Seneca County Board of Supervisors Chair Edward Barto has named a Citizens Advisory Board to assist the supervisors in their decision-making regarding the land-in-trust applications the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York has filed and the proposed settlement of those applications.
Thomas Bjorkman, of Varick; Bradford Jones, of Seneca Falls; Roswell Parks of Fayette; Richard Ricci, of Fayette; and Russell Wheeler, of Seneca Falls, have been named to the advisory board.
The tribe has also set July 31 as the deadline for Cayuga and Seneca counties to decide on the proposed settlement.
The board's duties will include seeking ways to help Seneca County compensate businesses and residents for tax revenue lost if the Cayugas' land is taken into sovereign trust status by the federal government, Barto said in a news release. The new board is invited to attend the next meeting of Seneca County's Native American Affairs Committee, which will likely meet Tuesday, July 10, following the full board meeting at 7 p.m.
David Dresser, Ovid town supervisor and the chair of the Native American committee, received a telephone call June 26 from Richard Rifkin, Gov. Eliot Spitzer's special counsel to the governors for Indian affairs, who said that because of concerns for taxpayers and precedent, a second opinion to review the work of Harris Beach law firm, the counties' tribal affairs attorney, could not be authorized, the release said. The state is paying for Harris Beach's work on behalf of the counties.
Under the proposal, the Cayugas would give up their right to continuously apply to the federal government to take their open market property purchases into trust; to run Class II, or bingo hall gaming, without getting the counties' approval first; and to their claim to their 64,000-acre historic homeland surrounding northern Cayuga Lake that is based on a disputed 1700s-era treaty.
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 casino, most likely in the Catskills. The counties would get a portion of the casino's net slot drop.
After recent property purchases, the tribe now owns 171.5 acres in Cayuga County and 195 acres in Seneca County, which are all subject to land-in-trust applications.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
The tribe has also set July 31 as the deadline for Cayuga and Seneca counties to decide on the proposed settlement.
The board's duties will include seeking ways to help Seneca County compensate businesses and residents for tax revenue lost if the Cayugas' land is taken into sovereign trust status by the federal government, Barto said in a news release. The new board is invited to attend the next meeting of Seneca County's Native American Affairs Committee, which will likely meet Tuesday, July 10, following the full board meeting at 7 p.m.
David Dresser, Ovid town supervisor and the chair of the Native American committee, received a telephone call June 26 from Richard Rifkin, Gov. Eliot Spitzer's special counsel to the governors for Indian affairs, who said that because of concerns for taxpayers and precedent, a second opinion to review the work of Harris Beach law firm, the counties' tribal affairs attorney, could not be authorized, the release said. The state is paying for Harris Beach's work on behalf of the counties.
Under the proposal, the Cayugas would give up their right to continuously apply to the federal government to take their open market property purchases into trust; to run Class II, or bingo hall gaming, without getting the counties' approval first; and to their claim to their 64,000-acre historic homeland surrounding northern Cayuga Lake that is based on a disputed 1700s-era treaty.
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 casino, most likely in the Catskills. The counties would get a portion of the casino's net slot drop.
After recent property purchases, the tribe now owns 171.5 acres in Cayuga County and 195 acres in Seneca County, which are all subject to land-in-trust applications.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
