not have detention officers at the Western

Nevada Agency. They did receive their FY26 funding which did have detention amount in it because it was

finally formalized. Sometimes the funding shows up right away or sometimes it’s piecemealed but as soon as

they start receiving that funding, they will start paying the back bills which could buy them some time to

work on this.

Chief Parsons said they are working on the $109 daily cost per inmate for Washoe County, Mr. Croxton with

Quarles & Brady is reviewing it but it will have the same paragraph regarding the waiver of limited

sovereignty for financial disputes. He provided copies of the finalized contract for the Washoe Tribe anda

copy of an unsigned contract with the Reno Sparks Indian Colony.

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Councilmember Dunn mention for the Council to consider in the future is a liquor tax. Councilmember John

said the Tribe already collects a liquor tax but doesn’t know what the Tribe uses it for. It was noted the

detention bill was initially brought to the Tribe in 2024. Chief Parsons said they paid $84,000 for detention

services August through December 2024, these funds were paid back to the Tribe from BIA, but it took six

months to receive, and they were able to pay for those services. They received the funds for this year but that

got them through August. Councilmember John said she remembers it was added to their contract without

the Tribe approving it, but she thought they retroceded that section, but they didn’t, they retroceded it back

to BIA because of funding issues. Chief Parsons said they attempted to do that, but the Council decided not to

retrocede it and to go with the offer from BIA because there were about six months in negotiation where they

weren't talking to them or any other tribe. This was done to all the tribes in this area all at one time and they

all banded together and got a hold of Senator Masto who was pivotal in trying to get BIA to negotiate because

they don’t negotiate. One of the issues is BIA Office of Justice Services has the Law Enforcement side and

there is a detention side. The detention side was telling the Law Enforcement side they couldn’t do this

anymore; they were not giving them any money and the tribes got caught in the middle. During that sixmonth period, they had several zoom meetings with BIA, Senator Mastos’ Office, and Senator Rosen’s office

negotiating. Finally, they said they didn’t have the money, it wasn’t budgeted for. In the past, somehow, they

were paying for it. They came up with a formula which they offered the Tribe which we were the first tribe

to get that offer, it was a significant amount. Not sure if this was the same amount offered to the other tribes.

When he brought it to the Council, he said back then that it wouldn’t be enough but it’s close but you also

can’t foresee crime. If you take the $193,000, it comes out to be $16,000 a month, there were months their

invoices were $11,000, $22,000, and unfortunately last summer it went over and they had to scramble to

figure out how to mitigate this. Instead of arresting people they were citing them into court because they

weren’t going to court the first time, so they gave them a citation, a second chance and sent them to inpatient

treatment instead of jail. Of course, at some point there were some individuals that burned up all their

chances, kept offending and at that point, according to the Law and Order Code, had to put them in jail. They

are still trying to figure out ways to mitigate. They are hoping they can get some language with Douglas

County that the Council will accept, that would be $55 a day instead of $109. It’s not something they would

enact for every arrest and take them down to Minden, but when someone sentenced to 30, 60, or 90 days,

they could move them down there. It’s a good facility because they have the tribe’s clinic and there are a lot

of resources for tribal inmates down there. Ms. Montoya said late fees are not mentioned in the contract.

Councilmember Dunn asked if there were any late fees incurred with the invoices. Chief Parsons said he

hadn’t seen any. Washoe County has been understanding and they're not pushing it, but he did let them know

he was waiting on funding and the last shutdown caused issues with BIA. Of course, they also don’t want the

amount to get too high, and it becomes unmanageable.

Vice Chairman Ely asked if they had to pay the bill in full or could they pay in installments. Chief Parsons said

he can pay a month at a time, but they don’t want to press their luck, right now they’re understanding. Vice

Chairman Ely asked if they had any funding coming in from NV Energy or is it still pending at BIA. Chairman

Wadsworth said they are ready to pay but due to a section in the agreement for double payment for

arrearages the language reads payment will be as soon as BIA approves but they are ready to pay the rest of

it. It’s a little confusing and he wanted to question Ms. Thomas about it while she was still working.

