March 2025 Open Meeting Summary

Tribal Open Meeting Summary 3/7/2025  held at the tribal office and via Zoom

1. CM’s Rebecca, Marion, Emily, and CoC Susan were present. 2C Alan served as a proxy for Glenn. Elders Glenn T, Larry J, and Scott B were present. AC Cheryl was present.

2. Members Aaron F, Claytoon G, Nancy J, Randy W, Julie W, Lisa L, Joshua W, Steve T, Kevin D, Debbie B, and Austin S. were present.

3. Financial Report (as of 3/6/2025 at 1:!5 pm)

   1. General Fund: $43.694.50

   2. Building Fund: $51,155.68

   3. Cemetery Fund: $447.00

   4. Grant Fund: $22,113.86

4. Old Business

   1. Online Votes

      1. 2/13: Rebecca to pursue a language program that would be ours (Waccamaw)

         1. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-abstain, Susan-yes

      2. 2/23: Use the free Zeffy platform

         1. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, Rebecca-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Susan-yes

      3. 3/6: Approve February meeting summary

         1. Still several unresolved issues on the document; click the comment icon at the top of the page

         2. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

      4. TN Land: allow Chief Hatcher to write a letter to the TN lawyer

         1. Marion-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

   2. Bathhouse Project: need to get bids from licensed contractors

      1. Also talk to Tony and Glenn

   3. Planting longleaf pines- no vote taken; concerns over parking

5. New Business

   1. Receipts

      1. Family Day reimbursement to 2C Alan: $94.08 General Fund check 889

   2. General Liability 

      1. AC Cheryl: Jen Redgill: looking at companies to cover it

         1. Expanded to include more companies

         2. Harder for all tribes to get general liability insurance

      2. Asking if we allow her to inquire with those companies

      3. I sent over a policy to try to save money

   3. Committee Reports

      1. Buildings & Grounds: Marion

         1. Marion: a tree fell down; working on getting it cut and split

         2. Thank you to everyone who helped on the longhouse

            1. Chris, Glenn, Clayton, Nancy

         3. AC Cheryl: Prof. Jenn Mokos, Dr. Dillian, CCU students, Baruch Institute, Wes Anderson

         4. Marion: RSID & Dr. Rich

      2. Arts & Crafts: Susan

         1. Phil wants the contact information of artists

         2. The manual needs to get put in better shape

      3. Grants: Michelle

         1. SCNPS-Grand Strand Chapter Spring Grant Program-Youth Days Program

         2. Zeffy: registration link is set up; please share, limited space

         3. CMA Grant: need Council to follow-up with the required grant questions

         4. ACLS Digital Justice Seed Grant - Approved in 1st round-proceeding to 2nd round of evaluation

         5. Donnelley Foundation Grant - Meeting with grantor in mid April

      4. Newsletter/ Communications

         1. Marketing materials/event flyers/press releases/photography

         2. We need someone to take it over

            1. AC Cheryl: there needs to be people willing to contribute

            2. We can use Zeffy to find volunteers

         3. Susan: put it on a blog

            1. Michelle: the website’s Update tab is a blog

         4. AC Cheryl: physical mailings don’t reach as many people now

            1. Michelle & I attended a webinar with a woman who could help with social media

            2. Michelle: she was great, but her help was $500/ month or more

            3. AC Cheryl: It can be done; fantastic to do it on that day

            4. 9 AM?

            5. CoC Susan: after lunch

            6. Marion: 2 pm

            7. We need an additional form to track minors

            8. Don’t want children ousted because of no paperwork

            9. Marion motioned

            10. Marion-yes, Emily-abstain, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            11. Michelle: the website isn’t password protected; try to work on it

            12. We don’t leave kids out

            13. It could be a house, 401K, money, etc…

            14. It can have a conditional use

            15. You use the interest, not the money going in

            16. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            17. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            18. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            19. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            20. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            21. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

      5. Pauwau: Michelle

         1. Looking for new stories of local cultural history & language

         2. Looking for pictures of traditional suks

         3. We need advocates to help bring more children to the grounds

         4. Next meeting: 3/13 at 6:30 pm; we need a Constable to attend the meeting

      6. Archiving Project

         1. AC Cheryl: I got a call from Raj from Planning & Development

            1. He wants it to be about us

            2. We need as many as possible to attend

            3. Preservation Society & Horry County want to be there

            4. We can invite the Chamber of Commerce, but we set the date, not them

            5. Tribal Council should discuss the date of the unveiling

            6. 2C Alan: what about after the fire ceremony?

            7. AC Cheryl: It can be done; fantastic to do it on that day

            8. 9 AM?

            9. CoC Susan: after lunch

            10. Marion: 2 pm

            11. We need an additional form to track minors

            12. Don’t want children ousted because of no paperwork

            13. Marion motioned

            14. Marion-yes, Emily-abstain, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            15. Michelle: the website isn’t password protected; try to work on it

            16. We don’t leave kids out

            17. It could be a house, 401K, money, etc…

            18. It can have a conditional use

            19. You use the interest, not the money going in

            20. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            21. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            22. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            23. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            24. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            25. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

            26. Maybe news outlets too

      7. Drum: nothing new

      8. Files

         1. Naja Wah (honorary)

         2. Katie Parks (Minor to full)

            1. AC Cheryl on minor applications: we stopped providing application forms; they were automatic members and put in the system with nothing provided by the parents

            2. We need an additional form to track minors

            3. Don’t want children ousted because of no paperwork

            4. Marion motioned

            5. Marion-yes, Emily-abstain, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            6. Michelle: the website isn’t password protected; try to work on it

            7. We don’t leave kids out

            8. It could be a house, 401K, money, etc…

            9. It can have a conditional use

            10. You use the interest, not the money going in

            11. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            12. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            13. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            14. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            15. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            16. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

            17. CoC Susan: Now we have to go through each file to check for minors and ask them if they want their kid to become a member and give them a form?

            18. Chief Hatcher: minors become members at the time the parents are members because they should still be protected by the same laws as the parents

            19. Don’t want children ousted because of no paperwork

            20. Marion motioned

            21. Marion-yes, Emily-abstain, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            22. Michelle: the website isn’t password protected; try to work on it

            23. We don’t leave kids out

            24. It could be a house, 401K, money, etc…

            25. It can have a conditional use

            26. You use the interest, not the money going in

            27. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            28. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            29. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            30. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            31. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            32. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

            33. Marion: we can work on the wording tomorrow

            34. 2C Alan: Katie Parks: full member?

            35. Marion motioned

            36. Marion-yes, Emily-abstain, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            37. Michelle: the website isn’t password protected; try to work on it

            38. We don’t leave kids out

            39. It could be a house, 401K, money, etc…

            40. It can have a conditional use

            41. You use the interest, not the money going in

            42. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            43. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            44. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            45. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            46. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            47. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

            48. Chief Hatcher: even if a kid isn’t on the parent’s application, they are still our people

            49. Rebecca: we need a membership section on the website

            50. Michelle: the website isn’t password protected; try to work on it

            51. We don’t leave kids out

            52. It could be a house, 401K, money, etc…

            53. It can have a conditional use

            54. You use the interest, not the money going in

            55. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            56. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            57. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            58. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            59. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            60. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

            61. Chief Hatcher: there was a time when spousal members had a S number, minors had a M number

            62. We don’t leave kids out

            63. It could be a house, 401K, money, etc…

            64. It can have a conditional use

            65. You use the interest, not the money going in

            66. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            67. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            68. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            69. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            70. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            71. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

            72. 2C Alan: the problem seen with giving minors a number is if they don’t request to be a member, we’ll have a lot of inactive numbers

            73. AC Cheryl & Michelle: they do get a S, M, H, or HK number, but we need the front page for each person to put them into the database

         3. Process Letter: TC:HonorarySpousaltoFullMembership

            1. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

         4. ProcessLetter:ExecBranchHonorarySpousalApp

            1. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

         5. Work Day: 3/8 several ID cards to make

   4. Veterans Stand Down: 3/8 from 10 am to 2 pm

      1. 2C Alan: hoping for a good turnout

   5. Reminders

      1. Spring Equinox 3/22-SCNPS Grand Strand Chapter field trip to Tribal Grounds for invasive species plant removal and signage installation

      2. Youth Days Weekend 4/5-6: use Zeffy link to sign up

   6. CoC Susan: Danny Knight has a lot of books on Native Americans

      1. If we go to a thrift store for a couple of bookcases, he’ll buy us a couple

         1. Marion: that would be nice to have

            1. AC Cheryl: yes, we’d have a library

   7. AC Cheryl

      1. Meeting with Mike Mancuso from Waccamaw Community Foundation & working on organization endowment

         1. He’s creating the endowment structure

            1. It’s a way for the wealthy to leave money to a particular organization when they pass away

            2. It could be a house, 401K, money, etc…

            3. It can have a conditional use

            4. You use the interest, not the money going in

            5. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            6. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            7. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            8. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            9. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            10. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

