Rep Tiffany: GLITC Adolescent Recovery and Wellness Center should be built on tribal land

To the Editor:

While I applaud the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (GLITC) for seeking to help those who have substance abuse problems, GLITC has numerous tribes in their association that have the public safety and medical infrastructure missing in the Town of Cassian.

The western part of Cassian is a remote area lacking appropriate public safety infrastructure for a drug rehabilitation facility the size and scope of the GLITC proposal. The largely rural residential area has a small presence of EMTs, firefighters, and police protection.

Therefore, by straining local resources, the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Cassian and the western part of Oneida County would be compromised.

Due to the additional public service costs in a time of extremely tight county budgets, concerns for public safety with a facility of this type, and the devaluation of residents’ property, the Oneida County zoning committee and Board of Directors should reject the Conditional Use Permit application.

In addition, Oneida County residents should be aware that GLITC will at some point remove the land in question from fee to trust — meaning the property will no longer be taxable — shifting the burden onto the remaining Oneida County and Town of Cassian taxpayers. Local, county, and state entities will also no longer have regulatory authority over a facility that should be highly regulated.

I encourage GLITC to pursue their efforts for a high-risk facility on tribal lands. GLITC acknowledges the facility is primarily for Native American youth. Therefore, it only makes sense to build such a facility on tribal lands. I stand ready to assist the tribes in seeking federal funding when they identify an appropriate location, but to build such a facility in a remote area like the Town of Cassian makes no sense. 

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany 
(R-Wisconsin-7)