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Published:7/19/2010 9:03:39 AM
Officials give Self-Help lumber to Cherokee Nation departments
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| Cherokee Nation Self-Help Housing Director Charley Barr shows pieces of lumber he said should not be used in building Self-Help homes. PHOTO BY JAMI CUSTER |
BY JAMI CUSTER ReporterTAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Cherokee Nation officials have decided to allow other tribal departments to sift through and retrieve $45,000 worth of Self-Help Housing lumber that was deemed substandard and unusable for homes rather than burning it.Tribal officials made the decision July 8, a week after the lumber was scheduled to be burned at the CN Cultural Grounds.Also, Tribal Councilors passed a resolution July 12 authorizing Principal Chief Chad Smith to donate what is left of the picked-over materials to community groups, churches and tribal citizens.“I am actively working with staff to identify other possible uses for the substandard lumber, and have directed that the inferior lumber not be destroyed until a determination can be made regarding how best to use it,” Smith states in a letter to the council.According to the letter, the lumber is “substandard and should not be used in the construction of new homes.” Smith wrote that he and his staff had determined alternative uses for the lumber, including letting CN groups take what they want.“A large percentage of the material could be salvaged for use in agricultural and utilitarian (non-habitat structures) use,” Smith states.Natural Resources Group Leader Angela Drewes said her group, which began collecting and storing some of the lumber July 9, often looks for ways to reuse and salvage materials. She said the lumber her group took would be used for minor repairs and maintenance of fences and sheds at some of the tribe’s leased and un-leased properties, as well as constructing equipment sheds.Drewes said her group may also use some lumber for wood duck boxes and bluebird houses to use as door prizes for events and as gifts for elders.The tribe’s Health Services was also a recipient of some of the lumber, which was to be used for “utilitarian construction.” And CN Housing Rehabilitation was expected to retrieve some for miscellaneous uses such as building porches for mobile homes.According to CN Communications, the tribe didn’t know if any lumber would be left to give to individual tribal citizens. But if lumber remained, the tribe would make an announcement along with contact information.Self-Help Housing officials originally intended to burn the lumber after it was deemed substandard. Self-Help workers had some of the lumber in a pile at the cultural grounds ready to be burned. But Tribal Councilor Bill John Baker asked for a reprieve and questioned if the inventory could be donated to CN citizens.Baker said he was happy the tribe found an alternative to burning it, but wished the situation hadn’t come about in the first place.“I’m happy it’s going to some good use….I think there were better uses for that material,” he said.Baker said the resolution the council passed authorizing Smith to give away the lumber was so there can be uses for all of it, regardless of quality.“That way we don’t end up burning the rest of it…as long as it goes to a good productive cause, that’s got to be a win-win for the Nation,” Baker said.The tribe bought the lumber as part of a $1 million purchase about 3 years ago from Tahlequah Lumber. It was taken to the Community Services/Self-Help Housing annex, located about a mile north of the CN Complex, to be used for the construction of Self-Help homes. However, the lumber was stored outdoors on wooden timbers and covered with a tarp and over time it began to deteriorate.CN Communications Officer Mike Miller said the lumber deemed substandard was not used quickly enough by Self-Help participants and began to show signs of ruin. The estimated value of the lumber deemed usable was about $45,000, he said.In his letter to the council, Smith wrote, “As it became clear that the materials would not be completely utilized in a timely fashion, the surplus was moved to the warehouse for storage.”He wrote that when an alternative storing location was determined, CN staff went through the lumber and identified that some of it was “substandard and ultimately unusable.”
jami-custer@cherokee.org • (918) 453-5560
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Comment Section
1 Total Comments (0 Pending Approval)
| 7/19/2010 |
Great news! I seen that lumber and thought that it should be used to build wheelchair ramps, decks, dog houses, etc. Even tho it's substandard for houses, there are plenty of other uses for it. |
| ataloa |
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