            11. He’ll advertise it for us; it’s about legacy

            12. Uses the GuideStar platform for large sums of money

            13. Helps with marketing and increasing the platform vs $20-50 donations

            14. No cost for us; we just manage it through a legit planner

            15. You use the interest, not the money going in

            16. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            17. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            18. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            19. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            20. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            21. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

         2. Bathhouse: providing an estimate and design plan

            1. He may be able to help through the Knight Foundation

         3. How do we want it titled? WIP Endowment or 501(c)(3)

            1. Marion motioned to go with WIP 501(c)(3); Rebecca seconded

            2. Marion-yes, Emily-yes, 2C Alan (Glenn)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

            3. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

            4. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

            5. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            6. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            7. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

      2. Land Trust

         1. We could have our land in trust and start to acquire within the trust

         2. We wouldn’t have to manage the land; a resource management company would

   8. Chief Hatcher

      1. We’ve got over $100k in the bank

      2. We have files discussions like tonight that other tribes don’t

      3. We are getting our act together

      4. TN Research: person who has the life estate is responsible for the insurance and upkeep 

         1. Marion: didn't we say we’d pay it

            1. AC Cheryl: the taxes

         2. All life estates are dead except for Donna

         3. Catawba lawyer is going to call TN, but says it is unlikely a judge will tell us she can’t have visitors

         4. I propose we write Donna a letter and tell her she has a life estate, but not the others

            1. (Chief Hatcher read the proposed letter)

         5. AC Cheryl: she can rent out (additional insured)

         6. CoC Susan: if they were divorced, wouldn’t she lose the life estate?

            1. Chief Hatcher: not necessarily, but deed says jerry & Donna on one

            2. AC Cheryl: no assets under property in the divorce decree

         7. AC Cheryl: based on TN, you can show she didn’t pay insurance; we just have interest in it

         8. Chief Hatcher: it’s probably better for us to keep it

         9. Rebecca: no squatter law in TN, but no eviction rights 

         10. AC Cheryl: I can reach out to the title company; I talked to one attorney/ paralegal who was supposed to get back before Easter

         11. Marion: How much is the escrow title agent?

             1. AC Cheryl: we don’t need to do a title search

         12. CoC Susan: should we give her X amount of time to get insurance?

             1. Chief Hatcher: 30 days… and if she doesn’t pay?

             2. Rebecca: then she’s in violation

             3. 2C Alan: keep track & send a certified letter

             4. Chief Hatcher: concrete

             5. Randy W: with holes in the wall

             6. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

         13. Chief Hatcher: I just want to protect us in case we are brought into the lawsuit

             1. CoC Susan and AC Cheryl to sign the letter

      5. Bathrooms

         1. I did a bid on piping to the opposite side to pump: $4k

            1. Marion: Chris said we’d need another pump

         2. We need to plan to spray them down to keep them clean

            1. Marion: cement with a drain

            2. Chief Hatcher: concrete

            3. Randy W: with holes in the wall

            4. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

         3. I want to put showers out there & charge $30/day for RVs to camp

         4. Marion:we don’t need a bathhouse by the fire circle; just bathrooms

         5. Elder Larry: we need a bathhouse by the office

            1. Marion: bathhouse at the office, bathroom by the pond with 4 toilets

         6. CoC Susan: we don’t need many showers

         7. AC Cheryl: we want bathrooms close to the circle

            1. Showers: let them walk

         8. CoC Susan: vendors will use it too

         9. Chief Hatcher/ AC Cheryl: they can be locked separately

            1. Rebecca: the optics aren’t good for unisex, even if you label it M/F

            2. Colleges are getting into trouble with having unisex bathrooms

         10. Chief Hatcher: 4 standalone, each with separate locks and doors

             1. Marion: 4 standalone bathrooms 24x6 with 2 showers & 2 bathrooms at the office

             2. CoC Susan: at the last gate as you come in, on the treeline

             3. Elder Larry, you need 4 at the office in case anything breaks

             4. AC Cheryl: 4 bathrooms & 4 showers, combined 24x12

   9. Rebecca: Language program: email if you want to be involved; I’m meeting with Corey tomorrow

      1. CoC Susan: once I find papers, I’ll scan them

      2. Chief Hatcher: we once spoke Woccon

Marion motioned to close the meeting; Susan seconded.

Marion-yes, Emily-abstain, 2C Alan (Glenn)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Susan-yes

The meeting adjourned at 9:01 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Michelle Hatcher on 3/14/2025 at 6:26 pm.