UNION SPRINGS - Detractors of the Cayuga Nation's Lake Side electronic bingo hall in the village of Union Springs had predictions: a wave of crime, intolerable traffic jams and teenagers from the Union Springs Central School District sucked into gambling.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Retired math teacher Tom Parsnick looks out across the street to the LakeSide bingo hall that was opened for business one year ago today. Parsnick boycotts the Cayuga Nation's business enterprises because he thinks they should submit to local regulations, but he can't complain of too much negative impact other than the increase in traffic.
But a year after the nation's bingo hall opened, the 86-machine facility's biggest impact appears to be a few extra cars in the village, residents said. While the parking lot at the bingo hall stays busy during its operating hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, the small-scale, class II gaming facility hasn't disrupted life in Union Springs too much.
Since the hall opened May 28, 2004, Cayuga County Sheriff Rob Outhouse and District Attorney James Vargason both reported their offices have not dealt with any felony, misdemeanor or violation crimes stemming from activity at the bingo hall.
Tom Parsnick, a village resident who has a clear view of the bingo hall from his home across the street, said the gaming facility is better than having a junkyard to look at.
There is a little bit more debris in Parsnick's lawn and pulling out of his driveway is a bit more complicated at times, but the facility hasn't been as noisy as Parsnick expected - at least since the days of the facility's construction.
"Otherwise, I can't really say anything pronounced" has resulted from the Cayugas' facility, Parsnick said.
Parsnick, who boycotts the Cayugas' businesses because they do not pay taxes or follow local regulations, has lived in the home 30 years.
Despite this relative tranquillity, concerns about the hall do remain in the community.
The emotional and economic drain a gambling facility has is often unseen, and a gambling addiction can often become a substitute addiction when a person gets sober from alcohol or other drugs, said Kevin Hares, the executive director of Auburn's Confidential Help for Alcohol and Drugs counseling agency.
George Fearon, the county legislator representing the village of Union Springs and one of the librarians in the Union Springs schools, said he knows of four or five people developing gambling problems because of the proximity of the bingo hall.
"My concern a lot of times relates to the people who frequent it a lot and how they're doing, how they're surviving related to the financial drain it can create on a person," Fearon said.
Fearon said he is also concerned about the bingo facility's impact on the students in the school he works for.
Union Springs Superintendent Linda Rice did not return phone calls seeking comment on any effects the bingo hall has had in the past year to her school district.
Gambling at LakeSide can be a harmless enjoyment if you are careful with your money, said Denise Sobus, an Auburn resident who works as a nurse in a doctor's office.
"You just have to know limits on what you gamble and what you spend," Sobus said while making a trip to her car in the Lakeside lot.
Sobus has been to LakeSide several times since it opened, opting for a closer facility than the Oneida Indian Nation's Turning Stone casino. She supremely enjoyed winning $1,800 at LakeSide, and thinks it has the additional benefit of providing people with jobs.
Many Union Springs residents enjoy going to the facility just as much as out-of-towners do, and the facility has brought something to a dying town, said 20-year Union Springs resident Duane Jones, as he took a smoke break outside of Union Springs' Legends Tavern.
"I thought it was great," said Jones, a construction worker.
While many residents say the class II facility has not been too detrimental yet, they are concerned about its future impact. Some worry the Cayugas will gain more gaming revenues and expand the facility onto the 128 acres the tribe purchased in September for $375,000 during a foreclosure auction. The vacant land surrounds the tribe's bingo hall, convenience store and car wash businesses.
"Because of its proximity to the school and the 128 acres behind it, if it is put into trust it is quite possible they could put up a casino equivalent to the Turning Stone casino" in Verona, said Dick Tallcot, the co-chair of the Upstate Citizens for Equality's Seneca-Cayuga chapter. Tallcot lives in the heart of Union Springs above the bookshop he owns with his wife, Connie.
If the federal government grants the tribes' request to have its land considered sovereign, such a move would cut the village substantially in size and dramatically impact its tax base, Tallcot said.
Cayuga Nation leaders did not respond to requests to comment on how the first year of the LakeSide facility has gone, but Cayuga Nation leader Gary Wheeler said in March the tribe is still paying back loans they took out to build the Class II facilities in Seneca Falls and Union Springs.
