Vernon officials want meeting on Nation project
July 9, 2002

By R. PATRICK CORBETT
Observer-Dispatch

VERNON — Construction on the Oneida Indian Nation’s second championship golf course is bringing tears to the eyes of some of its town of Vernon neighbors.

Town Supervisor Myron Thurston II said Monday that since construction started in June some Cooper Street residents have complained of smoke drifting over their property from the construction site. A cloud of blue-gray smoke hung over one corner of the site Monday afternoon.

The board agreed Monday to invite Oneida Nation leaders to a public work session at 7 p.m. next Monday to discuss their development plans in the town on a “government-to-government” basis.

The Oneida Nation is building the golf course on land it purchased west of the village. As a sovereign nation, it is not required to obtain local building or zoning permits, but it must clear the work with federal regulatory agencies.

Thurston said federal officials could not tell him last week if the Oneida Nation has environmental clearances for the work and he has heard nothing from the Nation.

“The issue is (whether the Oneidas are) burning without a permit,” Councilman Eugene Bennati said.

“I want to get along with our neighbors (in the Oneida Nation),” Thurston said, “but they have to want to get along with us.”

He initially asked the board to sign a letter to Christine Yost, Indian Program Coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency, noting the town’s concern about the burning and asking her to investigate if the Oneida Nation obtained proper permits.

He said if the Oneidas already have the environmental clearance for the work and the burning, they have not told him.

After discussing the issue, though, the board decided to hold off on the letter, instead opting for a more conciliatory approach.

Councilman Richard Sheeran said he shared the concerns about the burning specifically, and about the impact the construction could have on the town generally, but he said rather than appeal to the EPA, the board first should try to clear the air “government-to-government.”

He said he met with Oneida Nation staffers recently and they assured him that the Nation has resolved the permit issues with the appropriate environmental agencies.

He said that Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter last fall invited local governments to work together with the Nation on mutual concerns and that he objected to “formalizing” the town’s concerns until the matter has been discussed with Oneida leaders.

Thurston and Bennati agreed to ask for a meeting and the board tabled action on the EPA letter.