Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe delivers heartfelt community recognitions – Vows to continue program

There wasn’t a dry eye at February’s Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Monthly Meeting, as Sub Chief Agnes Jacobs delivered some well-deserved community members recognition awards for the selfless, and often quick thinking and courageous acts, they had performed.  “The reason this came up is because I think this community takes care of each other, and there were a few acts that weren’t recognized,” stated Sub-Chief Jacobs, “and we always take care of each other.”

Sub-Chief Jacobs delivered these three stories of fact acting bravery, and along with council gave official Tribal letters of recognition to Mr. Carl White, Mr. Dwight Bero Sr., and Mr. Dick Laffin.

White is recognized for saving two lives, on two separate occasions. “Thank you for being there, your quick thinking and bravery saved not one but two lives,” announced Sub-Chief Jacobs.

White and his wife, Carol, appeared extremely moved and speechless, as they posed for a photo-op with Tribal council, and received a roaring round of applause.

Bero was recognized by Council for his fast actions in saving a little boy from a Rottweiler attack. “Today you’ve been recognized for your bravery and quick thinking instincts; today we applaud you,” stated Sub-Chief Jacobs.

Bero made a tear filled statement to the community, ensuring to include the two others involved with
saving the boy’s

life. “There were three recognized today, but there’s several others in the audience that need to be recognized as well.” Mark Gibson and Kimmy Terrance also acted quickly in assisting Bero in this emergency. “It’s tough to stop and help in an emergency without thinking. I want to thank the two other people involved in this event. Seconds mattered. I’m very proud of the community I live in, and want to thank everyone here today.”

The third community member recognized was Mr. Dick Laffin, an original Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fireman, recognized for his courageous act in saving children from a house fire, almost losing his life in the process. Laffin was also recognized for starting the first fire prevention program in the North Country.

Laffin has handed out thousands of fire detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and plastic firefighter hats to children and families across the North Country. “Thanks to tribal council for this award; and I got a second award this morning from the Fire Squad, they lined up for me and it broke my heart. Thanks for the donations to keep the fire prevention program going, also to Bears Den, they’ve been with me since day one,” stated Laffin.

The Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department, dressed in their full dress blues, lined the Community Building stairs this morning to honour Laffin in all of his accomplishments.

Chief Michael Connors thanked each community member for their courageous acts and stated that, “this will be an on-going program.”

A quick update was provided on the Street Light Project, given by Sub-Chief Agnes Jacobs and Planning and Infrastructure Manager Brent Herne. Sub-Chief Jacobs kicked off the discussion stating that, “this idea came about because it is for public safety and visibility; and to be able to have ownership of these lights and take care of them will be big.”

Herne delivered a PowerPoint presentation, highlighting the Street Light Project. “We asked Tribal cops what they wanted to be lit up, what was most important. We also had some community consultations and received input,” stated Herne.

The project intends to start with main roads of concern, such as Cook Rd., White Rd., and Frogtown Rd., and eventually get the lights everywhere the community wants them to go up.

“National Grid will go through and put up lights for us. They can use existing poles, but if one is needed there will be a $1,300 cost up front, per pole,” stated Herne. Chief Michael Connors added that, “Council is committed to doing this because of the safety aspect. Safety is the main thing.”

SRMT will be starting with three intersection lights, and annual light costs will be around $168 per year, per light, using type D LED lights. These lights will also not produce much light pollution, as some community members were concerned about that aspect.

SRMT Executive Director, Tsiorasa Barriero added, “please talk to your kids and family members on wearing white, or bright colors if they’re going to walk on the roads. There have been a lot of near misses, and it’s important to have that conversation with those who use our roads to walk.”

An Elders Benefit Implementation update was provided by Chief Michael Connors, in which he announced the latest findings by the Elders Benefit Committee. In order to be a functional program, the proposed SRMT Elders Benefit will require the following changes:

• The room occupancy fee at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino/Resort and Comfort Inn will be raised by $2, and no longer be exempt for Native hotel guests;
• $19K from the Casino Gift Shop sales will be contributed annually;
• A $2 stamp raise on all major brand cigarettes will contribute annually;

“That will generate $530K a year, and we need $850K to give to everyone that is 68+ and over. That’s if every senior applies” stated Chief Connors. “We are $320K short of what’s needed, and the rest will come out of the Tribal General Fund, and the Patton Fund, which are options to pull from.”

