On Monday, four members of the Wawarsing Town Council met with representatives from the Western Mohegan Indian tribe who are seeking the town's endorsement and support in their quest to attain the state's recognition as a tribe, and to subsequently open a gambling casino in the town of Wawarsing.

The meeting came about as a result of a defeated town board resolution from June 19, which would have memorialized the board's support of their intentions to open the casino and gain official tribal recognition, and without which the Western Mohegan's attempts would be stopped in their tracks. The resolution was defeated 3-2, with Democrats Geelan and Hyatt and Republican Houck voting against, while Democrat Gavaris and Republican Town Supervisor Ed Jennings supported the resolution.

Town Councilmen John Gavaris, Tom Geelan, Terry Houck, and Councilwoman Theresa Hyatt all made their way to the Western Mohegan group's building in Greenfield Park on Route 52, where they met with Chief Ronald Roberts, Robert Parker, and the group's attorney, David Lenefsky. Roberts led the council members on a tour through what will soon be the Western Mohegan's museum, and explained the different exhibits and displays and their relation to the group's heritage. Some of the exhibits included artifacts retained by the Western Mohegan tribe's members, including woven baskets and art sewn entirely from porcupine quills. The exhibits also included donations from other tribes, such as the Sioux Nation, who donated a painted buffalo hide depicting tribal symbols.

Afterward, the Western Mohegan representatives sat with the board members to try and convince the council members who had voted against the measure to rethink their positions, and to approve the resolution to support their attempts to gain state and federal tribal recognition.

"The purpose of this resolution is to get the ball rolling," said Parker to the board members. "We want you to be our partners, and be a part of what we do. We can't operate in a vacuum." During the meeting, Parker discussed when the group had sought the county's approval in bringing a casino to the area in 2001, and their regret at not having involved the town in the initial process, and that part of their current attempts were to make amends for the earlier misstep.

Hyatt, the most vocal opponent of the resolution said that she didn't have enough information about the proposed casino and resort.

"I'm skeptical about the numbers," she said. "It sounds like a pipe dream."

Part of the Western Mohegan group's presentation to the board members was a petition that they had put together since their workshop with the town board last Thursday, showing the signatures of 25 local businesses, including Lighthouse Deli's Terry Clearwater, Matthews Pharmacy's Ray Matthews, and Ellenville Regional Hospital's Steve Kelley, to name a few.

The exact wording says it is a "petition to support a Resolution by the Town Board of Wawarsing in support of state recognition of the Western Mohegan Tribe and Nation as a state recognized tribe and the tribe's land as a reservation and the establishment of an Indian gaming casino on the reservation." To try and allay some of Hyatt's concerns, Lenefsky suggested reworking some of the language of the petition to say that the state would "explore the possibility" of establishing the casino, instead of outright supporting the casino-proposal itself at this time.

Chief Roberts also suggested that the board members think of the large-scale casino resort that's in the proposal as being built in stages, with a thousand-room resort at first, which would then get built up over time in a gradual process to help the arrival of such a facility go more smoothly.

The group hoped that the town board would vote on a resolution at this week's meeting at Town Hall on Thursday.

In a follow-up interview the next day, Councilman John Gavaris said that he believed it was unlikely that the board would vote on the resolution, as he didn't think that the three board members who had voted against it had yet changed their minds.

"More likely than not, I don't foresee it happening it Thursday," he said. "I don't see a third vote coming through by Thursday…I probably will [move to vote on the resolution] if it appears it's going to go through, but there's no point in doing something you know is going to be shot down."

Gavaris said that he hoped to gauge public opinion and support by holding a public hearing in a larger venue than Town Hall, like the Ellenville School campus, in the weeks to come.

Hyatt reported leaving the meeting not having changed her mind, saying, "I'm fearful of the negative impact it could have." She cited a huge spike in traffic along Route 52 as a possible outcome if the casino were to be built. She also said that the need to increase the size of the school would be a factor to contend with should the group bring workers and families to the district.

Hyatt also said that she was hoping to see what the public's opinion was, but until such time as she had proof of their support, she said, "there are too many 'what ifs'…I want to hear from the public."

The group's base of operations is in Greenfield Park on the property of the former Tamarack Resort, which they purchased from Ulster County in 2001.

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