The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head plans to appeal the recent federal judge’s ruling that it may not open a Class II casino on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The tribe’s attorney, Scott Crowell, confirmed last week that the tribe would appeal Judge Dennis Saylor IV’s ruling, although it may first ask Saylor to reconsider his ruling.
In a 40-page ruling Judge Saylor wrote that the Aquinnah’s right to open a Class II facility in an unfinished community building was trumped by the agreement that the tribe signed as part of the Massachusetts Settlement Act of 1987. Those 485 acres became reservation land.
The judge also wrote that the tribe failed to show sufficient self-governance as required by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. “The tribe does not have a public school. Nor does the tribe provide any public housing beyond that which is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. There is no tribal criminal code, prosecutor, or jail,” he wrote.
Crowell remarked that the judge’s words were ironic since the very casino that the judge was ruling against would provide funding to pay for governmental functions.
The tribe is one of two federally recognized tribes in the Bay State, with the Mashpee Wampanoags being the other. The Mashpees recently had land put into trust in Taunton, where they plan to build the Project First Light Casino & Resort.
Project First Light Casino
The Mashpees aren’t letting any grass grow under their feet as they move toward breaking ground on the $500 million project next spring.
It is helping some existing businesses from the business park that it has purchased for the casino resort. The 151-acre Liberty & Union Industrial Park has several businesses that have requested assistance in relocating. The tribe several weeks ago finalized the purchase of the land from six different owners for a total of $34.5 million following the announcement by the Department of the Interior that it would be putting the land into trust.
One of the businesses that will have to move is OMNIlife science Inc., a company that develops hip and knee replacements and which employs about 80 people. The tribe is providing the company financial assistance to move to another site in the city.
Not everyone is happy with having to move, however. Frank Leahy, regional director of operations for Pennsylvania-based Communications Construction Group told the Enterprise, “I’ve asked me to help me out, and they will not,” adding, “I feel we’re getting a raw deal.” His business needs a lot of parking and storage space and is having difficulty finding it. “That could cost us $250,000,” he said. “Just to pick up and move is difficulty.” The tribe’s response, he says has been, “it’s too bad, so sad, it’s not our problem.”
On the other hand, Nortech Engineering Inc., which moved into the business park three years ago, recently sat down with attorneys for the tribe who put him in touch with a Boston real estate company which found it suitable space in a nearby industrial park. The tribe may have had the incentive to do so because Nortech’s lease does not run out for two years and it might be difficult to force it out before then.
