Contact: Ralph J. Eannace Jr

Oneida County Executive

(315) 798-5800

Rocco DiVeronica, Chairman

Madison County Board of Supervisors

(315) 366-2201

The report provided to the Syracuse Newspapers is a blatant effort to derail the settlement process on which the parties have worked diligently and productively over the past year. The issues discussed in the report are the same issues that have been before us for a long time—land, money, and sovereignty. They have been the subjects of public meetings, open discussions, and dialogue sessions.

The Counties cannot confirm or deny the particular details of the negotiations because of the confidentiality order, but we note that the information provided to the Syracuse newspapers is materially inaccurate or misleading. As an example, consistent with our published settlement principles and as a result of our outreach sessions, the amount of acreage discussed in the report is far more than the Counties would accept as sovereign land.

Two additional points must be made. First, the Town of Brookfield is not in the land claim area and has never been the subject of negotiations. And second, the Counties continue to press to keep the Counties whole with respect to property and sales taxes.

Oneida and Madison Counties are committed to the negotiation process. A settlement is preferable to litigation. A settlement will allow us to address all the concerns of our communities and would provide closure to land claim issues. Litigation does neither and will allow the Oneidas the opportunity to continue to buy land in the land claim area.

There is still a considerable amount of work to accomplish before a final settlement package can be presented to the public for review and a vote by the County legislative bodies. We are committed to completing the process in a manner and with results that remains true to our principles.