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| Volume XXV, Number 5 | April 9, 2004 |
By Shelley Marmor
BIG CYPRESS — The Friday March 19 Tribal Council at the Herman L. Osceola Gym started a little differently than usual. The initial order of business at this meeting was to honor the first group of recruits from the Department of Emergency Services, Fire Rescue Division.
Ken Fields, Executive Administrator, introduced the 10 new firefighters. He commended their hard work and reminded everyone that Big Cypress and Brighton did not have a fire department that long ago. Now, they have the same emergency response team that other reservations have.
“ About a year-and-a-half ago, the Tribal Council made the decision to provide professional full-time firefighting services on the Big Cypress and Brighton Reservations,” Fields said. “Over the last year-and-a-half, we’ve developed a management team and bought the necessary equipment to provide that service on a 24-hour a day, seven-day a week, 365-day basis so the people in Big Cypress and Brighton could have the same kind of level of fire protection, first-responder, and emergency medical services that any other tribal member has anywhere else.”
Armando Negrin, Director of Emergency Services, and Assistant Director of Emergency Services Manuel Diaz presented the new recruits with their badges. Shortly after, firefighters Ira Goodstat and Willie Vasquez presented Chairman Mitchell Cypress with a plaque of recognition on behalf of the entire department.
“ On behalf of the Seminole Tribe, I’d like to go ahead and say that these are the finest gentlemen that you can have… here or anywhere,” Cypress said. “Go ahead and shake their hand and talk with them because your house may be on fire; you never know.”
Immediately following, Fields went through the Consent Agenda. The 21 items on this agenda are routine in nature, and were all previously discussed by the Tribal Council. All 21 of these items passed unanimously.
This was also the first Tribal Council meeting after splitting the Tribal Secretary/Treasurer position into two distinct positions. New Tribal Treasurer Mike D. Tiger was at the meeting. The council unanimously approved a resolution that will replace former Tribal Secretary/Treasurer Priscilla Sayen’s signature with Tiger’s signature on all tribal financial documents.
The Tribal Council also unanimously approved a resolution that will allow Keith and Schnars, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. engineering firm, to begin plans for the road construction that will take place on Snake Road in Big Cypress.
Susie Kippenberger, Director of Utilities, explained the current situation pertaining to the plans for construction on Snake Road. She said that beginning construction on this road has been difficult because the road is on both Seminole and Miccosukee land, and the two sides have not been able to sit down and discuss what should be done to this dangerous road.
David R. Cypress, Big Cypress Council Representative, asked Kippenberger if the construction will begin on the Seminole or Miccosukee side of the road. She said that ideally construction would start on the Miccosukee Reservation and work east toward the Big Cypress Reservation. However, if the two sides can not agree on the construction efforts, the construction will begin on the Seminole side.
Kippenberger estimates that construction will begin in July or August of this year. She said it will take some time to plan and secure the necessary permits to build a shoulder on Snake Road and make other necessary improvements. Cypress said that there will be a Big Cypress community meeting which will alert residents of what exactly they can expect during construction on Snake Road.
Elrod Bowers, Director of Special Events, presented a resolution to the council, which they unanimously approved, that will formalize a sponsorship agreement between professional billiards player Vivian Villarreal and the tribe. Bowers explained that the tribe has had an informal sponsorship agreement with Villarreal, however, nothing has been put in writing.
On March 10, Villarreal signed this contract with Chairman Mitchell Cypress at the Tampa Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. However, the contract was officially recognized after the Tribal Council approved the resolution at the meeting.
Tribal citizen Julie Driggers asked how this will benefit the tribe. Bowers explained that the tribe will make back the money they invest into Villarreal because essentially the tribe is paying for the use of her name. In this contract, Villarreal will have to adhere to provisions including wearing the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s logo at various functions, and attending tribal events.
“ It’s just another form of billboard,” explained Representative Cypress. “It’s another form of marketing.”
After all the items on the agenda had been covered, Jim Allen, CEO of Gaming for the tribe, gave the attendees an update on the status of the Tampa Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the nearly-complete Hollywood Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Allen said the Tampa opening was his fourteenth career hotel grand opening, and called this one “pretty smooth.” He added that the Tampa Hard Rock Hotel was completely booked for the weekend of March 20–21, just as it had been the previous opening weekend.
Allen estimated the Hollywood Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will have its opening between April 29 and May 6.
“ We are on schedule within a few days,” Allen said.
He said that the Hollywood hotel will have two times as many rooms as the Tampa Hard Rock Hotel, and because of this, tribal citizens should not have a problem getting a room for the grand opening ceremonies. He added that legendary Las Vegas entertainer, Wayne Newton, will perform at the opening for tribal members.
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