By VAN PARKER
Evening Herald staff writer
WASHINGTON - A federal task
force set up last year to study the Ca-
tawba Indian land claim is dead, a
federal attorney said Thursday.
Tim Vollmann, an attorney in U.S.
Department of the Interior Solicitor
Leo Krulitz's office, said the three-
man panel consisting of Krulitz, De
partment of Justice Assistant At-
torney General James Moorman,
and Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) official Eliot Cutler,
has more or less been disbanded.
"We are not following the task
force approach. The Assistant At-
torney General no longer has direct
involvment in the claim" Vollmann
said. "OMB is still very much inter-
ested in the claim, although they
aren't direct negotiators."
The task force was set up last
spring at the request of members of
South Carolina Congressional dele-
gation in an effort to reach a settle-
ment of the claim. At that time, the
Interior Department was still rec-
Catawbas
ask for
specifics
The following is a formal tribal
statement released today by Ca-
tawba Chief Gilbert Blue in re-
sponse to U.S. Rep. Ken Hol-
land's announcement
Introduce legislation to resolve
the Catawba claim.
Neither the Catawba Indian
Nation nor the U.S. was involved
in the meeting held in Washing-
ton, D.C. on March 21, 1979. As we
understand it, the meeting was
held between S.C. delegates, cer-
tain landowners of York and Lan-
caster County and members of
the press. It is our understanding
that at the meeting S.C. Congres-
sional delegation indicated a de-
ommending a suit for ejectment of
the landowners in the 144,000-acre
claim area in York, Lancaster and
Chester counties claimed by the Ca-
tawba Indians.
Since then, the Interior Depart-
ment has withdrawn the recommen-
dation for ejectment, and pushed for
a legislative settlement. Since aid
from the Justice Department would
be needed only if the government
filed suit against the landowners,
Moorman's participation isn't
needed.
sire to resolve in the near future
the Catawba's tribe outstanding
land claim. We are very pleased
that the S.C. delegation has com-
mitted itself to reaching a Con-
gressional settlement. We sought
for over four years to obtain a
Congressional settlement of the
Catawba Claim which would rec-
ognize the legitimate needs of the
Catawba Indian tribe while pre-
serving the interests of the non-
Indian citizens of York and Lan-
caster counties.
Because the Catawba Indian
Nation was not invited to the
meeting we are not certain pre-
cisely what details, if any, involv-
ing a legislative solution have
been suggested by the York and
Lancaster counties landowners
or members of the S.C. congres-
sional delegation. While we wel-
come the desire of the congres-
sional delegation to reach an
expedited solution, we want all
citizens of York and Lancaster
Counties to know that any settle-
ment must have the participation
The Interior Department is wait-
ing for the Catawbas to come back to
federal officials with a proposal for
settlement to the claim. The last for-
mal contact officials had with the
tribe was Oct. 10, Vollmann said.
Catawba lawyer Don Miller said
Thursday that the tribe hasn't been
back to the government because it's
been waiting for the federal govern-
ment to work up a counter-proposal
to settle the claim.
Asked if there's a communications
problem between the tribe and the
and approval of both the Catawba
Indian Nation and the U.S.
We understand that at the
meeting Congressman Holland
expressed his intentions to intro-
duce settlement legislation in the
near future. Congressman Hol-
land has spent a great deal of
time and energy over the past
two years trying to bring about a
comprehensive and fair settle-
ment for all the citizens of York
and Lancaster Counties. We in-
tend to meet with Congressman
Holland and appropriate officials
of the State of South Carolina and
the U.S. in the near future for the
purpose of developing a satisfac-
tory settlement. A satisfactory
settlement must provide the tribe
with a reservation where present
and future members of the tribe
may live. In addition the settle-
ment must allow members of the
tribe to elect to receive cash pay-
ment in lieu of participation in a
reservation. Once the reservation
is acquired and the payments are
made, then the Catawba Indian
Tribe shall be in a position to once
Please be advised that this office has had a number of excellent economic
development projects which could not be persuaded to consider the Rock Hill
area due to the difficulty of obtaining clear titles to property in the area.
I, therefore, believe that the continuing problem brought about by the Indian
claims has been significantly detrimental to the economic growth and the
creation of new job opportunities in the Rock Hill Area. It is hoped that
some speedy resolve of this matter may be accomplished as interest continues
to favor South Carolina with investment projects. Many of these projects
would consider locating in Rock Hill and the Charlotte Metropolitan area
if there were no problems with titles.
At your request I am enclosing herewith some background
material relating to additional Shiland Hills Shopping
Center construction cost caused by the so-called Indian
Claim.
Copy of a registered letter mailed on May 16, 1977
to Buck George, a member of a negotiating group of
alleged Indians.
Correspondence from our Mortgage Lenders.
Correspondence from the General Contractor.
The permanent loan for the Shopping Center was finally
secured at a 10% interest rate thereby adding an
additional $70,000 cost. The additional construction
cost directly attributable to the Indian problem was
approximately $60,000. A total direct increase of
$130,000. In addition to the direct cost the delay
caused loss of revenue for the time and discouraged
two national tenants from locating in our center. We
cannot state for a certainty that we would have been
successful; however, another Shopping Center Developer
was able to close with the same tenants in a nearby
town in an almost identical situation except for the
Indian problem. I hope the above is the information
Wooten-Brawley & Company, Inc., as General Contractors, will not be able, after June 11, 1977, to abide by the low bid of $612,282.00 that we gave you on April 12, 1977, for construction of the Rock Hill Shopping Center. After June 11, 1977, our bid bond guarantee which was good for 60 days will expire and new negotiations will be required if another bid bond is to be secured.
Also to be considered is that failure to start construction prior to June 11, 1977, will result in increased cost in several areas. In April, many sub-contractors were seeking work and they gave us very low bids. This situation has changed and undoubtedly bids given now, on the same project, would be considerably higher. Prices of steel and other construction materials are increasing steadily due to inflation. Another factor to consider is that beginning construction after June will mean that building will be going on during winter months. This results in higher cost due to "weather caused" delays and additional expenses for heating buildings, protecting plumbing, etc. within the shopping center.
I feel that if we are not able to start this project until after June 11, 1977, higher bids by subs, increases in cost of materials and the added cost of building during winter months will require at least a 10% increase in the bid price that we gave you. Therefore, I recommend that construction of this project be initiated immediately as any delay past June 11, 1977, will result in considerably higher cost for us and for you.
WOOTEN BRAWLEY & CO., INC.
Kennith C. Wooten
Kenneth C. Wooten,
President
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