Casino action picks up after a slow year

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — By the end of 2005, Sullivan County lawmakers had forgotten about trying to get five casinos located in the county and had turned their attention to just one: the facility the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe proposed to be built at Monticello Gaming and Raceway. It was the second time around for the tribe at that location.

In April 2000, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) had given the Mohawks approval to build their casino at the racetrack, but the deal fell apart and the tribe took their project to Kutshers Hotel and Resort and teamed up with Park Place Entertainment.

By December of 2005, that deal had also fallen by the wayside, and the tribe was back at the raceway with a plan for a casino to be operated by Empire Reports.

In March 2006, the BIA asked the tribe for additional information on environmental impacts to the area, which Empire Reports quickly compiled and submitted to the agency.

In the meantime, Thompson supervisor Tony Cellini arranged a publicity stunt in April in which he sent 1,000 letters of support for the casino to Governor George Pataki in Albany. Casino critics were not amused. Activist Dick Riseling said the letters paled in comparison to the more than 5,000 signatures of citizens opposed to the project that he had presented to the county legislature the previous year.

Regardless, the casino forces pushed forward. In June, the Mohawks renegotiated their contract with the county, which guaranteed payment of $15 million to the county, which would then give some money to the municipalities affected by the casino, with the exception of the Village of Monticello, which worked out its own $5 million payments from the tribe.

The tribe also agreed that if the cost-of-living index rises by five percent or more during the seven-year life of the contract, the contract would be renegotiated. The tribe also agreed to allow the state to collect sales tax, and agreed that should the tribe build a hotel at the casino, the tribe will collect room taxes.

In November, the BIA announced that absent any significant public comment, the agency planned to accept the tribe’s environmental assessment and determine that the project would have “no significant impact” on the community and environment.

Two dozen environmental groups, headed by the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), objected to the position, saying that a $600 million facility, which is projected to bring nearly six million visitors a year to the county, by definition will have a significant impact, and should undergo a full environmental impact study (EIS).

By December 15, reports emerged that the BIA had rejected the NRDC’s positions and was poised to approve the tribe’s plan.

Next, the action will move to Albany where the deal will need formal approval from the governor, and portions of the deal will need approval from the state legislature.

Casino promoters are predicting groundbreaking by the end of 2007, but critics may interrupt those plans with a lawsuit.