Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2025)

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

Post Office Box 256

Nixon, Nevada 89424

Telephone: (775) 574-1000

Fax (775) 574-1054

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

Tribal Chambers ~ Nixon, NV

February 7, 2025, Regular

Members Present:

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman Edward Ely III, Vice Chairman

Loren Decker, Councilmember Judith Davis, Councilmember

Nathan Dunn, Councilmember Georgina Wadsworth, Councilmember

Nicholas Cortez, Councilmember John Guerrero, Councilmember

Della John, Councilmember Ceira Sampson, Councilmember

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Wadsworth called the February 7, 2025, Regular Tribal Council meeting of the Pyramid Lake

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

ROLL CALL

Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Secretary, took roll call. All Councilmembers were present, and a quorum was

established for this meeting.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Chairman Wadsworth presented the agenda for the February 7, 2025, Regular Council meeting noting two

additions to New Business. Item #5 Selection of two (2) Councilmembers to attend the NDOT Engagement

meeting on February 27, 2025, at 10am in the Tribal Chambers and item #6 Request for Approval to purchase

a truck for the Tribal Recreation Department.

Councilmember Decker requested to add a discussion on restoring a beach, a map was handed out to the

Councilmembers for reference.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the agenda with additions. Councilmember Davis seconded the

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

PUBLIC COMMENT

Chairman Wadsworth read a card from Joanne Sanchez, “Dear Pyramid Lake Tribal Council, it was important

that I take a moment to thank you, the Councilmembers and all those who helped in getting the economic

stimulus money to us. I know sending a card is terribly old fashioned these days. Just bear with me! As a

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 7, 2025, Regular minutes

grandmother caring for a grandchild. It’s nice to feel a sense of relief from the cost-of-living pressure. Bless

you All, Sincerely Joanne Sanchez.”

CONSENT AGENDA

Following items presented on the Consent Agenda:

1. Approval Individual Donation Requests:

a. Adones Hernandez b. Ryker Hernandez

2. Approval Quarles & Brady December 2024 Invoice #6830634

3. Approval Enrollment Applications (4) - Regular Membership with Resolution

4. Approval Ratification of Poll Votes:

a. Elder Energy Request Karen Moore

b. Elder Energy Request Billie Jean Guerrero

Councilmember Guerrero wanted to pull item #4b because he abstained on the poll vote. Councilmember

Davis thought he didn’t need to pull it because this is just the ratification of the poll votes for the record.

Councilmember Guerrero pulled his request.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion.

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

Chairman Wadsworth welcomed the newly approved Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal members: Joseph Andrew

Blackowl-Vasquez, Aria Grace Traylor, Emanuel Walter Washington, and Layla Washington.

Joanne Shaw, Enrollment Officer, stated the Tribal enrollment was currently at 3,027 members.

Councilmember Davis introduced her great grandson, Andrew, who was just approved for enrollment, he

will be two months old on February 11,

Chairman Wadsworth said it’s nice to go back through the minutes to see who was on the Council when he

was enrolled into the Tribe, he saw that Councilmember Della John’s mother was on the Council and seeing

her for many days during his three years at the Senior Center was nice.

MINUTES

1. Approval of Minutes:

a. January 3, 2025, Regular Outgoing

Vice Chairman Ely had a correction noting he was documented twice on the roll call. Councilmember

Wadsworth was missing from the roll call.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the January 3, 2025, Regular Outgoing minutes with corrections.

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

(0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

b. January 3, 2025, Regular Incoming

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February 7, 2025, Regular minutes

Vice Chairman Ely was documented twice on the roll call with Councilmember Wadsworth added.

Councilmember Sampson noted Chairman Phoenix was not changed to Chairman Wadsworth during the

call to order. Councilmember Davis noted on page 12 there were only three Councilmembers named during

the opposition vote instead of the five that opposed, missing two Councilmember names.

