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KBIC extends U.S. Oil contract

Vanessa Dietz/Daily Mining Gazette The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community has aligned an oil contract for the popular Pines Convenience with its other gas stations, as part of plans to upgrade technology at the pumps.

BARAGA — The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community extended its contract with U.S. Oil to supply gas and diesel fuel to its three gas stations on the L’Anse Indian Reservation.

The Pines Convenience Center contract was extended six years so it will coincide with the BP station down the road and the Rez Stop in L’Anse. The contracts for all three stations now will be up in October 2024 – a convenience for the tribal council.

But the deal comes with the promise of completing upgrades at the pumps which are expected to solve recent problems with pumps being shut down due to computer glitches.

“It’s a very expensive endeavor,” tribal CEO Larry Denomie told the council, regarding upgraded credit card readers at the pumps due by 2020 at all three stations.

In other news, Information Technology Director Tom Chosa got the go-ahead on a service agreement with Peninsula Fiber Network to replace connections between the Ojibwa Casino in Baraga with the Ojibwa II in Marquette, resulting in four to five times more bandwidth.

The council tabled a policy discussion regarding police using in-car and body cameras until Tribal Attorney and Prosecutor Danielle Webb can meet with tribal police in February. to further discuss related policy issues.

Natural Resources Department Systems and Facilities Coordinator Lyndon Ekdahl got the OK to purchase a truck from Fox Motors in Negaunee for $37,750.

“We researched it,” Ekdahl said of the Dodge Ram 2500 truck, noting the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission uses the same vehicle. “It seems to be working fine for them.”

In addition, the council donated $500 to Daniel Curtis, and approved Grayson Roe using $250 from the Youth Fund, to travel to New York City with the L’Anse High School band.

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