NHA, NECA SIGN MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT FOR HORIZONTAL CONSTRUCTION ACITIVITIES - 10-03-24
FT. DEFIANCE—Two Navajo enterprises recently made history.
Navajo Housing Authority and Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority entered into a memorandum of agreement Oct. 2, for construction of horizontal-type construction projects, such as residential streets, site flooding and drainage mitigation, demolition of existing structures, and other related housing projects on the Navajo Nation.
The MOA was approved by the NHA Board of Commissioners on Sept. 16, during the regularly scheduled monthly board meeting in Ft. Defiance.
“This is moment that we’ve been waiting for and we’re so very blessed that our board signed the MOA with NECA,” said Heather L. Duncan-Etsitty, CEO.
She said NHA has a lot of projects that need to be constructed, and that the MOA would allow both entities to embrace one another as tribal entities and put the money back into families and the Navajo Nation.
“How many more Navajo people can we employ if we go into MOAs with other entities?” she asked. “I’m for putting revenue back into our families, back into our communities.”
Duncan-Etsitty was joined by the executive team of NHA, including CFO Raymond Nopah, and COO Ernest Franklin Jr. CAO Terrilynn Cook was unable to join, as she attended Construction in Indian Country Conference in Chandler, Ariz.
NECA General Manager Garret Silversmith was joined by the NECA Board of Directors, including Chairman Benjamin Bennett and board members Alton Joe Shepherd, Ray Smith, Darryl Harvey, and Ernest Hubbell.
Bennett said he remembers when NHA was first established, when it was known as “Low Rent Housing.”
“I think we’ve come a long way from back then, but the needs are still there,” he said.
Offering middle class Navajos opportunities for housing should be an area that should be explored, he noted, adding that the chapters would be a good source for identifying housing needs in their respective communities.
“We have other resources out there like Workforce Development that are looking for places for their recipients to work,” he said. “This could be that source for each community throughout the Navajo Nation.”
Silversmith agreed and said he got his career started at NHA when he graduated from college, recalling that he worked with the enterprise from 1994 to 2001.
“My career has come full circle and I’m glad to be back,” he said. “On behalf of NECA, we really appreciate the trust and we’re looking forward to the partnership that we’re going to be moving forward with NHA.”
Smith said he’s been with NECA for more than 37 years and that he’s about to retire soon. He spent the night before the signing ceremony pondering the historic significance of the event.
“Finally, two enterprises have come together and we’re going to move forward on this, not only to help NHA, but to help NECA with employees,” he said.
Harvey agreed and said that as a board member for the past seven years, he has always wanted to partner with other tribal enterprises, especially with the establishment of NECA’s vertical construction division two years ago.
“Our vertical division right now is moving forward with commercial and industrial activities in construction,” he said. “For Navajo people, that’s what the need is: housing.”
Hubbell said he’s been a member of the NECA Board of Directors off and on since 1983.
His experience as a board member and former council delegate has provided insight, especially working closely with NHA on the housing development for Houck Chapter for residents living in Querino Canyon.
“We built about 30 housing units there,” he said. “I learned a lot about housing and it’s a very good working relationship that we’ve had with NHA.”
NHA Contract Analyst Linda Johnson said she oversees millions of dollars and that there are a lot of projects that are not going out to general contractors because of bonding limits.
“They’re not bidding because a lot of them are at capacity,” she said. “This is good, having a backup like NECA. We’re going to get those projects done with you guys.”
The bonding capacity for priority one and two contractors for the Navajo Nation is between 250 to 275 million. The $1 billion in ARPA projects from the Navajo Nation and $300 million in housing construction activities from NHA has utilized much of that bonding capacity.
The new MOA has not only addressed the bonding issues, but also magnified the need for tribal entities to partner to expedite services on behalf of the Navajo people.
Nopah said the two enterprises forging their alliance is good and one that hearkens to the foresight of past leaders who invoked the Indian Self-Determination Act in their efforts.
“We’re creating opportunities,” he said, pointing to small Navajo owned businesses for carpentry, electricians, and plumbing.
“I think we have a really big say in that secondary economy,” he said. “I’m really excited for this moment, and I look forward to this relationship.”
Duncan-Etsitty shared her personal experience applying and getting housing from NHA to raise her family.
She hitchhiked from Chinle while four months pregnant and went to NHA headquarters in Window Rock to apply for housing. A week later, she signed a contract for a public rental unit where she raised her two sons.
“I got my associate’s degree, then I got my bachelor’s degree,” she said. “As soon as I did that, I told myself that I needed to get my own home built so the public rental unit could go to a young family that could start (building their lives).”
Duncan-Etsitty built her house in Sawmill, Arizona, where her grandfather used to reside, and lived without the amenities of running water and electricity, like so many Navajo families, which only strengthened her resolve for the work Navajo Housing Authority.
“My passion is housing; I built my home, and I lived with no electricity and no water. NHA gave me a home to pray, to be with my kids, to raise my kids and teach them those fundamentals of life,” she said.
This passion for housing still drives her to this day and Duncan-Etsitty said she envisions moving forward with vertical construction with NECA after a year of the current MOA that was established.
“The NHA Board of Commissioners have been great, they’re working with us and we’re appreciative of this partnership; it’s going to be great; it’s going to be amazing,” she said.
Now that the stone is set, she is hopeful that other collaborations between tribal enterprises will rise and meet the need of infrastructure, housing, and other critical areas facing the Navajo people.
“We’re setting the picture as we move forward and I hope the Navajo Nation looks at us and says, ‘Wow, two enterprises came together and are working together and making things happen.’ That’s how it should be, not just with us, but with IHS, NTUA, and the other entities,” she said.
Franklin spoke next and said NHA and NECA have their foot in the door for a brand-new alliance that is focusing on the housing needs of the Navajo Nation.
He said the four pillars of NHA – meeting IHP planned expenditures, optimizing internal functions, maintaining HUD compliance, and strengthening partnerships – is the basis of the organization’s construction operations.
“There are three tiers that we always hit upon general contractors,” he said. “Which is how are we going to manage scope, cost, and scheduling for these projects?”
Franklin said these concerns will be completed through quality control for materials, inspections, testing, and human resources.
“As our CFO brought up, we’re going to be bringing in more opportunities and hiring small businesses. As a team, we must come up with a way to capture all of these small enterprises and put them to work on larger projects,” he said, pointing to Navajo owned businesses for carpentry, plumbing, and electricians.
While the focus of the MOA is to provide safe and sanitary housing for Navajo families, the creation of a cottage industry is an added incentive for all involved in the process.
The NHA Contract Document Provisions are the foundation of how the MOA will work between the two entities, Franklin said, adding that controlling risk is the other major consideration of the agreement.
“We need to make sure that tailgate meetings are happening and that they’re recorded, and make sure that we have a good superintendent creating a safe environment in case we get a visit from OSHA,” he said.
Coordination between the two entities and separation of duties were the other factors he outlined, which he said will be crucial in the future when NHA reaches out to other funding sources for projects.
For the MOA, NHA will task NECA with horizontal construction projects such as street repairs, fencing, flood and drainage mitigation, and infrastructure development related to electricity, water, and sewage.
“As our CEO said, we’re just getting our foot in the door with horizonal and if we can show that we can do the monitoring and control, we’ll start pushing for vertical in the next MOA so we can expand and go further,” Franklin said.
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