Councilmember Dunn motioned to table the January 3, 2025, Regular Incoming minutes. Councilmember

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

MOTION PASSED

PRESENTATION

1. 2024 Election Cycle Review & Secretary of State Overview. Cal Boone, Tribal Outreach Coordinator,

NV Secretary of State’s Office

Mr. Boone explained he will be providing an overview of the 2024 General Election and the Tribal turnout as

well as a brief overview of the other divisions and services within the Secretary of State’s Office. The turnout

at the Tribal polling locations throughout the State was 6,173. For Tribal land precincts the turnout was

43,197 which is approximately 36% increase from 2022 and that was double the 18% statewide increase

over the same period. Over the last two years the Native vote has steadily increased. As they reformat their

Voter Registration and Election Management Solution (VREMS) Project, voter data is currently submitted by

each county to their office but going forward they will be doing a top down approach so all data is

consolidated in one location and from there they will be able to pull more precise data to get a better picture

of what things look like, in this case what the Native vote would look like. However, they are still trying to

get creative by figuring out the data from their Native urban areas. The 43,197 number is looking at

reservations and colonies across the State to see how much of the rural Native population is voting. In the

2024 General Election, they had three new Tribal Polling locations at Battle Mountain Band Council, Lovelock

Paiute Tribe, and Stewart Community Council. The Tribal Polling locations’ early vote total was 2,142 votes

and the Tribal polling locationsElection Day total was 3,758. The Tribal Polling locations Dropbox total was

212 and the EASE Tribal turnout total was 61. Beverly Harry, a community member from Pyramid Lake, was

noted as being the first Tribal person to use the EASE system. The EASE system was passed during the 2023

Legislative Session to expand EASE to Tribal citizens that live on a reservation or colony. Of course, this is

nota catch all because of the issues with broadband and internet access. They are promoting the EASE system

for not only voting but for other services to allow for Tribal access. When he was doing a presentation at

Pyramid Lake he was asked if more Tribal members used the online EASE voting system, would that give the

State a reason to take away the Tribal Polling locations, it won’t happen because it is a part of Senate Bill 327,

passed in the 2023 Legislative session that mandates the Counties have to establish polling locations on

Tribal lands unless the Tribe ops out. For the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s Early Voting Polling location at the

Administration building, there were 206 people who voted, on Election Day there were 118 people who

voted and at Natchez Elementary School there were 199 voters, for a total of 523 voters at these locations

during the 2024 General Election. In his position one of his priorities was to create outreach materials for

the communities that didn’t exist before. One of the outreach items was a visual interactive map of the polling

locations across the State where members could click on a site for further information. One link is for the

weather in rural areas so they can plan to decide if they are going to make the trip to vote. Additionally, he

has outreach materials for Tribal poll workers, the EASE online voting system and a breakdown of poll

locations. For the Counties there is a Tribal ID reference for the Tribal IDs across the State for the poll

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workers to reference in their training and polls. There should never be a question whether a Tribal ID is an

accepted ID when someone is registering to vote for the first time. Tribal IDs are federally recognized. He

had an experience at the airport where the TSA agent didn’t want to accept his Tribal ID, which is the reason

he created the link to reference.

Councilmember Della John commented she worked as a poll worker before, and the Tribe’s location is helpful

to a lot of non-Indian ranchers that live close to the California line north of the Reservation and also Natives

who live in the Reno/Sparks area who come out to vote.

Mr. Boone said when he talks about polling locations with other Tribes, he uses Pyramid Lake as an example

because the Reservation is the only one that has two polling locations, the Tribal Administration building,

and Natchez Elementary School. Also, when it comes to distance, at the Yomba location, there were people

who preferred to vote at the Yomba site rather than making the drive into Tonopah.

Leona Collins, a Tribal member, asked Mr. Boone to expound on TSA for not accepting Tribal IDs. She knows

of two incidents where Tribal member’s IDs weren't accepted.