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Councilmember Sampson said she hasn’t seen these past due invoices and that’s the issue, invoices are

coming into the departments, and Finance is not seeing them and then they start getting past due

notifications about cut-offs due to non-payment. Ms. Montoya said the invoices are coming into Chief Parsons

office and he is trying to get them covered. They’ve been working with the Chairman but have to come to this

point where they know they don’t have the funds to cover them. Chairman Wadsworth added a lot of this is

at the good will of Washoe County. Councilmember Davis said they knew last summer this was coming, they

had a heads up this was coming. Councilmember Dunn asked if they could change the address to the Tribe’s

box instead of going directly to the Police Department. Chief Parsons said they were emailed to him, but he

could forward them on. Councilmember Davis said she doesn’t want to start overstepping their boundaries

as a Council, if it’s coming out of his funds, he should be the first one to know and prefers they leave it as is.

Ms. Montoya said maybe once he receives the invoices he can forward to Finance. There are disconnects on

both sides. Chief Parsons said they have been discussing this since September when the shutdown happened

which caused the delay and in October is when he started speaking with the Court to see if there was anyone

who could be released. He’s been meeting with the Chairman every couple of weeks to discuss and he’s been

meeting with Ms. Montoya to brainstorm where they can get the funding, but they just don’t have it in their

budgets. He’s already fronted funds from outside his funding; it was 638 funds out of the general fund not

the detention side just to get one month paid. They wanted to present this to the Council last month, but Ms.

Montoya couldn’t be in attendance, so it’s not something they've been waiting last minute to bring forward,

he’s been working with his supervisor, the Chairman.

Vice Chairman Ely asked if they didn’t approve the request and tabled it until the February 6, 2026, meeting

so the Chairman could get with the Comptroller, would that be adequate. Chief Parsons said he’s gotten no

hints or anything from Washoe County that they would be cutting them off and he thinks they are not close

to that yet. Chairman Wadsworth added they did just get some funding to apply but they have to draw it

down first because it just came in this week. They still need to talk with Finance and to research the Opioid

settlement to see what restrictions it has because that is another source of funding they can use. Chief

Parsons said in the long term, since this is the first full year of doing this with detention and seeing how it

works, going forward there should be a line item setup in the Court for the gap because in Law Enforcement,

what they get it from BIA is a good, but when you look at where the costs are coming from, it’s from sentenced

prisoners, from warrants issued from the Court. Logically, a line item set up in the Court's funding and if they

don’t use, it goes back to the General Fund at the end of the year, or they can keep it on the Law Enforcement

side for when they run short.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to table until the February 6, 2026, Regular meeting. Councilmember Dunn

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

PASSED.

Councilmember Cortez said he would like them to advocate for funding and to get the tribes with ITCN to

agree because he knows it’s frustrating but it’s something that needs to be done.

Councilmember John asked what NCAI said about this. Chairman Wadsworth said they didn’t speak about it,

but it could have been brought up in one of the sessions he wasn’t able to attend. It was brought up in 2024

where he spoke about and at that time Alaska was also dealing with the same situation along with Reno

Sparks Indian Colony. Councilmember John said if NCAI doesn’t advocate for the Tribe, they shouldn’t belong

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to the organization. Chairman Wadsworth said it was brought up during last year’s NCAI Winter Session

where Secretary of the Interior Bergum mentioned it as a problem but it’s obvious they haven’t done

anything to address it because it was one of his talking appoints about his experience as Governor of North

Dakota and saw the need for more law enforcement, more funding but here we are almost a year later and

they have seen little to no action.

Councilmember Davis said they may need to setup a Special meeting or a meeting to go over what funding

they do have because currently nobody knows where they are.

EXECUTIVE TEAM

1. Business Office. Benjamin John, Business Officer

Councilmember Dunn stepped out of chambers at 7:13 p.m.

Mr. John said he heard back from the attorney handling the BIA leasing and everything is currently with

BIA for review. There is no timeline, the attorney said they will contact him when they are done. He

informed his departments to complete their budget for 2026 using the same numbers as their 2025

budgets and there will be an increase in the benefits of 12% but they are not to add that into their 2025

budgets, that is just the ceiling, and the IDC rate will change sometime in the year.

a. Approval Hanneman Services LLC Towing License.

There was no discussion.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve towing license for Hanneman Services LLC. Councilmember Cortez

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

PASSED

Mr. John let the Council know the other company that comes out is Milne Towing and they just sent in their

general business license and not their towing license or fee. He called and left messages but no response yet

so at this point they are not licensed to be towing on the Reservation.

b. Approval of Liquor Licenses:

1) Papa’s Pizzeria

Mr. John said he completed the application and paid the fee.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the Liquor License for Papa’s Pizzeria. Councilmember Decker

seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and two (2) opposed (John, Cortez) with zero (0) abstentions.

