Shakopee Mdewakanton Award $1 Million Grant to Upper Sioux Community

Prior Lake, MN – The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has awarded a $1 million grant to the Upper Sioux Community to help with construction of a new wastewater treatment plant. The new facility will replace the current drainfield type system which is nearing the end of its life cycle. The facility provides services for about 50 homes and four tribal enterprises, including Prairie’s Edge Casino Resort. The same project was funded with a $1 million grant in fiscal year 2011.

“We are proposing to construct a membrane batch reactor (mbr) wastewater treatment plant. Our current system is inadequate to sustain our community into the future. We will begin construction late this summer and expect the plant to go online early summer of 2013 with a projected cost of $4.3 million. With the new system in place, we will be able to accommodate our current needs and projected growth for the foreseeable future,” said Upper Sioux Chairman Kevin Jensvold.

“We are grateful for the assistance that the SMSC has provided to us, both financial and technical, for their help in enhancing our infrastructure needs,” he said.

“We are glad to be able to help out our relatives at Upper Sioux,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks.

The Upper Sioux Community near Granite Falls, Minnesota, has an enrollment of 486 tribal members, with a land base of approximately 2,000 acres. Their 1938 reservation boundaries consisted of 734 acres. The Upper Sioux Community and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community have had close social and cultural ties for generations as members of the Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation.

In 2001 the SMSC funded Prairie’s Edge Casino Resort with a $21 million loan. In previous years, the SMSC has funded a land purchase and economic and infrastructure development, including extensive repairs to the wastewater treatment plant, start-up costs for a police department, health benefits, and erosion control. Since 1997 the SMSC has provided the Upper Sioux Community with more than $12.4 million in assistance.

About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its members in education, health, and well-being. A tribal charitable giving program which comes from a cultural and social tradition to assist those in need has given away more than $243.5 million to Indian Tribes, charitable organizations, and schools since 1996. Through the Mdewakanton LIFE Program, the SMSC has donated 746 Automated External Defibrillators to tribes, schools, police and fire departments, and other organizations with 18 lives successfully saved due to their use.

The SMSC has also made more than $450 million in loans to other tribes for economic and infrastructure development projects. Since 1996 the SMSC paid more than $7.5 million for shared local road construction and an additional $16.7 million for road projects on the reservation. The SMSC has also paid $13.1 million to local governments for services and another $6.4 million for other projects.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota, is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Mazopiya, The Meadows at Mystic Lake, and other enterprises on a reservation south of the Twin Cities.