Rancheria sues Blue Lake: Casino conflicts hit court By Matt Kapko Eye Correspondent The Arcata Eye 08-06-2002 Clashing interests between Blue Lake and the Blue Lake Rancheria’s unique government-to-government relationship has resulted in a lawsuit. By passing resolution 716 on June 25, the Blue Lake City Council adopted a Mitigated Negative Declaration, pertaining to the city’s agreement with the Blue Lake Rancheria to provide water and sewer services to the casino. The Mitigated Negative Declaration is the result of the city’s environmental review of the project. By adopting the resolution, the city imposed “mitigations related to the construction and development of the casino,” the Tribe states in court documents. The decision prompted the Rancheria to file suit in Humboldt County Superior Court on July 26, challenging the city’s authority under previous agreement to impose any mitigations on the Tribe. The Rancheria and the city entered into agreement through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Nov. 1, 2000. Both parties agreed under the MOU to “cooperate on a government-to-government basis in furnishing water and sewer services to the Tribe.” The MOU states that under terms of the agreement, the city may be required to conduct environmental reviews under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As stated in the MOU, under the obligations of CEQA, if the city determines that the “Tribe has prepared a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)” that complies with CEQA guidelines it shall use the Tribe’s FONSI or EIS in lieu of a Negative Declaration. “The Tribe subsequently prepared an Environmental Assessment and a FONSI, which were approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission,” the Rancheria states in court documents. After the city conducted its own environmental review with outside counsel, the report found that a Negative Declaration would be necessary to meet CEQA guidelines. In resolution 716, the City Council determined that the FONSI prepared by the Tribe does not comply with CEQA guidelines. It goes on to state that the city has prepared a Mitigated Negative Declaration, “finding that there will be no significant environmental impact if all of the mitigation measures are implemented in connection with the casino project.” The City Council determined the only effective means to enforce the measures of the Mitigated Negative Declaration is for the city to retain the right to terminate water and/or sewer service” to the casino if the Rancheria fails to comply. The Tribe strongly opposes the city’s actions, claiming under terms of the MOU, the city agreed to provide water and sewer service to the Rancheria in exchange for user fees, connection fees, reimbursement for the costs of police services and environmental review services, specified improvements on Chartin Road and a discretionary impact mitigation payment. In court documents, the Tribe states “Resolution (716) and the Mitigated Negative Declaration imposed a variety of mitigation measures on the Tribe that had not been agreed to under the MOU. “The city committed a prejudicial abuse of discretion by approving the Mitigated Negative Declaration without the legal authority to enforce the approved mitigations, and its approval was made contrary to law.” The Rancheria claims that “The city has no authority under the MOU to impose or enforce mitigation measures on the Tribe.” It further contends that mitigation measures imposed on the Tribe by the city relate to the impacts of the casino project, rather than to the provision of water and sewer service, and the city has no authority under the MOU or CEQA to impose mitigation measures on the casino project, as stated in court documents. The Rancheria is asking the court to issue a writ of mandate, ordering Blue Lake to set aside and void its approval of the Mitigated Negative Declaration. It wants to challenge the city’s ability to shutoff water and sewer services. Hoping to avoid such predicaments in the future, the Rancheria’s lawsuit refers to troubles in May when the city, without prior notice to the Tribe, “plugged” the sewer connection to the casino. While the water and sewer service was eventually restored, the Tribe claims City Manager Duane Rigge took the action because he did not consider the MOU to be complete or effective until the city completed its environmental review. According to City Councilmember Sherman Schapiro, the city has assured the Rancheria that a pause or termination of water and sewer services would only occur after a reasonable amount of discussion through the methods of dispute resolution as outlined in the MOU. Nevertheless, the Tribe has taken up the issue by initiating litigation against the city, claiming it has exhausted its administrative remedies prior to filing the petition. In recent meetings the City Council has discussed the possibility of litigation from the Rancheria in closed session. Further discussion on the matter is scheduled for closed session at the council’s meeting on Aug. 13. Home