MOTION PASSED

2) Enterprise Stores (I80 Smokeshop, Nixon Store and PL Marina Store).

There was no discussion.

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Councilmember Decker motioned to approve Liquor License for the Enterprise Stores. Vice Chairman Ely

seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and two (2) opposed (John, Cortez) with zero (0) abstentions.

MOTION PASSED

Councilmember John opposed it because she relies on that petition that came from the community, they don’t

want liquor on the Reservation due to all the issues it causes.

Chairman Wadsworth stated they had the discussion about what the Council talked about at their retreat, to

have some language or scope for the Enterprise Board by the February 20, 2026, Special Council meeting.

Councilmember Dunn returned to chambers at 7:18 p.m.

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

Ms. Ely-Mendes reported that regular work continues and not a lot has happened since they last met except

for an ongoing concern which is the maintenance of the bypass road due to not having any equipment in

Wadsworth. She will be starting talks with the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) to see if they

can get some of their surplus equipment. She ran this by Guinevere Hobby who is the Tribal Liaison and

was provided with a contact for her to call. If NDOT doesn’t have any surplus equipment they can use, they

can enter into an agreement where they can help with sanding and grading on bad weather days. Law

Enforcement reported the road gets slick and dangerous during inclement weather. Her departments got

their reports in, and they recently received an email from the Department of Government Efficiency for

Daycare, who needs more information about what the Tribe is using the funding for in the categories they

report and because the Tribe is a small allocation tribe, they only report direct services and quality services

they provide. This is happening all over the United States and on the 26" they are meeting with the ACF

people. They have all the information requested and have reported it on their 700 reports. All her Tribal

budgets look intact, they still have funds they can work with except for Numaga, which is at the running out

point but they’re hopeful the Council will get the budgets in so they can start working with them.

Councilmember Dunn said she mentioned a CHR, somebody to advocate and work with the elders, checking

their vitals and doing home assessments. Ms. Ely-Mendes said it would be helpful to have a CHR working

either out of the clinic or if they had funding for a CHR but she did talk to April Shaw, Grants Administrator,

and she has information on a grant for CHR assistance but the grant hasn’t opened yet but will put in for it

when it does. Out of the members that passed, for three of them they called EMS to conduct wellness

checks. The delivery drivers are checking the elders and if they have concerns about when they drop their

food off, they make sure they get a follow up.

Vice Chairman Ely said Ms. Athayde, Victim Services Program, mention she had extra funds and wanted to

collaborate, is there a possibility they could use some of that funding for a CHR. Ms. Athayde said they

would have to do amod and a job description. It would have to be somebody working with elder abuse,

prevention rather than a medical position. Vice Chairman Ely asked the Chairman, you had a good

relationship with Ms. Hobby and Zachary Shaw, at their retreat it was a strong consensus the Council would

like to meet with NDOT and their representatives for not only the maintenance of the bypass issue, there is

also the issue along the lake, an issue with all the traffic coming through, it’s a big concern. Ms. Ely-Mendes

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said she talked to Ms. Hobby already about it and she’s given her a link where she can get traffic studies on

Sate Route (SR) 445, 446 and 447, and they can set up a meeting for the Council, for this government to tell

them they would like to see them do something.

Councilmember Davis said now that it was brought up in the retreat, she thinks it was a consensus of those

that were in attendance that they ask the Tribal Chairman to do that which is something they put on him as

the leadership of the people. Chairman Wadsworth said they were in contact with her especially after the

last meeting with the car counters. Ms. Ely-Mendes said they had them out there on the road, but she hadn't

seen them. Chairman Wadsworth said he will be following up with Ms. Ely-Mendes on this one and they

have been in constant communication with them over the past several weeks.

Councilmember Sampson said in regard to the CHR, her concern is HIPPA and something they can

coordinate with the Health Clinic Director because the Health Board talk about it. Chairman Wadsworth

said they've had those conversations previously about two years now since they've had a CHR department

and as they discussed with Council last year it is a part of the funding agreement which lists something they

provide, and they are not.

Councilmember Davis added in their last collaboration meeting they had the previous week at the Housing

Department, Dawna Brown, Health Director brought it up as a concern with the staff who want to bring

back the CHR program. With the Chairman following up with the Director, it will get it moving forward. Ms.

