Community Review Report: Nez Perce Tribe and City of Lapwai
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Community Review Report Nez Perce Tribe & City of Lapwai June 12-14, 2012 ! Economic Development ! Arts, Historic, and Recreation Resources ! Education ! Land Use Planning and Downtown Revitalization The Idaho Community Review Program is a collaboration of federal, state, tribal, and local governments along with the private sector. It is coordinated by the Idaho Rural Partnership. For more information call 208.332.8686 or visit www.irp.idaho.gov. Printing courtesy of Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Community Review Report for the Nez Perce Tribe and City of Lapwai June 12-14, 2012 SPONSORING AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS Other participating agencies and organizations • Association of Idaho Cities • Clearstory Studios • Idaho Commission on the Arts • Idaho Department of Labor • City of Lapwai • Nez Perce Tribe • Clearwater Economic Development Association • The Hudson Company • NW Tribal Technical Assistance Program • Moscow Arts Commission • Idaho Area Health Education Center • Lewis-Clark State College • Inland Northwest Community Foundation ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The success of the Nez Perce Tribe – City of Lapwai Community Review is due to the many individuals who generously shared their time, opinions, and knowledge by serving on the Home Team, participating in listening sessions during the review, or completing a survey. We also thank the families and individuals who provided excellent meals for the Visiting and Home Teams. We are particularly grateful for the efforts of Home Team Co-Coordinators Ann McCormack representing the Tribe and Antonio Smith representing the City. Also important was the support of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee and Lapwai City Council. The Visiting Team also thanks NPTEC Chair Silas Whitman and Lapwai Mayor Ricky Hernandez for sharing their thoughts and knowledge with us. Nez Perce Tribal Housing Authority and the Tribe’s Land Services Program provided maps and other background information. Special thanks to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for printing this report. Finally, the Visiting Team appreciates the offices, businesses, individuals, and agencies below for providing meeting space, meals, transportation, equipment, and time to the project. Lapwai Boys and Girls Club Lapwai School District Juliann Big Man Valley Foods Clearwater Resort and Casino N.A.M.E. Outreach Youth Hipinwees 'The Eating Place' – Center Pi-Nee-Waus Café Chelsey Leighton Pi-Nee-Waus Gymnasium Cass Kipp J. Herrman Reuben Building Angela Picard Dr. Steven Peterson-U of I Catherine Big Man Dawn Big Man Home Team for the Nez Perce Tribe – City of Lapwai Community Review Home Team Coordinators Ann McCormack (Tribe) Antonio Smith (City) Listening Session Host Richard Broncheau (Tribe) Economic Development Mary Beth Frank (Tribe) William Big Man (City) James Holt (Tribe) Tony Johnson (Tribe) Lilly Kauffman* (Tribe) Ann McCormack (Tribe) Julie Seely* (City) Steven Peterson (Tribe/University of Idaho) Arts, Historic and Recreation Resources Roberta Bisbee (Tribe) Gary Dorr (Tribe) Scott Eckberg (Tribe/National Park Service) Larry Greene (City) Jon McConville* (City) Margaret McCormack (Tribe) Angel Sobotta (City) Vera Sonneck* (Tribe) Education David Aiken (City/Lapwai School District) Solo Greene* (City) Kay Kidder* (Tribe) Claudia Jones (City/Prairie River Library District) Joyce McFarland (Tribe) Sonya Samuals (Tribe/Lapwai School District) Land Use Planning and Downtown Revitalization Kim Cannon* (Tribe) Laurie Ann Cloud (Tribe) John DeGroot (Tribe) Ethel Greene (Tribe) Brian McCormack (City) Antonio Smith* (City) Dan Vis (Tribe/Bureau of Indian Affairs) Individuals with an asterisk (*) next to their name served as a focus area co-leader. Individuals above associated with the Tribe were either Tribal employees at the time of the community review, recruited to the Home Team by representatives of the Tribe, or both. Likewise, individuals above associated with the City were either City employees at the time of the review, were recruited to the Home Team by representatives of the City, or both. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW 1 Description of the Idaho Community Review Program 1 Purpose, Use, and Format of This Report 2 Executive Summary 3 Pre-Review Planning and Training 8 Monetary Value and Costs Paid by the Nez Perce Tribe and City of Lapwai 9 Recent Community and Economic Development Efforts 9 Community Expectations and Identification of Focus Areas 10 Pre-Review Community Survey 14 Key Participating Individuals 16 Review Itinerary 18 Publicity and Public Participation 20 PART II FOCUS AREA REPORTS 21 Community Listening Sessions 21 Economic Development 30 Arts, Historic, and Recreation Resources 30 Education 55 Land Use Planning and Downtown Revitalization 65 Part III THE FIFTH FOCUS AREA 76 Why Community Identity and Image? 