"I'm just nervous about them making enough money to make it larger," said Doug Derleth, a UPS driver who was active in the UCE while living in Seneca County. Derleth has lived in different Union Springs residences - all of them close to the bingo facility's site - for about three years.
"I'd have no problem with them as neighbors, (but only after they) start paying taxes," Derleth added.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
Since the hall opened May 28, 2004, Cayuga County Sheriff Rob Outhouse and District Attorney James Vargason both reported their offices have not dealt with any felony, misdemeanor or violation crimes stemming from activity at the bingo hall.
Tom Parsnick, a village resident who has a clear view of the bingo hall from his home across the street, said the gaming facility is better than having a junkyard to look at.
There is a little bit more debris in Parsnick's lawn and pulling out of his driveway is a bit more complicated at times, but the facility hasn't been as noisy as Parsnick expected - at least since the days of the facility's construction.
"Otherwise, I can't really say anything pronounced" has resulted from the Cayugas' facility, Parsnick said.
Parsnick, who boycotts the Cayugas' businesses because they do not pay taxes or follow local regulations, has lived in the home 30 years.
Despite this relative tranquillity, concerns about the hall do remain in the community.
The emotional and economic drain a gambling facility has is often unseen, and a gambling addiction can often become a substitute addiction when a person gets sober from alcohol or other drugs, said Kevin Hares, the executive director of Auburn's Confidential Help for Alcohol and Drugs counseling agency.
George Fearon, the county legislator representing the village of Union Springs and one of the librarians in the Union Springs schools, said he knows of four or five people developing gambling problems because of the proximity of the bingo hall.
"My concern a lot of times relates to the people who frequent it a lot and how they're doing, how they're surviving related to the financial drain it can create on a person," Fearon said.
Fearon said he is also concerned about the bingo facility's impact on the students in the school he works for.
Union Springs Superintendent Linda Rice did not return phone calls seeking comment on any effects the bingo hall has had in the past year to her school district.
Gambling at LakeSide can be a harmless enjoyment if you are careful with your money, said Denise Sobus, an Auburn resident who works as a nurse in a doctor's office.
"You just have to know limits on what you gamble and what you spend," Sobus said while making a trip to her car in the Lakeside lot.
Sobus has been to LakeSide several times since it opened, opting for a closer facility than the Oneida Indian Nation's Turning Stone casino. She supremely enjoyed winning $1,800 at LakeSide, and thinks it has the additional benefit of providing people with jobs.
Many Union Springs residents enjoy going to the facility just as much as out-of-towners do, and the facility has brought something to a dying town, said 20-year Union Springs resident Duane Jones, as he took a smoke break outside of Union Springs' Legends Tavern.
"I thought it was great," said Jones, a construction worker.
While many residents say the class II facility has not been too detrimental yet, they are concerned about its future impact. Some worry the Cayugas will gain more gaming revenues and expand the facility onto the 128 acres the tribe purchased in September for $375,000 during a foreclosure auction. The vacant land surrounds the tribe's bingo hall, convenience store and car wash businesses.
"Because of its proximity to the school and the 128 acres behind it, if it is put into trust it is quite possible they could put up a casino equivalent to the Turning Stone casino" in Verona, said Dick Tallcot, the co-chair of the Upstate Citizens for Equality's Seneca-Cayuga chapter. Tallcot lives in the heart of Union Springs above the bookshop he owns with his wife, Connie.
If the federal government grants the tribes' request to have its land considered sovereign, such a move would cut the village substantially in size and dramatically impact its tax base, Tallcot said.
Cayuga Nation leaders did not respond to requests to comment on how the first year of the LakeSide facility has gone, but Cayuga Nation leader Gary Wheeler said in March the tribe is still paying back loans they took out to build the Class II facilities in Seneca Falls and Union Springs.
"I'm just nervous about them making enough money to make it larger," said Doug Derleth, a UPS driver who was active in the UCE while living in Seneca County. Derleth has lived in different Union Springs residences - all of them close to the bingo facility's site - for about three years.
"I'd have no problem with them as neighbors, (but only after they) start paying taxes," Derleth added.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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