Mr. Boone said from personal experience, no matter where he is flying whether instate or out of state, he

knows he can show his driver’s license but prefers to show his Tribal ID because it’s a sense of power and

sovereignty. Usually, he doesn’t have issues but when he gets a new TSA agent, he understands they didn’t

get the proper training. Moving on to an overview of the Secretary of State’s office, in their commercial

recordings division, they process and file documents with the State which includes for profit, nonprofit

corporations, business trusts, and partnerships. This office also includes filing and processing of trademarks,

trade names, service marks, uniform commercial code and any business licensing will be funneled through

this division. He is pulling together a list of Tribal interest bills, so they are prepared going into session. If

anyone has any public comments to forward to him. Currently, there is one bill Assembly Bill 190 which is

revising the provisions regarding Tribal judges. The Document Preparation Services, Domestic Partnership

Registry and Nevada Lock Box Section. Document Preparation is someone who prepares, translates, or

submits documents on behalf of a client that is managed through their office. Domestic Partnerships is where

there is a legal contract between two people, like a married couple. The Nevada Lock Box, which is free of

charge, is an electronic repository where you can share advanced directives, a will and testament that only

certain people have access to, they can store them in the Lock Box. With their Election Division, they have

two committees, the Advisory Committee Participatory on Democracy and the Youth Advisory Task Force,

both were established to help guide their office and to provide guidance on what can be done better to

support the needs of Nevadans. When the two committees were created, they included both a rural and

Native representation on both committees. There is also the Confidential Address program, this program

helps victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking from being located by their

perpetrator through public records. Anyone who enters the Confidential Address program, any public

records would be scrubbed of their current address and it would be left blank. There is the Executive

Administration who are the professional staff who lead the other divisions and provide guidance. There is

the Notary Division who provides the witnesses and certifies the signing of legal documents, they also

provide the training for notaries in the State. Lastly is the Securities Division, they are the Regulatory

Enforcement Division who register securities and licensing within Nevada, and are the investigators who

provide recommendations to the Attorney General’s office.

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2. Victim Services Program Information. Constance Athayde, Victim Services Program

Ms. Athayde asked Councilmember Cortez to pronounce the name of the program, “Tamme Pea Nobe” which

is the name of the shelter, and she advised the Council she will be back at some point to extend the name to

the program. The program’s Vision statement, “The Pyramid Lake Victim Services Program envisions a safe,

secure community where all members are held sacred, where life is lived without fear, and all pursue their

dreams of a bright future.” The Mission statement, “Pyramid Lake Victim Services program mission is to

promote a safe and secure community by developing and providing quality services and resources that

promote victim healing, recovery and community awareness.” With the given mission she would like to

emphasize more of the healing, the recovery, and the community awareness and not so much of just waiting

for victims or survivors to come in the door and doing only emergency services. Looking at the statistics and

their program, it shows them doing emergency services and she would like to do more with recovery and

healing. They have staff in the building seven days a week and there is also a fax and phone. They also have

an after-hours emergency cell phone which rotates through the staff once a month. She asked public safety

and the EMTs to call the emergency line because they have gotten into the habit of calling the same two

people who also need a break. Her staff includes herself, Jolyn Sander (interim Coordinator), Erin Dunagan

(Legal Advocate), Ari Florez (Sexual Assault Advocate), Elizabeth Lekington (Shelter Advocate), Arena Tapija

(Administrative Assistant), and two positions that are currently vacant, the Transitional Housing Advocate

and Shelter Advocate. She requested the posting of the shelter advocate but is waiting to get on the Personnel

Committee for the Transitional Housing Advocate to update the job description which hasn’t been updated

since 2010. She would like to recognize the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, who started the Victim Services

Program in 1998 before any federal funding was available to Tribes, the Tribe is a pioneer with this program.

They provide services to primary and secondary victims of crime. Secondary victims are usually children,

but it could also be anyone in the home who is impacted, grandmother, aunts or nieces who were there and

saw what happened and is impacted and dependent on the primary victim. Services are available to victims

of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking and stalking, without regard to race,

color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability. It’s the law and

hopefully none of it changes. They do not discriminate, if someone has a need and they go to them, they

provide the services. They serve non-Natives and Natives, enrolled or non-enrolled, they serve everyone.