SRMT Tribal council also has to generate administration fees to run the program, as well as continued support. “Council is committed to doing this for the next 3 years. Our biggest concern is sustainability, because the number will go up each year.”

In its second year, the Elders Benefit will rise up to $945K, and in year three it will rise to $1.2M. “Council has heard our elders, and committee, and we have looked in to generating funds,” stated Connors. July 1^st is the announced date of implementation for the SRMT Elders Benefit. Each Tribal Member, 68+ and over will be eligible to receive $200 per month; one would just need to apply.

Derek Comins, the new Interim Program Manager for Emergency Planning, provided the Tribal meeting with an update in areas of concern, due to the recent temperature fluctuations that have caused flooding in different areas of the territory. “I started about a week and a half ago; and we are looking to be more preventive and plan for this. There’s not much we can do about the ice jams, but we can be prepared and know what’s coming our way,” stated Comins. “The last time Akwesasne experienced a bad flood like this was in 1981. We can’t plan for every possible situation but we can plan for this.”

In recent weeks, warm temperatures sent seven miles of ice down river at once, and turned many community members’ yards along Cook Rd., Saint Regis Rd., and Mose Cook Rd. in to river.

SRMT Executive Director, Tsiorasa Barriero, took a moment to recognize staff members who, on Friday January 12^th, spent hours locating and repairing a pipe that had burst on the water line, near Sit-n-Bull lane. “I wanted to give some recognition, we started on that note, and it’s a good note to close on,” stated Barriero.

Barriero thanked Jordan Lauzon, who is credited with locating the source of the leak at 4:15PM, as well as helping with the repairs, which lasted past 2AM, and staying until Saturday morning to monitor the plant and tower. The other workers included Barry Herne, Stan Buckshot, Plum Back, and Teddy Square. “I can’t thank the operators enough for sticking with the issue and solving the problem together in that kind of weather to ensure those six residents had water, and also keeping the community safe with water. I’d also like to thank SRMT Tribal Police Department for stepping up patrols to assist in locating the leak, as well as Chief of Police Matt Rourke for allowing us to use the Emergency portable lighting system. To Mohawk Plumbing for reopening the store for us, twice, to get the proper supplies for the water line; to Aimee Benedict from the Communications Dept. for assisting with Facebook and radio information; and also Twinleaf stores, for feeding the crew in such terrible weather. Finally, Go Eagles.”

Mohawk Networks Interim CEO, Allyson Doctor, made the announcement to the Tribal meeting on the recently awarded Empire State Development Phase 3 Broadband Grant, in which Mohawk Networks was awarded $10.9M to increase access to high speed internet. “Monday evening we received a meeting request to attend an announcement by Governor Cuomo at Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh, NY. We were awarded $10.9M for this project, but the details have not been shared with us yet.” $103M has been awarded already in the North Country. “Our application was for Franklin and Clinton counties, but we don’t know what areas we have yet. Hopefully in the coming weeks we’ll know more and share that with everyone as soon as we can,” stated Doctor.

This round 3 phase has awarded $341M in New York State, in an effort to ensure 100% of NYS households will have access to broadband, in order to connect schools, businesses, and communities statewide.

“Our core business model is focused on expanding our broadband network to the unserved households in our region,” stated Doctor in a recent press release, “Mohawk Networks extends our appreciation to our partners in the growth of our network, the Development Authority of the North Country and PrimeLink, and to the ESD Broadband Program and the State, County, and Town officials that supported this highly competitive grant applications. We are connecting communities to what matters.”

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe encourages all Tribal Members to attend their monthly meetings, which are held on the first Saturday of each month at 10AM. The next meeting is scheduled for March 3, 2018, as always in the Community Building. Chief Beverly Cook will chair.

By: Ohseraseia:hawi

This site is sponsored in part by: