Chief
01-31-2008, 06:35 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/metronorth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_north_news/1201749907197550.xml&coll=7
Thursday, January 31, 2008ALLAN BRETTMAN The Oregonian Staff
VANCOUVER -- Clark County commissioners want to reopen an agreement with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.
The agreement -- a memorandum of understanding -- covers responsibilities of the county and the tribe if the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs approves a reservation near La Center, Wash. The tribe wants to build a casino resort on the property.
The existing agreement has landed in court, where its validity has been challenged on the grounds it violates the state's Growth Management Act. The case will be heard next by the state Court of Appeal. A hearing date has not been set.
Commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday declaring that unless the court rules the memorandum to be valid, the county would not try to enforce it.
The state Growth Management Hearings Board ruled last June that the agreement with the tribe was adopted in 2004 without enough public participation. The county appealed, but the ruling was upheld in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia.
Commissioners approved Tuesday's resolution, in part, because of concerns that the county could lose out on some state grants because the agreement with the tribe did not comply with the growth act, Commissioner Marc Boldt said.
As a result of the noncompliance, the county was disqualified for a $1 million state grant last year that would have been used to pay for engineering costs on the Salmon Creek interchange project at Interstates 5 and 205, said Pete Capell, public works director.
Boldt said the resolution would make clear to the state that the county is prepared to revisit the memorandum with new public hearings. Those hearings are likely to be held before August.
A new memorandum also would need the tribe's approval, but the tribe does not believe a new document is necessary, Cowlitz Indian Tribe spokesman Philip Harju said.
And so it goes. There's still no telling where all of this will eventually shake out...
Thursday, January 31, 2008ALLAN BRETTMAN The Oregonian Staff
VANCOUVER -- Clark County commissioners want to reopen an agreement with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.
The agreement -- a memorandum of understanding -- covers responsibilities of the county and the tribe if the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs approves a reservation near La Center, Wash. The tribe wants to build a casino resort on the property.
The existing agreement has landed in court, where its validity has been challenged on the grounds it violates the state's Growth Management Act. The case will be heard next by the state Court of Appeal. A hearing date has not been set.
Commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday declaring that unless the court rules the memorandum to be valid, the county would not try to enforce it.
The state Growth Management Hearings Board ruled last June that the agreement with the tribe was adopted in 2004 without enough public participation. The county appealed, but the ruling was upheld in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia.
Commissioners approved Tuesday's resolution, in part, because of concerns that the county could lose out on some state grants because the agreement with the tribe did not comply with the growth act, Commissioner Marc Boldt said.
As a result of the noncompliance, the county was disqualified for a $1 million state grant last year that would have been used to pay for engineering costs on the Salmon Creek interchange project at Interstates 5 and 205, said Pete Capell, public works director.
Boldt said the resolution would make clear to the state that the county is prepared to revisit the memorandum with new public hearings. Those hearings are likely to be held before August.
A new memorandum also would need the tribe's approval, but the tribe does not believe a new document is necessary, Cowlitz Indian Tribe spokesman Philip Harju said.
And so it goes. There's still no telling where all of this will eventually shake out...