Back in August, when the Cayuga Nation of New York and itsdevelopment partner Empire Resorts Inc. appeared poised to breakground on the $500-million Cayuga Catskill Resort project, talks onthe land claim settlement agreement broke down. However, withThursday's announcement that a settlement agreement had beenreached, the gaming facility at Monticello Raceway appears to beback in front and the likely first casino project to break groundin the Catskills. The Cayuga Nation is awaiting approval from theBureau of Indian Affairs on a land in trust agreement in connectionwith the gaming facility project.

Congress and the New York State Legislature must ratify thesettlement agreement signed by Gov. George Pataki and Cayuga Nationof New York Representative Clint Halftown. "The agreement willallow us to move forward with plans to establish a second casino inthe Catskills, which would create thousands of new jobs and providea tremendous boost to the region's economy," says Pataki. "Ouragreement would also establish retail tax parity between Cayuga andnon-Cayuga vendors, which demonstrates again that we can achieveparity with the Indian nations in a spirit of cooperation, notconfrontation."

Last week, the state and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma,which was a party in the same land claim dispute, reached asettlement agreement. Empire Resorts, which announced earlier thisweek it had struck a deal to acquire the Concord and Grossingersresort properties in Sullivan County to build a gaming facility forthe Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, can now more forward on theMonticello gaming project as well.