Deal Saugerties Out
Helsmoortel and Yerick plan to introduce anti-casino resolutions

by Andrea Barrist Stern Saugerties Times May 19, 2005

In a stunning turn of events, Saugerties town supervisor Greg Helsmoortel and Saugerties village mayor Robert Yerick announced on Tuesday that they both plan to introduce resolutions to their respective boards in the coming weeks opposing the siting of an Indian-run gambling casino at the 840-acre Winston Farm.
Speaking as part of a panel on the topic that was convened and moderated by Saugerties journalist C.J. Mellor and taped for future airing over the town's public access channel, Helsmoortel said that after reviewing considerable information and visiting the Foxwoods Casino (which is run by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe) several weeks ago, he has come to believe a Class III, Las Vegas-style casino like the one being proposed for his town "will change the fabric of our community."
Yerick said he has been gathering as much information as possible so the village board can make an informed decision and, as a result of his research, has turned "very much against" the casino plan, calling it a "cancer." Said the mayor, "It's not something we want to embrace from a community point of view ... They are talking about a million gallons of water a day. We have that, but I am not willing to give it to a casino and [limit] all the other projects in town. We are a quaint, historic, beautiful village and we don't fit the agenda or design of a casino."
Yerick said he is even more concerned about the impact of the operation's wastewater and potential for polluting the aquifers at Winston Farm. "We could be putting the water there in serious jeopardy," he said. "Once they [the tribe and developer] get a foot in the door, if we have water problems, wastewater problems or school problems, they are not going to resolve them."
The mayor was also alarmed to learn that it appears the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and not the town would be the lead agency for a SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) review. (This matter could not be verified in time for this week's issue.)

WILL TOWN BOARD BACK HELSMOORTEL'S STANCE?
Helsmoortel may have the two additional votes he needs to carry his resolution. Councilwoman Leeanne Thornton said on Tuesday evening that she will second the supervisor's resolution because she is concerned the casino would have a negative impact on the town's water supplies, sewer service, roads and traffic, schools and affordable housing. Councilman Fred Costello Jr. said Wednesday that he hasn't "taken a position for or against yet" but noted, "As the proposal now stands, I wouldn't support it." Costello said the town would need to receive more financial benefits than it now appears it would get - the Seneca-Cayugas have discussed a $15 million per year payment to the county that the town could then possibly receive a share of - and he said the tribe would have to abide by town laws and zoning on its sovereign lands, which is unlikely. The casino-related development would be situated on lands deemed to be so-called "trust" lands that are considered sovereign and not subject to most federal, state and local laws other than criminal statutes once the casino is built and operating.
The Saugerties town board's remaining councilmen, Thomas Macarille and Phil Tucker, both said this week that they do not have enough information about the casino proposal yet to take a position. Macarille said the casino-related telephone calls he has been receiving from town residents are running two-to-one against the casino, but Tucker noted that the calls he is getting are more evenly split, possibly even favoring a casino. Both board members said they would favor a townwide referendum on the issue before they vote on a resolution either favoring or opposing a casino.

WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT
The Seneca-Cayuga tribe is proposing to build just under four million square feet of resort/casino/retail space, a 900-room hotel, a 750,000-square-foot convention center, a 20,000-seat sports and entertainment arena, a PGA-level golf course, and five parking garages to accommodate approximately 23,000 parking spaces, according to a May 12 meeting attended by Saugerties and village officials and builder Paul Wilmot. Wilmot is the son of developer Thomas Wilmot, whose family business Wilmorite, Inc. has an option on the Winston Farm and is partnering with the tribe. The casino would attract some 18,000 visitors daily, effectively doubling the size of Saugerties, and draw approximately one million gallons of water daily, the same amount now used by the village of Saugerties and the Glasco and Malden water districts.
Both Thomas and Paul Wilmot have ignored repeated requests for interviews with Ulster Publishing, as have Seneca-Cayuga chief Roy Howard and tribal spokesman Scott Wood.
During Tuesday's panel at the town's fledgling public access station adjacent to the town offices - the first taping ever to take place there - Helsmoortel said he has met with representatives of the tribe and the developers on several occasions over the past two months. "It has slowed down right now," he noted, adding that he has been trying to reach the Seneca-Cayuga chief to let him know about his position.
Helsmoortel and Yerick insisted the media be invited to Tuesday's taping. Helsmoortel left one meeting with the developer and tribal representatives when it turned out to be much larger than had been originally explained to him and the press was not there. He had minutes of the meeting taken and distributed to the media, the reason the media learned exactly what the tribe and the developer were proposing.
Also on Tuesday's panel were Saugerties attorney Lanny Walter, chairman of the Winston Farm Alliance and the coordinator of a new ad hoc group opposing the casino in Saugerties; and Brian Donoghue, president of the Saugerties Village Business Association and a partner in The Inquiring Mind Bookstore. Chief Howard and Thomas Wilmot had been invited to participate. Howard did not respond and Wilmot told Mellor he would be willing to discuss the casino sometime in the future.
"[A casino] will overwhelm us, suck money out of the community and probably reverse the development that has been taking place in our community and our town," said Walter, whose anti-casino group has scheduled a public meeting on the issue at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 31 at the Saugerties Senior Citizens Center. The group is also planning a lobbying day on June 7 in Albany. "We are going to try to be very visible so our governor and our [state] legislature know we don't want this."

WILL LOCAL OPPOSITION EVEN MATTER?
Meanwhile, the group has been meeting informally to establish committees and contact legal experts on tribal-run casinos to determine what can be done to thwart the project. New York state senator John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, who represents Saugerties, said last week that when governor George Pataki releases his much anticipated legislation in the coming weeks to settle land claims with five Indian tribes - including the Seneca-Cayugas - in return for casinos, it will stipulate that a casino can only be built with the approval of the county legislature in the host county. If the governor's legislation does not include such a condition, Bonacic said he would insist on an amendment to ensure local control. According to Bonacic, Pataki has agreed to the provision.
Such a provision could be critical for those opposed to the casino. In interviews, the federal Bureau of Indian affairs and acknowledged legal experts on Indian-run casinos have agreed that if the Seneca-Cayugas agree to accept land where they have never resided as a settlement for their claim, it would enable them to circumvent a section in the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that stipulates a community's position must be considered.
Regardless of the contents of Pataki's forthcoming legislation, some casino opponents are concerned that developers like Thomas Wilmot, who back Indian tribes in exchange for a healthy cut of the profits, make for formidable adversaries because they are so well-funded. According to national business publications, Wilmot is currently in the process of selling his mall-development company, Wilmorite, Inc., for $2.3 billion, a sum that is believed to represent just a portion of his vast wealth.
"What's scary is I don't know if we can stop it because we are up against a lot of money and the potential to make a lot of money, which is what is driving this," said Thornton, who believes a casino "is not the answer to economic development in the town of Saugerties." Thornton has contacted the New York State Association of Towns, which gave her the names of several attorneys specializing in tribal casino-related issues. She is planning to organize a workshop with some of these experts and town and village officials "to see what we are dealing with in regard to sovereignty so we can understand Native American land claim rights." Added Thornton, "We are just coming off a reval. The community has been very vocal about taxes and here we would have a property taken off the tax rolls."
Pataki withdrew legislation in mid-April authorizing five casinos in Ulster and Sullivan counties to settle land claims with the Seneca-Cayugas; the Wisconsin Oneidas; the Stockbridge-Munsees of Wisconsin (whose claim reportedly involves less than an acre of land); the landless Cayuga Nation of New York; and the Akwesasne Mohawks, whose land borders the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec as well as New York State. Pataki spokesman Todd Alhart said that the state needed to revise the agreements in light of a March 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which held that the New York Oneidas could not purchase property and operate it as tax-exempt holdings without going through the federal land-to-trust process. The governor is expected to resubmit the revised legislation to the state assembly and senate in time for action before the end of the current session in late June.
Some local officials are as concerned about the siting of a casino in a neighboring town, which would have traffic and other impacts on their community without any of the financial benefits, as they are about having a gaming operation within their boundaries. The New York Oneidas, who are now seeking trust status for their Turning Stone casino near Syracuse as a result of the March 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, are believed to be the tribe that has an option on the former IBM property in Lake Katrine. Town of Ulster supervisor Fred Wadnola (R-C) said the current owner of the property will not divulge the name of the tribe due to a confidentiality clause in the three-year contract.
"We have to look at this more from a planning perspective," said Saugerties councilman Costello. "We may be getting all the impacts without the revenue and that is almost scarier." Costello said he will ask Helsmoortel to reflect the town's concerns about casinos in neighboring towns in his resolution. Several weeks ago, the Woodstock town board passed a resolution opposing Class III casinos anywhere in New York state.
At Tuesday's taping session, Donoghue said the Saugerties Village Business Association hasn't taken a stand on the casino proposal yet although he expects it to vote on the matter in the coming weeks. But he noted group members are concerned about what the community can do to alleviate the impact from a casino.

