1986-12-05 Char-Koosta News

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Mission Valley Power hearing date re-set for December 18
The hearing set for this month to address one of two lawsuits concerning the power division of FHP has been moved back ten days.
Originally scheduled for Dec. 8, the hearing has been changed to Thursday, Dec. 18 -- at the same time, 9:30 am., and at the same place, the federal court building in Helena.
People with transportation problems who are interested in attending
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should watch the next issue of this newsletter for specific arrangements.
To be heard is a lawsuit filed by the Joint Board of Control that challenges a federal contract allowing the Tribes to set up a management plan for the FHP power division, which the Tribes has renamed Mission Valley Power.
A companion lawsuit asking that the JBC be given management control of all of FHP - the power and irrigation systems - will be heard sometime in January.
UTILITY BOARD DEADLINE EXTENDED In the meantime, the Tribes and the BIA are screening applicants to serve
on MVP's utility board and consumer council, respectively.
While considering the letters of interest received in Pablo for the utility board so far, the Tribes has extended its deadline from Nov. 28 to Dec. 15, according to Therriault.
Upstairs at the BIA, agency superintendent Wyman Babby said he had received a number of letters as well by the Bureau's Nov. 28 deadline from people wishing to sit on the seven-member consumer's advocate council.
Of those seven, four will be representing Lake, Sanders and Mis-(Concludes on page 2)
Post yard's expansion project is making progress
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Federal funding that will help the Flathead Post and Pole Yard expand next year was received Dec. 2 in Pablo.
Tribal economist Ron Trosper explains that the federal Economic Development Administration's $355,-000 will be used for a sawmill that will produce wood trim from lodge-pole pine. The sawmill will add 32 full-time and 26 six-months-a-year employees to the Dixon pole yard's roster of workers.
News of the federal money followed an announcement that Montana's Economic Development Board had given tentative approval to a $318,000 loan for the expansion project, pending assurances that federal and state environmental standards would
be met.
The total cost of the expansion will be $933,000, Trosper said. In addition to the federal grant and the state loan, $233,000 will be contributed by the Tribes. A bank loan for the remaining money, about $37,000, will complete the financial package. The BIA is guaranteeing both 10-year loans, he said.
The state money comes from its coal tax revenue, Trosper said. It's an attractive loan because its interest rates are fixed and relatively low, he said, adding that he thought this might be the first time an Indian tribe in Montana received such financing.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring.