Planning & Economic Development Department
PEDD Vision: Honoring our Past and Preserving the Future of the Spokane Tribe of Indians by ensuring that all lands within the jurisdiction of the Tribe are preserved, protected, and enhanced through best land use policy, long-range planning to achieve sustainable community development, infrastructure development, economic development, and safe & adequate transportation planning.
PEDD September 2024 Updates
- Working on both Casino property development projects. This includes Mistequa frontage road to Spoko, closing out the Mistequa Hotel project, Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino (STRC) Phase 2B and STRC Phase 3. We are about to begin a US Highway 2 Right Turn Only Exit at the STRC this month as well. The Master Plan for STRC is continuing and we are hoping to have this plan completed by the beginning of next year. We will be moving onto the design phase of this process. There will be an upgrade to the wastewater at the Mistequa Hotel and Casino property, and our STRC property recently upgraded its wastewater and sewage system. Master planning for the Mistequa property will begin towards early 2025, as well as preliminary planning for a future Mistequa Casino.
- Working on the following CARES/ARPA funded projects (each project is either out to bid, has a contract or is in the construction phase):
- DV Modular Office Project – Delivery and installation of the modular office to occur in November or December of this year. Sitework will be going out to bid towards the middle of September.
- Pow Wow and Longhouse Generators – The initial groundwork has been completed for each site, we are just waiting for each generator and equipment to be delivered. This should be completed by the end of this year or early 2025.
- Longhouse Upgrades Project – This project officially kicked off and will be completed in early 2025. The Longhouse will be closed for the duration of this project. Currently, the contractor is working on the front parking pad and preliminary work for the remodel addition in the back of the building.
- Boys & Girls Club Renovations – This project is underway and progressing all demolition of phase one has been complete which included the bleachers, restrooms/locker rooms in the gymnasium area. Up next will be the kitchen and civil work on the outside of the facility to mitigate the storm water drainage and alleviate the flooding that occurs.
- West End Community Center Gymnasium A&E Project – This project is complete with construction, shovel-ready designs ready.
- Pow Wow Grounds Electrical Upgrades – This project is complete.
- The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric Grid Formula Grants to States and Indian Tribes for the first two allocation years (FY22 and FY23). Approximately $1.49M has been awarded to the Tribe for activities aimed at improving the resiliency of the electric grid against disruptive events on the reservation for FY2022-24. We will apply for FY25 and FY26 funding when the time comes. We are working on project plans to allocate $1.2M of this funding to the Wellpinit Microgrid project in coordination with Avista Utilities. Be on the lookout for updates on this project.
- Collaborating with the City of Spokane’s Parks & Recreation team to complete preliminary architectural and engineering (A&E) work at Snxwmene Island in Riverfront Park. We received a Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) Planning and Acquisition (PRA) grant for this A&E work. We have contracted Womer & Associates to complete the first two phases of the project. The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the City of Spokane’s Park & Recreation Department was approved at the Parks Board’s last Board meeting and was formally executed in late August. We have a kickoff meeting with Womer & Associates and the City’s Parks and Rec team later this month.
- A 477 Economic Development Plan that is specific to the 477 Program and its clientele has been complted. This will be the foundation for the 477 Program’s Economic Development Program. We are very pleased with the end result and look forward to the further development of 477’s Economic Development Program.
- The Mobile Tiny Home Project was a great success! This home has been officially turned over to our Spokane Indian Housing Authority (SIHA) who will add it to their emergency housing inventory and have moved it to its permanent location down towards the Sockeye and Kokanee housing developments.
- Collaborating with UCUT on the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction grant. UCUT completed a regional Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) and has started the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) for all UCUT member Tribes. These two plans will be integral in developing the Spokane Tribe’s climate pollution reduction efforts. The PCAP has been completed and turned over to the member Tribes in the beginning of March. We were notified that UCUT did not received either of the implementation grants that they submitted to implement the PCAP. We are still looking for additional funding opportunities to implement both the PCAP and future CCAP.
- The 638 process, for the David C. Wynecoop Memorial Clinic is underway the Tribe is actively working on how they plan to take over the Clinic operations, with an emphasis on how this facility will be structured under Tribal Management. Reach out to Cecilia Evans at evans@spokanetribe.com or by calling (509)606-7829 with any questions or concerns.
- TBC voted on this again with the knowledge of the two structural assessments that were completed, and the Stevens Co building inspector and they have decided that we will move forward with demolition of the church. We have obtained a vendor and are in the contracting phase with this vendor, we will schedule a time for demolition soon.
- The Tribe is working with our fisheries department on the Glen Tana Property’s 2 standing barn structures located on the Little Spokane River near St. George’s School District. When obtaining asbestos survey’s, it was found that there was no asbestos in these two barns located on the Glen Tana property, collaboration between Fisheries, TBC and Planning are underway to determine next steps moving forward.
- The Tribe’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) document, funded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), is due for its 5-year update at the end of the summer This document will help guide the Tribe’s economic development ventures over the next 5 years (2024-2029). The 5-year update was submitted to the EDA and will be put out for a 30-day public comment period once we get the greenlight from the EDA to do so.
- Coordinating with SIHA on the 5 Homes construction project that we received 2022 HUD ICDBG funding for. We are hopeful that these homes will be constructed and occupied by this time next year.
- Coordinating with SIHA and other Tribal Programs to complete the relocation of 4 homes located in the Wellpinit CORE area. We are hopeful that the 4 homeowners will be relocated to their new homesites by early-to-mid 2025.
- The Planning Department helped The Moccasin Express Program apply for two WSDOT grants to support ongoing operations. One application has been submitted, while the other, the Tribal Transit Mobility Grant, has already been awarded.
- The Tribe submitted a grant to the United States Department of Transportation for Electric Vehicle and Charging Infrastructure, if received this grant could assist in helping the Tribe reduce their green house gas emissions from gasoline vehicles.
- We were officially notified from the Department of Commerce that we can begin work on our Tribal Clean Energy Round 1 funded project, the Western Nuclear Solar Farm Feasibility Study. We are eager to get this project out to bid for a consulting firm to start work on the feasibility study to see if a large-scale solar farm is feasible at our Western Nuclear (Old Sherwood Mine) site.
- We were notified that we were awarded the following grants:
- BIA Tribal Energy Development Capacity (TEDC) grant that will be used to develop the renerable energy capabilities of Sovereign Power, Inc.
- BIA Energy and Mineral Development Program (EMDP) grant that will fund a feasibility study for the 5880 Ford Wellpinit Pump Solar and Battery System feasibility study. It was identified that this utility pump was one of the largest energy consumers on the reservation, so we are hoping this feasibility study will find that a solar and battery system is feasible to place at this utility pump to save on energy costs.
Staff:
- James Best – Planning & Economic Development Director– best@spokanetribe.com – (509)458-6561
- Cecilia Evans – Planning & Economic Development Manager –Cecilia.evans@spokanetribe.com – (509)606-7829
We are excited to welcome two new staff on board within the Planning and Economic Development Department:
- Nathan Ayala – Senior Planner
- Victor Ramos – Land Use Planner
Be on the lookout for introductions in next month’s PEDD Rawhide update.
Staff
Acting Planning and Economic Development Director
James Best
Spokane Office 509.818.1408
Wellpinit Office 509.458.6561
Cell 509.601.4423
Strategic Energy Plan 2024-2034
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:b9b56073-b550-45fb-b7c4-bc4fd89d56c9