A TALE OF ANOTHER CASINO TOWN
According to Tribal Nation (www.tribalnation.com), a union-based organization in Connecticut opposed to further casinos in the state, "The Southeastern Connecticut region has experienced substantial economic growth over the last decade due in part to the development of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino. This growth, however, has imposed profound impacts on the towns in the region. Impacts include ... 24-hour-per-day traffic increases, resulting in the need for additional traffic control and highway management; increased number of motor vehicle accidents, requiring additional motor vehicle enforcement; increased DWI incidents, which occur at a frequency higher than anywhere else in the state; and the need for more emergency medical services. These impacts not only affect the quality of life in our towns, but they place significant additional fiscal burdens on the towns as well," states the website, which notes that host communities in the region such as Ledyard with a population of 15,000 residents (Saugerties has just under 20,000 residents) are not being fully compensated for their casino-related costs.
In 2000, the quantifiable costs to the town of Ledyard resulting from hosting the Foxwoods Casino totaled $2.22 million, according to Tribal Nation. This figure included: $1.2 million for roads and bridges as well as future such improvements that would be needed; more than $336,000 for crime-related costs; and some $261,000 to deal with public safety and traffic impacts. In 2000-2001, the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos paid $335 million to the state of which $135 million was allocated to Connecticut municipalities. Ledyard, a host town of Foxwoods Casino, received $698,000 despite its casino-related costs.
Donoghue is also the director of mental health for the municipality of Catskill. Are mental health impacts as a result of the proposed casino in Saugerties a concern for him? "Absolutely," he said. "The [casino] issue is so huge it would transform the town ... If we can't mitigate the negative effects, we shouldn't allow it ... I think the state and the county are both using this as a way to make up for their fiscal mismanagement."
One issue that clearly concerned all of the panel members at Tuesday's session was that of the impact a casino would have on the Saugerties Central School District. In the community surrounding the Foxwoods Casino, the number of children entering the school who use English as a second language has necessitated the hiring of new multi-lingual teachers at a significant cost to the district, according to Helsmoortel.
"The [school district and municipality] have re-opened negotiations with the tribe but it is not going well," said the supervisor, who has been in contact with the school superintendent in the Connecticut district. "I think we are risking our future."
"This casino is like a leech," said Walter. "It is going to suck money out of our community and our surrounding communities. No amount of money can buy our quality of life."

TIMING IS KEY
Yerick is uncertain when he will submit his resolution to the village board opposing the casino. Helsmoortel intends to do so at the town board's June 8 meeting. "The state has no definite plan and the tribe and the builder haven't gotten together with a contract," said the supervisor. "I think our timing could be perfect since a decision hasn't been made yet."

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