By Joe Morey
News Editor
Trent Wetmore and April Holdren of Enbridge Energy Partners, LLC, presented the LCO Tribe with a fourth payment under their agreement made in 2017. A check was presented to Chairman Louis Taylor in the amount of $1,967,000 of which $267,000 was a tax payment to the tribe.
LCO Vice Chairwoman Lorraine Gouge and Tribal Governing Board (TGB) member Tweed Shuman, along with former council member Jason Weaver, joined Chairman Taylor in accepting the check on behalf of the Tribe. Weaver served on the TGB and was the lead negotiator for the Enbridge right of way agreement in 2017.
“Where would our Tribe be without the Enbridge funds,” Taylor stated. “The Enbridge funds really gave us the boost we needed.”
Weaver added before the Enbridge agreement the Tribe was coming up with short term fixes to fix big problems.
“Since then, there’s been a lot of progress, such as the wastewater treatment facility. We couldn’t expand anything before that,” Weaver said. He added money has been freed up from the tribal programs.
TGB member Tweed Shuman said we’ve had more funds for Elder programs and youth services.
Wetmore said they really appreciate the friendships they’ve made at LCO working together over the past few years.
Shuman said the Enbridge bank accounts remain healthy despite borrowing from the funds to buy land which was paid back from the Stumpage accounts. They also borrowed from the account for the health center to cover Indian Health Service funding and within a few days that funding came in and was put back into the Enbridge account.
Pictured above L-R) LCO Chairman Louis Taylor, LCO Vice Chairwoman Lorraine Gouge, April Holdren and Trent Wetmore (Enbridge), LCO TGB member Tweed Shuman and former TGB member and lead negotiator on the Enbridge agreement, Jason Weaver.