There are stipulations they must follow: victimization must have occurred six months before they came to

Victim Services, this can be difficult at times because sometimes they come to them one year afterwards and

they are not able to assist them. They can make referrals but not provide direct assistance. If they need to

talk to someone though, they can assist them for that. She had recently had someone who wanted cultural

supplies, even though they were not an active client, they were able to assist with supplies since they had

them on hand. Sexual assault has other stipulations in the grant that they can provide. They work with the

National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and she provided a link for more information about Victims

Against Women Action (VAWA). Their funding and guidance come from the Family Violence Prevention and

Services Act (FVPSA) which was signed into law in 1984. Funding comes from the US Department of Health

& Human Services (DHHS) and is a formula grant which means she uses enrollment numbers for the Tribe

and submits it in the grant and funding is based on the number of members. The Violence Against Women

Act (VAWA) which became law in 1994 was reauthorized in March 2022. This means she needs to review

the Law & Order Code because there have been changes made. This funding is through the Department of

Justice, OVW. In 1988 there was an amendment to the Victims of Crime Act where the funding comes from

fines, penalties that are paid by criminals, big action suits and are divided among various entities. These are

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the three main areas where they get their funding. Keep in mind if anyone has been charged, not convicted,

but charged with any crimes, they cannot assist them. It is a barrier when they want to also help abusers to

find services for them because they need help too. They provide emergency shelter whether at a hotel or

their Tribal shelter, assist with food and clothing, provide transportation to hospitals and stay with them at

the hospital, if needed, they can assist with a TPO, provide transportation to work, school, court, mental

health appointments, they try to eliminate all barriers for the survivor receiving services. They provide peer

counseling, and emergency financial assistance to ensure safety, employment, and housing. They have a

transitional housing program which has its own guidelines, there is an application that needs to be

completed, and they will work with the client because it is amuch more structured program than the regular

victim services. They have support groups to connect people with other healing modalities. They assist with

relocation, buying a bus or plane ticket but it is difficult, since they must ensure it is during business hours

so they can get to the finance office and confirm there are funds on the credit card. Anyone can become a

victim of domestic violence, it doesn’t matter what job you hold, she has helped doctors and lawyers, anyone

can become a victim. All the services are voluntary, and all services may not be appropriate for everyone. It’s

important to know they cannot reach out to victims or survivors, they cannot contact them without their

permission, they cannot share information unless they get that permission from the victim. She has been

asked about the referral process and there is none because of this reasoning. Same thing for elders and child

abuse, the victim must make that call. It has been found that if they call the victim and the abuser is there, it

is more dangerous for them and also people are not fully engaged with their healing or change unless they

want to be, there are some who are stuck in a cycle and are not ready to break away. They can’t share

information, and they can’t confirm or deny. They do recognize that substance abuse and mental health go

hand in hand with being a victim and they do not use that as a barrier, they can’t force people to get help or

force them into treatment or to stop using alcohol or drugs, but they can educate them.

Councilmember Della John asked if they worked with the Police Department to train officers who respond to

incidents. Ms. Athayde said they do, and they can assist with funding if they need to go for training or to

conferences.

Councilmember Dunn asked when they have their events, could they schedule it for Thursdays since the

Council doesn’t have any meetings on that day so he could attend.

Councilmember Cortez liked that the Victim Services program provided them a presentation about their

program.

Councilmember Dunn asked what type of engagements they would be having with the community. Ms.

Athayde said more networking with the Tribe and the different programs. They are working with the

Language Program and the Parks and Recreation Department doing the Healing Circles. She also has an

alternative therapist that comes on every other Wednesday who leads breathing and mediation, and she has

put out a call to local vendors for activities.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Selection of Pyramid Lake Tax Commission vacancy (1 vacancy).

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Councilmember Davis asked what the term limits were for the commission because the applicant said she

served three terms limits. Councilmember Wadsworth, speaking for the Tax Department, responded that

the term limits are for three years.

There was one applicant: Carla Molino with an option to repost. By ballot, the Council chose Carla Molino to

fill the one vacancy on the Tax Commission with a vote of five and the option for repost received four votes.

