Concerns and questions have left the city of Porterville in a state of limbo concerning a request by the Tule River Indian tribe to have some of its land acquired in trust by the U.S. government.

Without having all questions and concerns addressed, the City Council and city staff agreed during Tuesday's meeting that the city could not fully support the tribe's request to have 40 acres of land it owns near the airport secured in trust.

However, it is important to the development of the land, commonly referred to as the Tule River Economic Development Corporation Industrial Park, according to Sam Cohen, legal counsel for the tribal council.

After a decade of trying to gain interest in the industrial park from people outside of the tribe, Cohen said the group has only been able to develop two of 17 pad sites, most of which are filled with tribal-related enterprises.

"The tribal council is proposing to put the land in trust to enhance its marketability," Cohen told the council, explaining the move would provide various incentives to firms locating there.

If the tribe's request is granted, the land would be effectively removed from the city's jurisdiction.

With the matter before the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, the agency requested comments from the city as part of the process of considering the request.

The council approved a letter, drafted by the city staff, that answered several questions but also posed some of the city's concerns.

Among the concerns is that the city and tribe have been working jointly for more than a decade to obtain economic development funds to develop the industrial park. Because the two groups did receive funds from the U.S. Department of Commerce for the project, the city is concerned that a change in status of the land would give it no power to ensure development of the site as required by the grant award.

Cohen told the staff the tribe was attempting to contact the Economic Development Agency to get the city released from its obligations as they apply to the grant.

Among other concerns the city raised were:

œ Does the land have to be formally detached from the city's jurisdiction or can it be retained as part of the city even if it's in trust?

œ If the land was detached from the city, Porterville cannot guarantee the availability of water and sewer services to any future development.

œ Because the airport is located nearby, the city is concerned about potential development on the land that could alter or restrict future options for airport operations.

œ Still retaining the mineral rights to the land in question, the city is concerned how those rights would be affected by putting the land in trust.

The council will likely be working with the bureau to answer many of the city's question, Cohen told the council.

Along with the responses to the bureau's questions and the city's concerns, the letter also requested a 180-day extension to study those issues as well as several others.

Cohen told the council he was at a loss for words on the request for a 180-day extension.

"That's half a year. That's a lot of time," he said. "We were thinking more like 60 or 90 days"