It’s been more than two years since leaders of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and town council of the town of Mashpee have met. It took that long to agree to a meeting.
Finally, tribal leaders and members of the Board of Selectmen agreed to meeting on March 5. They agreed to televise the meeting.
There have been calls for such a meeting since a stormy town meeting occurred in May 2016. Those calls become more insistent after the town board declined to sign an agreement to provide emergency services to the reservation.
The council is eager to be updated on the progress, or lack, of the tribe’s quest to have land in Taunton and Mashpee put into trust. The Taunton land is higher profile, because that is where the tribe wants to put a $1 billion casino. But the land adjacent to the town of Mashpee is of more importance to the council.
Other items of interest include tribal interests in shellfish regulations and the proposed capacity of a treatment plant. The town also wants to know future tribal housing plans and whether they will obey the towns zoning laws.