2. Selection Pyramid Lake Tribal Health Board (2 vacancies).

There were seven (7) applicants: Don Pelt, Harriet Brady, Elena Sanchez, Carolyn Harry, Karen Hernandez,

Shari Williams, Francesca Maipi with an option to repost. By ballot, the Council chose Francesca with four

votes, there was a 4-way tie between Harriet Brady, Elena Sanchez, Karen Hernandez and repost, all

receiving three votes. Chairman Wadsworth broke the tie and chose Karen Hernandez to fill the second

open vacancy. Don Pelt received 0 votes, Carolyn Harry, and Shari Williams both received one vote.

Leona Collins, a Tribal member, made the comment that there were a lot of applicants and can’t understand

why some voted to repost. It’s the Councils choice but seems strange to her. Chairman Wadsworth said it’s

by secret ballot, but he understands her comment.

3. Request for Approval Pyramid Lake Police Department Acceptance Bureau of Indian Affairs

(BIA) - Office of Justice Services (OJS) Detention Services Contract Option 1 Funding with

Resolution. Chris Parson, Chief of Police, Pyramid Lake Police Department

Chief Parsons explained for the new Councilmembers, this is a continuation of the discussion from the

December 20, 2024, Council meeting reference funding from the BIA for detention services. The BIA gave

them two options for detention. The Council decided to go with option one since the funding is in addition

to the current contract, but they require a resolution to go along with it. He thinks BIA will attach it to the

current contract which has one more year to go before it is renewed. The funding amount is $193,512 and

will include the resolution.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve BIA-OJS Detention Services Contract Option 1 Funding with

Resolution. Councilmember Sampson seconded the motion.

Councilmember Della John thought they voted to retrocede this part of the detention because of the way

they added it to our contract without the Council’s approval. She doesn’t remember voting for option one.

Chairman Wadsworth said it was earlier in the year. Chief Parsons said it took effect July 15 so it would

have been June 1°5t.

Votes were eight (8) for and one (1) opposed (Della John) with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

RESOLUTION NO.: PL 008-25 BIA-OJS DETENTION SERVICES CONTRACT

4. Request for Approval of PROTECT Grant submission through Nevada Department of

Transportation (NDOT). Sherry Ely-Mendes, Program Office and Laura Wise, NDOT Grants Writer

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Ms. Mendes explained she received a call from NDOT a couple of weeks ago regarding the State Route (SR)

446 erosion issues, just pass the block house and two areas around Sandhole Beach. Pictures were

provided to the Council to show what they look like. During the initial flooding in 2017, NDOT did a good

job shoring these areas up, but it is now getting dangerously close to falling in. Laura Wise will further

explain the specifics, but NDOT is asking the Tribe for permission to sign off on a grant, they will do all the

work and write the grant. The grant shears off 20% of a match for the grant which the State probably

doesn’t have and the Tribe doesn’t have either but the Tribes get 100%, so the goal is to partner with them

and allow them to write the grant but the Tribe will have to go through the steps to get a memorandum of

agreement (MOA) of how that is going to look if it gets funded.

Councilmember Davis asked for clarification if the Tribe was writing the grant and for clarification on the

20 and 100 percentages. Ms. Ely said NDOT would be writing the grant, but they will be asking the Council

to give Chairman Wadsworth authority to sign the grant as the Tribe and it will be submitted as a Tribal

grant. Ms. Mendez explained if it’s a non-Tribal agency, they must a pay 20% match, if it’s a tribal agency,

there is no match, the Tribe is doing it on behalf of them. It’s a partnership to save the Lake from having

road material falling into the lake.

Ms. Wise explained she is the Assistant Chief of Multimodal Program Development for Planning and

oversees the grants program. After looking at NOFOS for grant funding she came across the Protect Grant

for relocating SR 446 and this grant checks all the boxes. They hired a consultant to start looking for

opportunities for this grant and it came up in a discussion that if the Tribe could be the lead agency, they

could get this funding covered 100% and NDOT has already committed the funding for the consultant to

write the grant. They are also committed to paying for the design right away and construction of the

project. They are hoping the Tribe will approve the submission of the grant and be the lead agency. If they

get awarded the grant, they will set up a cooperative agreement where they would invoice the Tribe, and

the Tribe would provide the funds. NDOT will take responsibility for paying for the design and construction

and the Tribe will pay them back with the funds from the grant. The first step in the process is to get the

grant application in and once they get a draft ready, they will provide it to the Council for review and they

will load it into grants.gov.

Vice Chairman Ely asked how much funding will the grant be for and will be it funneled through the Tribe’s

Finance Department? Ms. Wise said $17.4 million is what they will be asking for. Ms. Mendes said she is

envisioning it will work exactly like the grant that they got for the multi-use walking path. The Tribe

received the funds because it was under the Tribe’s name and NDOT put in the other half as a match. Once

the project was done, The Tribal Finance Department wrote them a check.

Councilmember Della John asked when they do the grant application to include the TERO fee that the

construction must pay the Tribe. Ms. Wise said it is a part of their estimate. Ms. Mendes said it was

completed in the last grant, then a memorandum providing procedures and everyone’s responsibilities was

drawn up.

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Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the submission of the PROTECT Grant. Councilmember Decker

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

PASSED

Councilmember Della John asked if they would modify the right-of-way there. Ms. Wise said yes, the goal is

to move the road as far and safely away as possible from the edge, so they don’t have to relocate it again.

Ms. Mendes added it would be a plus for the walking path project because they were concerned about it

being so far from the main road. Councilmember Della John mentioned that area is where they count their

AUMs on that side of the road. Ms. Wise said that was mentioned in their first coordination meeting, but

they are at 30% design now and there is still a lot of coordination to be done with the Tribe to ensure what

they put out there is going to work for everyone.

Councilmember Davis also mentioned that it is about where they had the temporary road when SR447 was

out.

Councilmember Dunn mentioned an overhanging branch by the Smokeshop, wondering if they could do

anything about that. He has pictures he can forward. Ms. Wise said that would be their District Two

Maintenance Manager. Chairman Wadsworth asked for the pictures be forwarded to him so they can make

contact.

5. Selection of Two (2) Councilmembers to attend an NDOT Engagement Meeting. Trisha Connor,

Executive Office

Ms. Conner said NDOT reached out to the staff about scheduling an engagement meeting with the Rural

Liaison and the Tribal Liaison. This meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 27, 2025, at 10am in the

Tribal Chambers. They have already invited the Roads Department, Transportation Planning, Business

Office, Executive Office, the Chairman and the Housing Authority. NDOT would also like to have two Tribal

Councilmembers attend the meeting. This meeting is to open dialogue and to communicate what the Tribe’s

priorities when it comes to roads with NDOT and to establish points of contact. NDOT will provide an

overview of the project process, from concept, funding, construction, completion and sustainability.

Vice Chairman Ely, Councilmembers Davis, Guerrero, Cortez, and Sampson will attend.

Councilmember Della John said it would be important to have the accident data, this is data that Burning

Man uses. A lot of the young people have been killed on that highway due to the soft shoulders or for

whatever reason. It would help also because they are using SR 446 as a bypass road whenever something

happens on the freeway.

Vice Chairman Ely said that is also his concern because NDOT does have documentation of how many times

the freeway is closed between Fernley and Reno and our SRs becomes a freeway. This is going to be a very

important discussion.

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Councilmember Della John also mentioned the increased truck traffic of sludge or whatever material it is

that comes through here, as well as a new lithium mine.

Ms. Mendes said she had just met with a gentleman from a Kiewit, a Development Group, and he brought

her information regarding the widening of I-80 between Sparks and USA Parkway. She let him know that

when they are designing and doing their traffic study plan for the project, they need to consider the road

will be shut down to one lane and the traffic will be coming through the Reservation on the SRs.

6. Request for Approval to Purchase a Truck for the Tribal Recreation Department. Trisha Connor,

Executive Office

Ms. Conner explained she is following up on this request for the Council to approve the purchase of a truck

for the Tribal Recreation Department. This would utilize the Nevada Department of Native American

Affairs, American Rescue Act Funds that was sub awarded to the Tribe last year in February in the amount

of $714,000. The original application that the Council approved was for the purchase of two JOM vans, two

public utility trucks and a grader. So far, they purchased two vans, a grader and one of the PUD trucks.