76 Why it Matters? 83 What Next? 84 The Last Word…. for Now 84 APPENDICES Appendix A: Biographies and contact information for the Visiting Team 88 Appendix B: Abbreviated list of Visiting Team Observations and Recommendations 101 Appendix C: University of Idaho Social Science Research Unit report on community survey methodology and results 112 Appendix D: Nez Perce Tribe Community Review application 146 Appendix D: City of Lapwai Community Review application 157 Appendix F: Master schedule and focus area agendas 161 Appendix G: Background information about community branding 171 Appendix H: Community Coaching for Grassroots Action brochure published by University of Idaho Extension 173 PART I BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW Description of the Idaho Community Review Program The Idaho Community Review Program provides observations, recommendations, and potential resources to Idaho communities with populations less than 10,000. Idaho communities participate in the program to understand how they might better approach long-standing and emerging issues and opportunities related to community and economic development. Community leaders initiate a review by assembling a “Home Team” and selecting three subject areas they would like to be the focus of the review. These “focus areas” become the basis for the creation of the “Visiting Team”, a group of 15-20 community and economic development professionals employed by public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses across the state. The review process also includes open-ended, focus group-like discussions with key stakeholder groups called community listening sessions. Appendix A contains biographies and contact information for the Nez Perce Tribe–City of Lapwai Visiting Team. The Visiting Team spends three days in the community learning about issues through tours, meetings, listening sessions, and interviews with community leaders and residents. The review concludes on the evening of the third day with a public presentation of preliminary observations, recommendations, and resources. The program cannot instantly resolve all issues, but the 24 communities that have participated in the program since 2000 have evaluated it as an invigorating, validating, and unifying experience. Many communities have successfully used community review recommendations to help obtain funding for infrastructure, downtown revitalization, and other projects. Community reviews also provide invaluable networking opportunities, setting the stage for future resource referrals and follow-up activities. Coordinated by the Idaho Rural Partnership, the joint Nez Perce Tribe–City of Lapwai Community Review was a collaborative project of IRP member organizations and agencies, Nez Perce Tribe, City of Lapwai, Region IV Development Association, Inc., and USDA Rural Development. Although the Nez Perce Tribal homelands extend across several counties and into Montana, Oregon and Washington, the review concentrated on Lapwai and other areas within a five-mile radius of Lapwai. Lapwai serves as the capital city of the Nez Perce Tribe. Nez Perce Tribe-City of Lapwai Community Review 1 June 12-14, 2012 Purpose, Use, and Format of This Report This report is presented to the community residents and leaders of the City of Lapwai and Nez Perce Tribe. The Visiting Team hopes it will initiate and focus community dialogue and follow-up action planning. We will also consider this report successful if it encourages greater government-to-government consultation, coordination, and collaboration. Part II of this document consists of a summary of the community listening sessions and a report for each of the four selected focus areas. In Part III we offer a fifth focus area for the community’s consideration. Each focus area report includes the following sections. Community comments, concerns and questions The Visiting Team uses this section to reflect what we heard from community residents and leaders in the context of each focus area. We often find that people will express ideas and perceptions to us, as neutral outsiders, that they might not otherwise share with other residents or elected officials. Observations Observations are the three to five most significant opportunities or themes identified by the Visiting Team for each focus area. These observations are developed using all community input gathered before and during the review. Recommendations Each observation includes a set of recommendations or strategies offered by the Visiting Team. Some recommendations involve supporting, improving, or redirecting what the community is already pursuing. Other recommendations suggest completely new initiatives. Resources We list resources in hopes they will help the community