Robinson Rancheria is planning the project on a two-acre parcel held in trust on Highway 20, just across from the tribe's casino at 1545 E. Highway 20 in Nice, as Lake County News has reported.
The tribe, which is not in county jurisdiction for such projects, nevertheless didn't discuss any aspects of it with any county departments or fire districts, according to local officials, who said that the tribe has shared information about its projects in the past. Tribal leadership also has refused to answer Lake County News' inquiries about the project.
The project raised concerns about off-reservation impacts, especially as the project is located within the 1,400-acre Middle Creek Restoration Project area, which is supposed to be returned to wetland in order to help deal with Clear Lake's sediment and nutrient load.
The Board of Supervisors last month directed Supervisor Denise Rushing to draft a letter to the tribe asking for information about the project and its potential impact on the Middle Creek project.
After the tribe did not respond to the Dec. 16 letter from Rushing, on Tuesday she asked the board to consider a more strongly worded followup letter.
Rushing's proposed second letter informed the tribe that if it did not show a willingness to respond to the county's questions by Jan. 24 the county would ask Gov. Jerry Brown's office to investigate a potential violation of the the tribe's 1999 state gaming compact, which requires “good faith efforts” to mitigate off-reservation environmental impacts on land used for “gaming or ancillary developments.”
The board approved sending that letter, but that same day Supervisor Rob Brown reported receiving several cell phone messages and texts from Tribal Chair Tracey Avila, asking for a meeting.
Rushing said both she and Brown met separately on Thursday with Avila and other tribal representatives and went through the Dec. 16 letter to get responses to the county's concerns, which included stormwater drainage, grading during the rainy season and the impact on the wetlands.
The answers Rushing and Brown received from Avila and the tribal leadership will be reported at the Board of Supervisors' Jan. 25 meeting, Rushing said.
The meeting agenda, which already had been posted, had an addendum issued for it Thursday to cover the discussion item, Rushing said.
At the meeting the board also will decide on what further action, if any, to take, Rushing said.
She said the tribe has agreed to sit down with county officials – at a date and time yet to be determined – to discuss the Middle Creek Restoration Project, in which the tribe has been a partner in the past.
Meanwhile, while the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Environmental Protection Agency have indicated that they do not have an active part in overseeing the tribe's project obligations, the US Army Corps of Engineers is still trying to determine if the tribe is required to have a permit.
On Thursday Army Corps spokesman Dave Killam said the agency may have files on the tribe's project in hand by next week. The files had been in an offsite storage location.
Killam also said the Army Corps is still awaiting a reply from the tribe's attorney in its effort to access the site and see if there are any potential runoff issues.
Last week, Peck Ha, an Army Corp regulatory branch manager, said he had sent two requests to the tribe's attorney in order to see the site for himself.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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