Ely-Mendes said right now they are dealing with not only the care of elderly but the general public and

young people who are not taking care of themselves and falling ill, they have people coming home from the

hospital who would appreciate somebody stopping and checking in on them.

COMPTROLLER. Shelley Harjo, Comptroller

Ms. Harjo provided an overview of what is going on in the Finance Department. The foundation is starting

to be rebuilt; staff is starting to work together and communication with the departments is starting to

increase. Bills are getting paid and payroll issues are coming together. They've come a long way since she

was last in front of the Council and Treasurer Sampson can attest to seeing the difference. She put in her

report there are several contracts she wanted and proposed was the management of the files in the O:

drive, they’re inundated with files that are redundant and it’s hard to keep track of what current data is.

She is following up on a request for a quote to talk to someone on what it would cost but understands that

it’s a ow cost contract. They did have a contract for AP through Tribal Consulting, but they pulled out in

December. She would like to continue with the contractor they had in accounts payable who was helping

with the workload for vendor reconciliation. Like the issue with Chief Parsons where Finance is not getting

the invoices. The Police Department is just one example. She just received one from the City of Fallon, they

have a past due from July of $55,000 and then as of December it was now up to $67,000 which tells her the

reconciliation of the vendor is not being done. She is pushing for the vendor statements to come to Finance

and respectfully, the departments should know their anticipated expenses because they provided a budget.

Purchase orders are a good tool, but they haven't been using them efficiently, she would like to bring that

contractor back to continue the vendor reconciliation for the department because the staff is still doing

backlog work. There are some that are being done but there are so many accounts the Tribe has that it’s

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January 16, 2026, Special minutes

just a lot of backlog work. She would like the contractor to come back and assist with those reconciliations

and with 1099 reporting which will take a lot of general ledger analysis to ensure they are setting out the

1099s to who they need to be going. Francesca Maipi has the experience, and she would like to keep her on

to upload by the deadline of January 31st. They are negotiating a small contract which she wants to

continue. Tribal Consulting submitted a new invoice which they are working on which was received on

January 13*, they hope to get that paid and get the deliverables that they are being billed for. Finally, the

2026 budget, what she is asking for is a continuing resolution for the first quarter and use the 2025 levels

for the first quarter of 2026 until they can get better numbers and the reconciliation done. This would

allow them to start entering 2026 expenses, currently they are holding onto them. They have departments

who are requesting purchase orders, and they are unable to issue any until the budget is in the system.

Councilmember Davis asked how the checks are getting into the system for 2026. Ms. Harjo said they are

not cutting any for 2026, what they are doing is postdating the 2025 expenses in 2025 and then cutting the

checks in 2026 so the checks the Council has signed are for old invoices that are still outstanding. There are

still 2025 expenses still out there and that is why she doesn’t feel comfortable giving the Council budget

amounts. There is one vendor, the City of Fallon, which has a delinquent invoice in the amount of $67,000

with the last December statement and that is just one vendor. The departments are aware and they still

have invoices coming in.

Councilmember Davis said in the report that it says the vendors will send everything directly to Finance

and if it’s a large vendor and there are six or seven departments using that vendor, does the Finance

personnel know to whom the billing goes. Ms. Harjo said the purchase order would identify with the fund

code. Councilmember Davis said in the report it states she has instructed staff to call the bigger vendors to

change the address to the administration with attention the Finance Department. How do the department

supervisors know if billing is coming out to them? Ms. Harjo clarified that one of the bigger vendors is

Staples Advantage where the balance is around $16-17,000, for those vendors they are asking for the

invoices to be mailed to them. These invoices they can investigate who they belong to and then reach out to

the department. Vice Chairman Ely added there must be absolute communication from the Finance to the

Directors because the directors can say it went to Finance because he has experienced this issue with

United Rentals. He was getting the invoices, signing them, giving them to Johnnie Garcia to submit and then

the Finance was getting the invoice and forwarding them to their department. Ms. Harjo said she has seen

this with NV Energy, they’re specific to each department. Communication is vital both ways, staff need to

send out invoices right away and if departments haven't received anything then they need to ask where

their invoice is. Currently Francesca Maipi is dealing with those invoices, and she is training staff to do what

Ms. Maipi is doing, train the trainer but it’s just a lot of learning what needs to be done because they haven't

been told now to do the job.

Councilmember Dunn said Tribal Consulting was supposed to be providing those services, correct? Ms.

