Amador County – The Plymouth City Council had litigation on its agenda Monday afternoon, but never went into closed session to discuss it. The council held a special meeting to discuss the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians’ fee to trust request for a casino, but only moved to answer the FEIS. The council directed staff to write a comment letter. City Attorney Mike Dean said it mostly would note that past comments by the city and others remain to be answered. He said they must also point out how the Bureau of Indian Affairs is “flat wrong” in failing to acknowledge the change in legal status of the tribe in the last year. Councilman Jon Colburn took offense to the FEIS calling the city a “cooperating agency” in the fee-to-trust issue. Councilman Greg Baldwin recognized that the past city council approved a Municipal Services Agreement with the tribe for its casino. Colburn said it was hard to see why the tribe would not give an extension for the city to look at a 1,500-page document they took 4 years to produce. Dean said “they haven’t approved the document either,” and “they could send you another 1,500-page document tomorrow.” Dean said the tribe may be sending through the project FEIS “just in case Congress finds a way to take action the tribe seeks.” Gary Colburn said the FEIS should note city losses of houses, jobs and revenue, and the “city needs the casino more now than when this began.” Butch Cranford said the FEIS had been called ambiguous, misleading and false by U.S. Solicitor General David Burnhardt in January 2009, who reversed a previous land opinion. Cranford said “our comments on the fee-to-trust application have not been answered to this day,” and “this is about following the law,” seeing whether BIA and the National Indian Gaming Commission acted on the FEIS in accordance with law. If not, he urged the city to file a lawsuit, which he expected would cost about $250,000. Dean said that would probably be the cost, but it could be shared by multiple plaintiffs. Dean said it was “premature to initiate litigation,” and recommended studying comments on the FEIS. Fordyce asked if they should speak with the tribe. She had heard they “wanted to get the ball rolling,” before the FEIS came out, and she wasn’t sure if the “solicitor general” had been overruled. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010 08:25
Attorney says litigation premature as Plymouth returns to casino, Final EIS
Written by Tom-
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Amador County – The Plymouth City Council had litigation on its agenda Monday afternoon, but never went into closed session to discuss it. The council held a special meeting to discuss the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians’ fee to trust request for a casino, but only moved to answer the FEIS. The council directed staff to write a comment letter. City Attorney Mike Dean said it mostly would note that past comments by the city and others remain to be answered. He said they must also point out how the Bureau of Indian Affairs is “flat wrong” in failing to acknowledge the change in legal status of the tribe in the last year. Councilman Jon Colburn took offense to the FEIS calling the city a “cooperating agency” in the fee-to-trust issue. Councilman Greg Baldwin recognized that the past city council approved a Municipal Services Agreement with the tribe for its casino. Colburn said it was hard to see why the tribe would not give an extension for the city to look at a 1,500-page document they took 4 years to produce. Dean said “they haven’t approved the document either,” and “they could send you another 1,500-page document tomorrow.” Dean said the tribe may be sending through the project FEIS “just in case Congress finds a way to take action the tribe seeks.” Gary Colburn said the FEIS should note city losses of houses, jobs and revenue, and the “city needs the casino more now than when this began.” Butch Cranford said the FEIS had been called ambiguous, misleading and false by U.S. Solicitor General David Burnhardt in January 2009, who reversed a previous land opinion. Cranford said “our comments on the fee-to-trust application have not been answered to this day,” and “this is about following the law,” seeing whether BIA and the National Indian Gaming Commission acted on the FEIS in accordance with law. If not, he urged the city to file a lawsuit, which he expected would cost about $250,000. Dean said that would probably be the cost, but it could be shared by multiple plaintiffs. Dean said it was “premature to initiate litigation,” and recommended studying comments on the FEIS. Fordyce asked if they should speak with the tribe. She had heard they “wanted to get the ball rolling,” before the FEIS came out, and she wasn’t sure if the “solicitor general” had been overruled. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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