LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Habematolel Pomo’s proposal to place its community center in downtown Upper Lake into federal trust received the Board of Supervisors’ unanimous approval on Tuesday.
The tribe has applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to transfer into trust its community center at 9470 Main St., the former Westamerica Bank Upper Lake branch, which the tribe purchased from Hospice Services of Lake County in 2016.
Moving property into trust means that the United States government, acting as trustee, will hold legal title to the land on behalf of the tribe’s current and future generations,
BIA notified the county of the application in a letter received on April 1 and invited it to comment, according to County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson’s report to the board.
The BIA asked the county for information on property taxes, assessments, government services provided and potential zoning consistency.
Based on the county’s draft letter in response to the BIA’s comment invitation, the taxes on the property total $2,752.38 for the 2018-19 tax year, with an additional $162.62 in assessments.
Regarding public services, the county’s letter explained that the Lake County Sheriff’s Office remains the primary agency providing law enforcement services to the tribe – including the community center property – while the Lake County County Public Works Department maintains the access roads in the area. Many other county agencies also are involved in the area, whether directly or indirectly, the letter states.
The letter said the BIA notice indicates that the tribe intends to retain the existing use of the property, which houses tribal government and related programs.
“No further development is planned, preserving the existing character of the area. Based off this assertion, with the Main Street area in Upper Lake being zoned Commercial, the use described appears to be consistent with current zoning and land uses,” the draft letter stated.
On Tuesday, Huchingson suggested several updates to the letter, including a paragraph stating: “The county is grateful for our longstanding memorandum of understanding with the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, through which the tribe provides a substantial amount of funding to the county. In light of this, the county does not intend to seek any additional agreement with the tribe to offset the small revenue loss resulting from this proposal.”
Also added was a paragraph explaining that Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin has submitted his own separate comments to the BIA indicating his support for the proposal.
Huchingson’s additions to the letter also explained that the tribe has suggested an additional memorandum of understanding for support of local law enforcement efforts, and “we’re grateful for the tribe’s continuing generosity.”
The last of the new language, added to the closing comments, states: “Our board supports this application of the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake to place the subject parcel into trust and we look forward to our continuing partnership with the tribe for the betterment of our communities.”
The updated letter met with the board’s approval. There were no additional comments by the board or the public before District 3 Supervisor EJ Crandell moved to approve the letter, which Supervisor Bruno Sabatier seconded and the board approved 5-0.
The board’s approval of the letter in response to the Habematolel Pomo’s application came a week after it signed off on two letters to the BIA in response to two separate fee to trust applications – covering 21 parcels totaling 51 acres – from the Big Valley Rancheria, as Lake County News has reported.
Big Valley leadership said those 21 parcels were part of the original rancheria before termination in the 1950s, which sought to assimilate tribes into mainstream culture, forcing them from their lands.
The tribe had expressed concerns over incorrect information that county staff had included in its original response letters – involving the county’s suggestion that the tribe might have commercial plans for the land, which currently is open space and residential. Had those letters been sent, the tribe said it could have been damaging to the applications.
It took a few weeks of discussions between the board, county staff and the Big Valley tribe to come up with updated letters that the tribe found acceptable. The board voted to approve those updated letters last week.
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Supervisors support Habematolel Pomo trust application for community center
- Elizabeth Larson
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