On Monday night, the Cassian town board held a Planning Commission meeting on the conditional use permit for the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council’s new substance abuse recovery center.
GLITC CEO Bryan Bainbridge attended the information session and answered questions from people.
Monday’s information session at the Cassian Town Hall was packed.
The meeting started with the town board reading through the submitted conditional use permit, or CUP, and GLITC’s opposition letter to the town's resolution.
After that, they opened the floor for questions and concerns.
Dozens of people spoke up, asking about infrastructure issues, voicing fears that the center would bring more drugs to the area, and questioning who the center would serve.
Here’s one person addressing the group-
“Most of our resistance to this is infrastructure things, it's nothing against anybody. It may be a facility- yep, it's a facility that probably is going to be needed. But we're not pushing against it because of the fact of who's asking. If it were an independent company, we’d be in the same boat,” he said.
The town was concerned that GLITC would put the property in a federal trust that couldn’t be taxed.
GLITC CEO Bryan Bainbridge reiterated that that was not a consideration at this time and that even if it were in the distant future, it’s a lengthy, difficult process that would take 8-10 years.
“We have one planned project that the CUP describes,” he said in response to questions about potential other plans.
Bainbridge pointed out there was a lot of misinformation rampant- from the town of Little Rice passing a resolution incorrectly labeling the center as a homeless shelter to people thinking the center will serve adults when it is explicitly for children ages 13 to 17.
The board responded that misinformation was GLITC’s fault, since they started the process with a non-disclosure agreement.
Chris Turnbull lives a mile away from the property and says she’s concerned about construction.
“The residents are saying, a majority, we don’t want this. And it isn't about you. It's about where I live. And I don't want cars going up and down my road. And I don't, I don't want construction trucks going up and down my road,” she said.
Residents repeatedly asked why Cassian was chosen for the center, and Bainbridge responded that over a thousand properties were vetted and that the Cassian property served their purpose.
The CUP will advance on to the Oneida County Planning and Zoning Department for voting.
