Cassian town board stands firm against plans for rehab facility

The Cassian town board, during a special meeting on Nov. 28, reiterated its opposition to construction of a 36-bed adolescent recovery and wellness center (ARWC) on property the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc. (GLITC) purchased on North Pine Square Road.

GLITC’s chief executive officer, Brian Bainbridge, attended a Nov. 20 meeting of the Cassian town board’s planning commission to answer questions about a conditional use permit (CUP) application GLITC has submitted to Oneida County for the ARWC. 

Bainbridge, Oneida County planning and zoning director Karl Jennrich, and Scott Ridderbusch, a land use specialist in the county zoning department, attended the Nov. 28 meeting. 

Jennrich has told The Lakeland Times upon initial review of the CUP application for the ARWC in early November by himself and Ridderbusch, the plans were within parameters of the county zoning ordinance but ultimate approval of the application would come from the Oneida County planning and development committee. 

He said town supervisor John Schaub, also chairman of the town’s planning commission, indicated at last week’s town board meeting the opposition centered around “what the (town’s) comprehensive plan stated.”

“They were looking at more dense type developments along County Highway K and (U.S Highway) 51,” Jennrich said. “They try to use more neutral things with their plan.”

Jennrich requested during last week’s town board meeting that the town’s concerns be sent to him in writing. 

“I’d just like to have a letter for the record,” he said. 

Town chairwoman Patty Francoeur told the Times Monday the town board by the end of the meeting approved a motion to send a letter to Oneida County reiterating the town’s opposition to the ARWC project. 

“The planning commission wrote up its recommendations off our comprehensive plan, which we had updated in 2022,” she said. “We’re going to send that to the county to make sure they know we’re continuing to oppose (the project).”

Jennrich said there will be a public hearing on the GLITC CUP application conducted by the county’s planning and development committee and it will be at the community center in Woodruff. 

“We talked about that facility because it’s bigger and ‘neutral ground’ for (GLITC),” he said. “We’re thinking the hearing will be held in the last part of December or the first part of January.”

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