These were purchased with the advanced funding. They are currently waiting for the remainder of the

funds to come in and they will purchase the second PUD truck. After this purchase they will have about

$55,000 remaining, which is plenty of funding with the quotes that were obtained back in December 2024

to purchase the recreation vehicle for the Parks and Recreation Department without using Tribal funds. All

the vehicles purchased were less than the estimates so they will have funding available but because the

Recreation’s vehicle was not in the original application, she is seeking approval from the Council to

purchase the truck.

Councilmember Dunn asked if the vehicle was just for the Recreation Department or the Parks and

Recreation Department. Ms. Conner confirmed it was for the Parks and Recreation Department. It will be

used for the cemetery, cleaning up of parks because they only have the van now, its awkward putting trash

and tools in a van versus using a truck.

Vice Chairman Ely motioned to approve the purchase of a truck for the Recreation Department using the ARPA

Funds leftover after the purchase of a PUD truck. Councilmember Decker seconded the motion.

Councilmember Davis asked where the three bids were. Ms. Conner said they were in the December 2024

packet that was tabled. They were submitted to the grantor, but she didn’t provide copies for that, and all the

quotes were under $50,000. There were four quotes, but she wanted to save paper. Councilmember Davis

said it would have been courteous to the new Councilmembers to review the quotes.

Votes were eight (8) for and one (1) opposed (Wadsworth) with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

7. Discussion - Restoring of Beach. Loren Decker

Councilmember Decker provided a map of the area he wants to discuss and said they are starting to run out

of beach areas on the weekends, everybody is stacking up on each other at the Marina Beach. The general

area he was speaking about is southeast of the Marina Beach below the PL Fisheries. Unsure of the name

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but there used to be a road that went that way. He is asking for the Councils thoughts on restoring that

beach, advertising, and getting it out to the public as a family beach.

Councilmember Wadsworth asked if there was a land assignment down there. Chairman Wadsworth said

there is one there. Councilmember Decker said he stayed away from it and they had signs by their

driveway. The only thing discouraging people from using it is the overgrown vegetation, the sagebrush, and

weeds. It wouldn’t cost too much; they could utilize some of their departments plus they have a new

$413,000 grader.

Councilmember Davis wasn’t sure this would come to the Council; it should go to the Executive Team to

work with their departments. For them to use the grader, it would have to be a road on the 638 roads

inventory, they can’t just use it for anything. Will there be access for the EMS and the beach monitors, there

is more to the process than just grading the road.

Councilmember Wadsworth said they would also have to coordinate with the family there because of the

number of people using the beach, she can imagine the complaints coming in from the family.

Councilmember Guerrero said his concern is the burial grounds down there plus the bank is eroding there.

THPO would have to be involved and with the NDOT SR project also. Ms. Mendes said Betty Aleck, THPO, is

involved with the NDOT Project.

Chairman Wadsworth said he has the list, and they can bring these departments together to look at this and

see if they can produce a plan. It may be a non-starter if there are graves there, but they will have to do an

investigation first.

Ms. Mendes said because these are close proximity to the beach, these should go through the Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) for them to review.

On another subject, Councilmember Wadsworth asked who did the light project at the gym. Ms. Mendes

said it was a part of the Capital Improvement Project. Councilmember Wadsworth, speaking as the Tax

Department asked where the Tribe’s taxes are. The Tax Department needs to be notified whenever there is

a project so they can collect the sales tax. Ms. Mendes said she would contact the vendor, Pack Construction,

but she is sure it was included with the gym renovation. (Councilmember Davis said for clarification, for the

record, Councilmember Wadsworth was asking on behalf of the Tax Department.)

ADJOURNMENT

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

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

The meeting adjourned at 7:33 p.m.

Submitted by,

Pquinhell.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 7, 2025, Regular minutes

Brenda A. Henry

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 21s day of February 2025, having ten (10) members

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

ABSTENTIONS.

Minutes attested and concurred by: Oe

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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