The Star
August 23, 2021
Chamber welcomes The Club owners to the club
Members of the Rolla Chamber of Commerce’s board of
directors welcomed Sam and Joetta
____:... cum. loft to right are
Morgan Garrison, Sam Booth, Joetta Booth, Todd Mears and Josh Munro. The
chamber board
members came bearing a wide array of gifts from the other business owners
and chamber mem-
bers.
they should be.”
During a recent meeting with
N.D. legislators, Tribal Chairman
Jamie Azure lamented the prelimi—
nary U.S. Census numbers. At least
twice during the conversation with
the state’s Tribal Relations Commit—
tee, he mentioned the number
“17,000” in reference to the tribe’s
membership on and off the reserva-
tion in Rolette County.
Chairman Azure also asked if the
state would use tribal enrollment
numbers as proof toward the actual
population within the county.
In response, Sen. Rich Wardner.
R—Dickinson, agreed that the 2020
Census will bring much skepticism,
but added it's likely each area will be
bound to those numbers.
"I don't doubt for one minute that
the population here is higher, but
that's the number they got and we
have to go by it," Sen. Wardner said.
Chairman Azure said a recent con-
cern about the census raised the ques-
tion of whether or not the US.
Census Bureau tried to work with
each tribe and share information. He
also brought up a historical mistrust
of federal and state governments that
still lingers.
In addition, the chairman said the
pandemic also dealt a blow to those
trying to collect accurate numbers for
the census.
“There are a lot of issues as to
why there was not an accurate
count,” Chairman Azure said. “It
seems like everything went against
us.”
The chairman said the lower count
will impact funding for around 150
programs the tribe administers.
At that same meeting, Rep. Mar-
vin Nelson of Rolla said the national
effort resulted in a vastly under—
eounted population in Rolette
County. “It’s very concerning how
this will affect a lot of things,” Rep.
Nelson said. "There are serious fore-
seeable issues.”
Of the five municipalities in the
county, only Mylo saw an increase in
residents. A total of 21 people were
counted in the small community 10—
« cated on the southern edge of the
<5.000 [:3 5.000 -9339 l Hausa-24.999
COUNTY POPULATION
CENSUS 2020
Statewide; 779,094
Census
(Continued from Page 1)
county. That’s exactly one more than
was recorded in 2010.
The steepest decline was in Dun-
seith. A total of 632 people were
recorded. That’s 141 less than a
decade ago.
Rolette rang in 484, which was
down from the 594 the last time the
census was conducted. Rolla was
down by only 57 and stood at 1,223.
St. John recorded 322, which was
down from the 341 a decade ago.
Local and state officials all agree
that Rolette County was under—
counted. Kevin Iverson is the man—
ager of the North Dakota State Data
Center. Iverson said when the census
was completed in 2010, studies came
out a few years later reporting almost
5 percent of people living in; the
county were not counted. Iverson
didn’t want to guess on the discrep-
ancy regarding this year’s count, but
added Rolette County’s steep decline
was noticed by state officials.
Officials worked tirelessly to get
everyone counted but by mid sum-
mer it was apparent people were slip-
ping through the cracks. At a
drive-through event last July, only
17.9 percent of those living on the
Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation
had participated in the census.
Blue credited everyone who
worked on the drive~through events
, 25.000 —54.955 65,000 plus
but added they too had challenges.
“With our. level of poverty people
couldn’t make multiple trips to the
drive-through events if for some rea-
son something went wrong the first
time. We tried everything we could
to get people to go but they simply
couldn’t afford to do it again,” she
said. '
The census is critical because it
helps determine federal funding.
amounts for the next 10 years and
once the numbers are calculated,
there are no do—overs. Over the
course of a decade, each person
counted brings approximately
$19,100 in federal tax dollars back to
North Dakota. If one household in
North Dakota is missed, that means
that $44,312 that would have other—
wise come to the state to help support
critical education, health care and in-
frastructure program, like Medicaid,
Head Start or highway construction,
will instead go to other states.
