March 21, 2001 - Rancheria responds to county's casino concerns

By CANDACE CRANE Staff writer

As the deadline for comments to the environmental assessment on the Shingle Springs casino complex came and went last week, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwoks was busy meeting with county supervisors and agencies to address their concerns on the project, as well as gathering as much information as possible together for the public meetings scheduled for 7 p.m. March 28, April 5 and April 10 at the Diamond Springs Fire Station.

The casino's architectural design and three alternative Highway 50 interchange designs will be unveiled at the meetings and the public comment invited. Fonseca said when the time comes, he will also make sure the county Board of Supervisors has a chance to see and comment on the final plans for the casino.

³I'm not the slightest bit concerned that we can't mitigate the points the county has brought up,² said Tribal Chairman Nick Fonseca, ³and I want to thank them for submitting comments early. It allowed us to get to work on the changes.²

To date, Fonseca has opened dialogs with most of the county supervisors and is working with the Diamond Springs-El Dorado Fire Protection District on plans for service. He's still in the process of meeting with remaining board members and the county sheriff.

³I've assured each of them I want to establish a win-win type of relationship so we can all get as much as possible of what we want,² said Fonseca. ³I want to work with the county.²

Both he and the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Joe Broadhead defended the traffic model they used to calculate traffic impacts for the environmental assessment. Broadhead explained that because there are no casino projects listed in the reference manual normally used for such calculations, they went to a survey of other casino facilities and used a comparison scale.

They also used a second consultant to double check the work that the first consultant did for the environmental assessment.

³This second consultant is highly regarded in the field and has casino experience,² he said.

Bottom line, he and Fonseca feel that if anything, they've overstated potential traffic impacts. ³We feel we've planned for a worst-case scenario,² said Broadhead.

Addressing the county's opposition to the water treatment plant outlined in the environmental assessment, Fonseca said the system as it's described will work, but that more acreage can be used for the leach field if necessary. ³We will put in a treatment plant that works, no matter what it costs,² he said.

He said he and his band are as concerned about their families' health and safety and the environment as the rest of the county's residents are. The band has voluntarily adopted the Uniform Building Code, the federal EPA codes and the county's burn ordinance, according to Fonseca. ³We have the same issues with health and social services as the supervisors deal with on the outside,² he said.

These issues, he claims, are behind his determination to see the casino project through, a resolve he calls ³adamant.²

³I want to start taking care of the tribe,² he said, noting that although only 70 of his band now live on the rancheria, almost all of its 319 members that descend from four families have indicated they want to come home. According to Fonseca, they are now scattered all over the state, from Sacramento to Healdsburg, and even up in Oregon and Washington.

Money is a common obstacle, he said, and coming home to the rancheria allows them to take advantage of the benefits that come with their trust lands. For example, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has a program that provides houses for those making under $10,000 per year. Six of the band currently living on the rancheria have gotten their homes through the program.

Another need is for young peoples' activities, according to Fonseca. He would like to see a teen community center constructed to fill this need. ³We wouldn't be opposed to opening it up to non-Indian kids, as well.²

Accompanying the casino project is a plan to construct an expanded health clinic on the site now occupied by the tent casino. Eighty percent of those currently served by the band's health clinic in Shingle Springs are non-Indian, according to Fonseca, and this new clinic will also be open to qualifying non-Indian county residents.

Meanwhile, the talks and the plans move forward. ³I have good feelings about this,² said Fonseca. ³The county has been open-minded, and we have established the basis for relationships.²