Cayuga and Seneca county leaders want to coordinate their response to the July 31 deadline set by the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York for the counties to decide about the proposed settlement over the Cayugas' property possibly entering sovereign trust.
“We want the two counties to work together on this,” said David Dresser, Ovid Town Supervisor and Seneca County's Native American Affairs committee chair. “If possible, we don't want the counties to take different positions. We want to see if we can come up with a common position. Certainly that's what the Nation expects and our attorneys want.”
To meet that goal, leaders from both counties met in executive session last Monday to discuss the proposal. “It was lively,” said Ray Lockwood, the Cayuga County legislator of Aurelius who chaired the meeting. “Everybody had input. There was disagreements. It was a good discussion. All points of view were brought out.”
It is not yet clear if the counties will vote on the proposed settlement before the July 31 deadline.
A proposed meeting with the attorneys for the Cayuga Nation was postponed this week so representatives could report back to the full Cayuga County Legislature and the Seneca County Board of Supervisors and discuss the proposed settlement in executive session at the legislative bodies' Tuesday, July 24, meetings, Dresser said.
“It may die in executive session. It may come back. I don't know without talking to everyone,” Lockwood said. Dresser does not expect a vote in either county July 24, but he thought the counties might call special sessions or the deadline might be extended. Lockwood said it's probable the counties will reschedule to meet with the Cayuga Nation attorneys.
Dresser also has submitted to both counties four proposals to potentially improve the proposed settlement. He said he could not publicly say just yet what they are because of executive session confidentiality.
Even opponents to the proposed settlement said it was good for the two counties to be on the same page.
“I know how I feel personally about the settlement,” Seneca Falls Town Supervisor Peter Same said. “By the same token as a group we're trying to come up with a unified response to the deadline imposed by the Cayuga Nation.”
“It's good to have both counties together so we get a better understanding of each other's position,” Aurelius Town Supervisor Ed Ide said. “We're both faced with the same problem. (We should be) addressing (it) together instead of going off on a tangent if we can. It doesn't hurt to exchange ideas.”
Attendees of Monday's executive session included: Fayette Town Supervisor and Board of Supervisors Chair Edward Barto, Dresser, Seneca County Attorney Steven Getman, Ide, Harris Beach attorney Brian Laudadio, Auburn Mayor Tim Lattimore, Lockwood, Same, Waterloo At-Large Supervisor Robert Shipley, Cayuga County Legislator Michele Sedor, D-Sennett, Varick Town Supervisor Joan Teichner, Union Springs Mayor Ed Trufant and Cayuga County Attorney Fred Westphal.
Laudadio, the attorney who negotiated the proposed agreement, will meet with both Cayuga and Seneca counties Tuesday.
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 county 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 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. 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.
After recent 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
To meet that goal, leaders from both counties met in executive session last Monday to discuss the proposal. “It was lively,” said Ray Lockwood, the Cayuga County legislator of Aurelius who chaired the meeting. “Everybody had input. There was disagreements. It was a good discussion. All points of view were brought out.”
It is not yet clear if the counties will vote on the proposed settlement before the July 31 deadline.
A proposed meeting with the attorneys for the Cayuga Nation was postponed this week so representatives could report back to the full Cayuga County Legislature and the Seneca County Board of Supervisors and discuss the proposed settlement in executive session at the legislative bodies' Tuesday, July 24, meetings, Dresser said.
“It may die in executive session. It may come back. I don't know without talking to everyone,” Lockwood said. Dresser does not expect a vote in either county July 24, but he thought the counties might call special sessions or the deadline might be extended. Lockwood said it's probable the counties will reschedule to meet with the Cayuga Nation attorneys.
Dresser also has submitted to both counties four proposals to potentially improve the proposed settlement. He said he could not publicly say just yet what they are because of executive session confidentiality.
Even opponents to the proposed settlement said it was good for the two counties to be on the same page.
“I know how I feel personally about the settlement,” Seneca Falls Town Supervisor Peter Same said. “By the same token as a group we're trying to come up with a unified response to the deadline imposed by the Cayuga Nation.”
“It's good to have both counties together so we get a better understanding of each other's position,” Aurelius Town Supervisor Ed Ide said. “We're both faced with the same problem. (We should be) addressing (it) together instead of going off on a tangent if we can. It doesn't hurt to exchange ideas.”
Attendees of Monday's executive session included: Fayette Town Supervisor and Board of Supervisors Chair Edward Barto, Dresser, Seneca County Attorney Steven Getman, Ide, Harris Beach attorney Brian Laudadio, Auburn Mayor Tim Lattimore, Lockwood, Same, Waterloo At-Large Supervisor Robert Shipley, Cayuga County Legislator Michele Sedor, D-Sennett, Varick Town Supervisor Joan Teichner, Union Springs Mayor Ed Trufant and Cayuga County Attorney Fred Westphal.
Laudadio, the attorney who negotiated the proposed agreement, will meet with both Cayuga and Seneca counties Tuesday.
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 county 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 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. 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.
After recent 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