Last year officials leading a cen-
sus effort on the Turtle Mountain In-
dian Reservation said every person
living on the reservation who does
not get counted costs the tribe
roughly $10,000. That is money used
to fund nearly any endeavor on the
reservation, including Indian Health
Services and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, among others.
CALL FOR BIDS
PROPANE PRE-BUY
ROLETTE COUNTY is accepting bids for
Pre-Buy of 35,000 GALLONS of propane. This
will be delivered to the county shops in
Rolette, St John and Dunseith, County C0urt-
house and the Rolette County Jail/LEC in
Rolla on a keep-fill basis.
Interested bidders should submit bids
to the Rolette County Auditor by 9:00
a.m., September 7, 2021.
If you han any questions please fell free to
contact the County Auditor at 701-477-5665.
(Published August 30 & Sept 6, 2021)
The deadline for entering the lot-
tery was August 25 and the public
drawings are set for mid—September.
Olander said the concept is a
“one-time” event and the TMHA
board believed it would be a “fair
process” to all tenants underneath the
housing umbrella.
As the TMHA prepares to transfer
its eight newest homes, Olander said
more progress is being made on re-
habilitating existing units. She said
the housing authority may use inde-
pendent contractors to complete the
rehab on the units or hire additional
people to bolster its existing staff.
“Right now the vacant unit count
is at 40,” Olander said. “A little over
a year ago it was around 135, so
we’ve made a lot of progress.”
Olander also pointed out that
TMHA deals with persistent turnover
’ in its units, with a portion of that due
to issues with tenants that are dealing
with substance abuse. '
“There are extra costs in fixing
units that are damaged and we never
collect fair market (rent) from these
units,” Olander said. “That can have
a big impact on our budget.”
Last February, Olander told The
Star that TMHA’s budget had seen a
significant drop in federal funding
during the past few decades. In the
late 19905, Olander said the agency
started each year with $12 to $13
million to work with while today
those numbers are down to between
$6 to $8 million. Add in the factor of
rising costs for materials and labor
makes the downward trend even
steeper.
According to TMHA, typical home
renovations after a tenant leaves will
cost $2,000 to $3,000, which includes
testing and clean up. A contaminated
unit will add another $10,000 to
$11,000, or more, in repairs.
Add in the fact that while pro—
jected market cost of maintaining a
unit could be as much as $500 a
month, TMHA does not charge mar-
ket rents, and only gets a portion of
that because'rent is based on an indi-
vidual’s ability to pay.
Olander credited the TMHA staff
for their continuous efforts to keep
the area’s housing maintained. She
said it’s an endless campaign.
“I don’t think people realize the
amount of work that’s done,” Olan-
der said. “It’s a job in which you can
never catch up. We always have
unmet needs.
A'H-‘i
Project 9
(Continued from Page 1)
, £19113] fund “for.
sneii’vetiey Headstart Building.
Terry LaVallie works in TMHA’s
maintenance department. He said a
work area that expands from Dun-
seith in the west to Kent Addition
east of Belcourt is a lot for the work-
ers to cover.
“There’s only so much time and
. r. {firepreramis funded
treasury Department under ,ERA1.
'standrrovide audi-
sheju valley housing site in the former
Becky
below
d , area. median: in-
we’re really, really busy all the time.”
Managing that time is key, LaVal-
lie said, which leads the maintenance
department to do a lot of planning,
which helps ease budget constraints.
“That way we’re sure to get the best
prices for our projects,” he said.
