Awaiting Tribal
action
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| The existing Viaduct is falling apart and has been for years |
I
have acquired the
final list of properties bought by the Rhode Island Department of
Transportation to meet the terms of the “Programmatic Agreement” for its
construction of the Providence
Viaduct Bridge Replacement Project.
The Viaduct project will deal with one of the city’s worst and most dangerous stretches of road. The list includes four properties, two in Narragansett and two in Charlestown with a combined value of $8,253,290.
One of the four properties is the former Camp Davis off South County Trail. The 105 acre campground was purchased by DOT last May from the Providence Boys and Girls Club for $1,650,000.
The Viaduct project will deal with one of the city’s worst and most dangerous stretches of road. The list includes four properties, two in Narragansett and two in Charlestown with a combined value of $8,253,290.
One of the four properties is the former Camp Davis off South County Trail. The 105 acre campground was purchased by DOT last May from the Providence Boys and Girls Club for $1,650,000.
These
lands will be deeded to the Tribe’s
Historic Preservation Office, headed by John Brown, on behalf of and for
the benefit of the Narragansett Indian Tribe.
The
former Camp Davis property bisects the Tribe’s Charlestown homeland, which
currently comprises almost 2,000 acres received by the Tribe under the 1978 agreement
that settled the Tribe’s land claims. The land transfer, once completed, will
physically unite those two halves.
Under the terms of the agreement, the state must compensate the Tribe because the Providence Viaduct highway project will disturb historically and culturally important sites and artifacts. Such an agreement is required under federal laws designed to protect Native American sites.
Under the terms of the agreement, the state must compensate the Tribe because the Providence Viaduct highway project will disturb historically and culturally important sites and artifacts. Such an agreement is required under federal laws designed to protect Native American sites.
For
months, the Charlestown Town Council has been meeting behind closed doors in
Executive Session to discuss their reaction to the impending land transfer,
with litigation being one of the options.
I
requested copies of documents related to the Town’s actions and was told
by Town Clerk Amy Rose Weinreich that while documents do exist, the Town
claims they are exempt from public disclosure because they involve discussion
of litigation.
Invoices
from Charlestown’s hired Indian fighter, attorney Joe Larisa, show that Larisa
has spent more time in 2013 working on Camp Davis than any other topic. Click here
and here
for Larisa’s 2013 bills.
Even
though the Town Council and the town’s Special Counsel for Indian Affairs have
been considering a strategy to block the Camp Davis land transfer for months,
the newly acquired RIDOT document indicates that the Tribe is the source of the
delay.
RIDOT
is working with all the necessary parties “to
develop the appropriate covenants that preserve the property and its cultural
resources in perpetuity.”
The parties to this covenant are RIDOT and the Tribe, of course, as well as the RI Division of the Federal Highway Administration and the state Historical Preservation Office.
The parties to this covenant are RIDOT and the Tribe, of course, as well as the RI Division of the Federal Highway Administration and the state Historical Preservation Office.
The
towns of Charlestown and Narragansett are not on that list.
Only
one of the official parties to the covenant essential to completing this land
deal is identified as holding up the process. According to the DOT memo, “RIDOT is not aware of any Tribal Council
proceedings with respect to said Programmatic Agreement.”
I
have asked Mr. Brown, head of the Tribe’s Historic
Preservation Office, for comment but have not received a response as of my
deadline for this article.
During
much of the summer, most of Charlestown’s attention has been focused on the
controversial Whalerock property, once a source of some contention between the
Town and the Tribe, despite the Tribe’s disavowal of interest in owning that
land.
At
one time, Charlestown became so convinced that the Tribe wanted to acquire more
land so it could build a casino in Charlestown that it took its case all the
way to the US Supreme Court, resulting in a ruling, Carcieri v. Salazar, that
stripped the Narragansetts plus 500 other Indian tribes across the US of basic sovereignty
rights.
With
Whalerock now off the table after the Town’s purchase, the last remaining large
parcel in Charlestown that stirs up the anti-Tribe passions within the Town’s
ruling CCA Party is the Camp Davis parcel.
However, the covenants to carry out the land transfer of the four properties will require the lands to be preserved in their natural state in perpetuity. Plus, it's time that there was peace between the Town and the Tribe.
However, the covenants to carry out the land transfer of the four properties will require the lands to be preserved in their natural state in perpetuity. Plus, it's time that there was peace between the Town and the Tribe.
That
is, if the Tribe moves the Programmatic Agreement forward at its end and the
Town of Charlestown doesn't try to block it.