Harjo said it’s not clear in the contract, it just says training, this is something she wanted to be identified

with, what training, payroll, accounts payable, what type of training were they providing because from

what she’s observed there hasn’t been any training, so the contract is pretty vague. Councilmember Davis

said when they made the contract, it was bare bones with the Finance staff, so the contract was to assist

with anything and everything they could help them with, and the training was with staff they didn’t have.

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Councilmember Wadsworth said on the resolution there is no appropriations committee which should be

the Executive Team.

Councilmember John asked what the dollar amount is. Ms. Harjo said there is no dollar amount, it’s the

same as the 2025 budget. Chairman Wadsworth added this is just for the first quarter while the Finance

Department gets everything up and running. Councilmember Decker asked if there is an ending date until

the end of March 31, 2026. Councilmember Davis said she agreed with Councilmember Decker, if Ms. Harjo

recommends the first quarter, they put it in this budget and if they need to revise after that, they can revise

but at least it gives the departments the first quarter to start moving forward.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the Continuation Resolution with amending the third WHEREAS from

Appropriations Committee to the Executive Team, and to add the timeline up to March 31, 2026.

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

abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Councilmember Davis asked the Chairman about the contractor they had in Finance, are they coming back

or not. Chairman Wadsworth said Ms. Harjo reached out to them because there were some questions on the

invoice, they just received from them but they’re hoping for something next week.

CHAIRMANS REPORT

Chairman Wadsworth started his report off with department and community parties that occurred and

recognized Dehan Dominguez and Susie Albright for assisting the Tribal Secretary during the Christmas

event, congratulations to Billie Jean Guerrero for her Tourism Award this year, Harrison Eben who received

aJOM Program award, to Johnnie Garcia for completing the Wadsworth Bypass which is about ready to close

out and for getting the bus barn up and running and the Executive Team for purchasing pizza for the staff.

The Council was provided a breakdown of the Chairman’s budget and with what was discussed at the retreat

about a change in the administration in paying for a Vice Chairman position and moving back to a Tribal

Administrator. Also included for the Council to review was the job description for the Vice Chairman which

needs to be updated. The Vice Chairman’s position because it’s an elected position is 50/50 direct/indirect

funds. It will cost an extra $80,669 in general funds and an additional amount for indirect to add the one

position to the new budget. The Chairman’s budget for direct and indirect is a total of $468,982 with the

addition if they paid the Vice Chairman. They’ve also had to update the grade and steps with the Vice

Chairman position starting at step three. The Council will have to go through the organizational chart

together to determine what departments will go under each position. The ones currently under the Chairman

are the Police Department, Health Clinic, and Natural Resources.

Councilmember Dunn asked if they scheduled the meeting with Nevada Skys about the lease. Chairman

Wadsworth said no because he only had a small update with Shea Crossland, Nevada Skys, which he put in

his other report. Councilmember Cortez said he was notified the staff were given plans that they should

anticipate traveling for the next two years so it sounds like they are not going to be open. Another item

mentioned at the retreat was the right of way for the railroad in Storey County. Chairman Wadsworth said

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January 16, 2026, Special minutes

he hasn’t been able to address that one yet. He will be updating the Council on Head Start in Executive session,

after their closed meeting with ITCN and they are asking for a follow-up meeting.

Councilmember Davis said she would like the Chairman to recognize the Enterprise Manager, Charmayne

George and for her staff for their assistance from for various events up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. With

the Food Distribution staff, they put on Thanksgiving Dinner at the gym. Chairman Wadsworth agreed that

Ms. George and her staff have contributed a lot to community events.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

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

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

moved into Executive Session at 8:00 p.m.

Per the Tribal Council Meeting Policy, Councilmember Guerrero was put in the waiting room on zoom.

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 9:09 p.m.

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

Councilmember Cortez motioned to direct the Chairman to write a letter to ITCN regarding ITCN Headstart

Program to Submit Grant Funding. Vice Chairman Ely 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 Dunn made a motion to adjourn the

meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Sampson. Votes taken were all in favor, motion

carried.

The meeting adjourned at 9:11 p.m.

Submitted by,

hud dad Alcan

Brenda A. Henry

Tribal Council Secretary

CERTIFICATION

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

January 16, 2026, Special minutes

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

Lake Paiute Tribe, at a meeting duly held on the 20% day of February 2026, having ten (10) members

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

ABSTENTIONS.

Minutes attested and concurred by: ZA 7 JME

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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