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Few Showers Few Showers
High: 71 Low: 55
Few Showers
High: 68 Low: 52 High: 64 Low: 49
Friday
Cloudy
Regional Temperatures
North Dakota
Tuesday Wednesday Tuesday Wednesday
gm Hi/Lo M Hill.ov_V_V_x gm iii/Lo 1v}; Hi/Lo 3y};
Bismarck..... 81/62 the 80/59 t Aberdeen..... 78/61 pc 81/60 I
Bottineau..... 74/57 sh 71/54 sh RapidCity.... 89/64 s 88/61 pc
Devils Lake .. 77/59 pc 75/56 t Sioux Falls 77/63 t 79/65 1
‘Dickinson.... 81/58 pc 78/54 sh 55”.
Fargo ...... .. 79/62 pc 78/61 t Mom‘m“
Grand Forks.. 79/59 pc 77/60 sh Billings --- 89/56 S“ 79/54 Pc
Jamestown 7f/52) pc 77/60 sh Minngsma I
Mm“ """ ': 7””. f“ 76/55 t Duluth ..... .. 71/57
s 70/58 sh
Rugby """ " 75/56 ”‘ 72/54 ‘ Minnea olis 77/67
«h 76/64 I
Williston..... 81/59 sh 76/53 sh p " ' '
Weather (W193 cl/cloudy: tl/llurries:
South Dakota
Manitoba, Cz‘tnada
pc/partly cloudy: inc/mostly cloudy: r/rain/: Brandon ‘ - 32,18 PC 32/18
mt
rs/rain & snow: s/sunny: sh/showers; sit/snow; Killamey . . . . . 33/19
pc 32/21 pC
ss/snow showers: t/thundcrsturms Winnipeg . . . . . 32/19 s 32/31 mc
Sun and Moon
Saturday
Cloudy
High: 59 Low: 42 High: 61 Low: 46
Sunday Monday
Sunny Sunny
High: 62 Low: 45 High: 63 Low: 48
ln-Depth Local Forecast
Today we will see mostly cloudy skies with u
40% chalice of showers. high temperature of 71‘ .
humidity of 84%. East southeast wind 8 to 14
mph. The record high temperature for today is 93“
set in 1953. Expect mostly cloudy skies tonight
with a 60% Chance of showers. overnight low of
East southeast wind 10 to 13 mph. The
record low for tonight is 33" set in 1958.
Local UV Index
$1
IEEIEIII
UV Index ‘
0-2: Low, 3—5: Moderate.
67: High. 8~ 10: Very High.
. M Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset I”: Emmmc Expfiwm
Tuesday 6:54 am. 8:21 pm. 12:05 um. 4:49 p.m.
New . Wednesday 6:55 am. 8:19 pm. 12:45 u.m. 5:46 pm. Full Weather Trivia
9/6 Thursday 6:57 am. 8:17 pm. l:34 am. 6:34 pm. 9/20
Friday 6:58 um, 8:15 pm, 2:34 am. 7:13 pm, ’_ What i.\‘ the largest
size a raindrup can he? 9
Saturday 6:59 am. 8:13 pm. 3:42 am. 7:45 pm. g
Sunday 7:01 a.m. 8:11 pm. 4:56 am. 8:1 1 pm.
First Monday 7:02 am. 8:09 pm. 6:13 am. 8:33 pm. Last “03ml *1 1!.1!
d"
9/13 9/28 1! stirqu “0113!.” 111‘. osnnoaq [put .mmnh V LIGMSIIV
Call us for BANNERS &
delivery of your
m Farm Fuel! '”
Bulk niesel, Gasoline, Ethanol, Propane,
LP Tanks for sale, Wheel Alignments,
LP Heaters, Tires, Service Shep
Gustafson Oil
477-3660
Int-3mm
800.844.9638 1 701.477.1101
KEEPING YOU
Connected.
mtmmbmnwmwwmew.
a
All!
We. offer a full range
of cost-effective and
creative printing and
design services to
' help your business!
YARD SIGNS
Long-Lasting '- Durable
"any Different Sizes
Call the Turtle Mountain 8hr today!
Providing I" your printing no“!!!
70 1. ~477~6495
EflAIL: tmstomutmo.com
Dear WW8
ytm‘fi gig? a” hawk!
