The five-member town board of Aurelius voted unanimously last Thursday against the proposed settlement with the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York.

A state level-oriented resolution and a local-oriented resolution passed by the board was sent on to the Cayuga County Legislature, state Senator Michael Nozzolio, state Assemblyman Brian Kolb and U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri.

“There is litigation currently in the federal courts that could prevent trust status in New York state,” the local-oriented resolution reads.

“The willful creation of sovereign Indian land within the town of Aurelius is totally unacceptable to the Aurelius Town Board.”

In the proposed agreement, the Cayugas would give up their right to continuously apply to the federal government to take their open market property purchases into sovereign trust; to run class II, or bingo hall gaming, without getting local approval first; and to their clam to their 64,000-acre homeland surrounding northern Cayuga Lake that is based on a disputed 1700s-era treaty.

The counties would get a portion of the casino's net slot drop.

The tribe would be able to have up to 10,000 acres kept in sovereign status, but the acreage would be limited to three groups and make up no more than 20 percent of any municipality in the land claim area.

The Cayugas would get a state gaming compact for a Las Vegas-style casino, most likely in the Catskills.

The municipal boards of Springport and Union Springs already voted against the proposal.

Seneca County has postponed its vote on the settlement from June 26, but Cayuga County, as of Wednesday, was scheduled to consider the proposal June 26. Both counties must accept the proposal for it to proceed for state and federal consideration.