Cassian town board expresses opposition to tribal adolescent wellness center

The three-member Cassian town board on Monday decided to move forward with the drafting of a resolution in opposition to an adolescent recovery and wellness center (ARWC) that the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc. (GLITCI) plans to build on 154 acres it purchased on North Pine Square Road.

“The ARWC is a 36-bed residential facility centrally located in Wisconsin to best serve all Member Tribes and urban Indians,” the GLITCI website states. “It will provide culturally relevant services and responsive residential substance abuse treatment for Native American youth, ages 13-17, who are suffering from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and any co-occurring mental health conditions. Priority will be given to Native American youth, but the facility would be available to non-Native adolescents as well.”

Since the town board was made aware of the project, there has been a concerted effort to obtain more information about the project. 

 At the start of Monday’s discussion between town board members, town chair Patty Francoeur reviewed a timeline of events to that point.

The first item she mentioned was an email from GLITCI she received on June 15, 2023, asking to attend the next town board meeting. 

That was followed by a June 29 email from GLITCI asking to delay a meeting with the town board or set up a special meeting where a presentation regarding the wellness center would be made by GLITCI chief executive Bryan Bainbridge. 

That special town board meeting was held on July 24. 

Before that, on July 13, Francoeur said she met with Bainbridge at the GLITCI offices in Lac du Flambeau “and asked some questions.”

“That’s just a brief little outline so people know when everything started,” she said. “So, we’re just coming up on two months since we were notified on what was going on.”

Francoeur told town supervisors John Schaub and Dick Herman she’s been advised to have a resolution in opposition to the center drafted and adopted “due to concerns on public health, safety, welfare, quality of life, infrastructure, land values and loss of revenue.”

“If we want to do that, it was suggested we send copies (of the resolution) to all local, county and state officials,” she explained. “I know there’s a petition out there. We would include that.”

Francoeur said she was advised the resolution to be drafted should include the impact on the town and its infrastructure to include increased wear and tear on roads and equipment, more hours for town employees, an increase in electricity to be routed, water and septic needs that will be required and a review of town ordinances. 

“Emergency services, location, response time, manpower,” she said. “Those are just some things.”

Francoeur suggested to Schaub, who chairs the town’s planning commission, that the planning commission could “help us out” with regard to getting more specific in the resolution. 

Schaub said he’d spoken to Oneida County planning and director Karl Jennrich last week, who said he’d met with Bainbridge, representatives with REI, GLITCI’s building consultant for the project and the construction firm that will be the primary building contractor. 

That meeting was to go over what sort of items would be needed for a conditional use permit (CUP) application.

As of Friday, Schaub said Jennrich hadn’t received anything in the way of a CUP from Bainbridge and Cassian fire chief Mike Leair said when he spoke to representatives from the construction firm he was told Oneida County should receive the CUP application for by the end of August. 

Bainbridge has told The Lakeland Times he’d like to see construction begin in October and Leair told the town board he was informed by the construction company representatives he spoke to that construction of the ARWC would take approximately a year. 

Francoeur ultimately made a motion to have the resolution drafted “to present to the county board and local governments ... opposing the wellness center.”

She said town attorney Greg Harrold would draft the resolution and have it ready for the town board’s consideration and adoption at a meeting to be held in the near future. 

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].