Marston: 'Wait-and-see' on Seneca sovereign land

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

The Town of Grand Island is open to working with the Seneca Nation, following word that the Nation won tax-free status for the 207-acre parcel on Long Road that it gained from Acquest Development for $1.

“The town and the board remain happy to work with the Senecas to figure out the best solution for the property,” Supervisor Peter Marston said Monday.

The U.S. Department of the Interior notified the Nation on Feb. 24 that its application was granted, placing more than 200 acres of its ancestral homelands on Grand Island into “restricted fee status.”

Marston said, “We have not yet received any of the official documents or paperwork. Most of our input would be not based on anything other than media response. We haven’t got the official document on the statement or the findings of the national government.”

Marston said the town is waiting on official word “before we really have an opinion on where we would go from here. I did have a brief interaction with a couple of tribal members, and it was good – positive.”

He said he talked to Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca and others.

“Basically, ‘Let’s work together’; but we don’t know where we’re at yet. … We’ll look at all the legal aspects and see where we’re at and understand where this goes,” Marston said.

“Of course, we’re intrigued they’re going to do something beneficial for us. We need to understand it all,” he said. “Right now, we’re not talking with anything more than speculation. We really want the data, and the hard facts, if you will – and the letters and the opinions and the legal stuff that comes with it.”

In December, Acquest Development owners William and Michael Huntress transferred the title for more than 200 acres at 2780 Long Road, calling the Seneca Nation “the rightful owners of Grand Island.”

The land is located west of I-190 between Long Road and Bedell Road. It currently has multiple zoning designations, with the eastern 141 acres closest to the I-190 zoned commercial and the western 66 acres zoned residential.

The town fought against tax-free status for the Senecas, writing to Interior Secretary Douglas Bergum that removal of the land from the tax rolls “would cause significant adverse impacts to the Town and School District.” The town also claimed the Seneca Nation’s acquisition failed to meet the standard to qualify for tax-exempt status.

President Seneca has been very positive about the future for the newly acquired land.

“We’re excited to take this next step in making this piece of our ancestral homelands a vital part of the Seneca Nation’s future,” he said in a press release.

“Now that our permanent future on Grand Island is secured, the Seneca Nation will forever be connected that community,” Seneca added. “We think there are significant opportunities for how the site can be developed to benefit the long-term future of the Seneca Nation and our people, as well as the surrounding community and region. We look forward to exploring those opportunities in the days ahead.”