Montville — The saga continues for Sunny Hill Drive, Fort Shantok Road East and a portion of Shantok Heights Road.

At a special meeting Tuesday night, the Town Council set a date for residents to vote on whether to turn over those roads to the Mohegan Tribe. The vote will be held at a Town Council meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 24 in the Council Chambers in Town Hall.

Councilors Lenny Bunnell Sr., Robert Yuchniuk and Colleen Rix were not at Tuesday night’s meeting.

“It benefits both the Tribe and the town,” Harry Heller, the attorney representing the Mohegan Tribe, said of the proposed transfer. “The town’s benefit is that it is no longer going to be responsible for maintaining roads that strictly access to tribal property.”

The town entered an agreement with the tribe in August 2021 to turn over Sunny Hill Drive, Fort Shantok Road East and a portion of Shantok Heights Road via a quit-claim deed. The sections of road only provide access to tribal land, and only tribe members live along the parts of the roads.

The town will no longer have to pay to maintain, repair or provide winter services for the roads; the Mohegan Tribe began servicing the roads last winter. If the tribe fails to maintain such services, the agreement permits the town to do so and would be reimbursed by the tribe.

The town will maintain ownership of all other portions of Shantok Heights Road and Fort Shantok Road. The Mohegan Tribe plans to erect a gate across the eastern portion of Shantok Heights Road to prevent access to Sunny Hill Drive.

The proposal will include an easement for the town and the Montville Water Pollution Control Authority to access and maintain the sewer system.

Members of the public were given their time to address the council in a public hearing — a part of the state-regulated process — held prior to the special meeting. Three members of the community stood up in the session that lasted 19 minutes.

Allison Hoffman of Fort Shantok Road was concerned about the schooling for children who would no longer considered to be on town property, as well as the status of car tax payments and voting in town elections. Mayor Ron McDaniel assured her that the children will be taken care of while the tax payments and voting registration will remain unchanged.

“We still have an obligation to educate every child who lives in town, even if they live on tribal land,” McDaniel said.

Ed McDonnell, who lives on Shantok Heights Road, was curious about what the tribe will do with the land, to which McDaniel stated that is not of the town’s concern. The same resident also asked who to call if there was an issue with an abutting property — such as a tree falling across property lines. McDaniel told him to still contact the town.

“The public hearing this evening is only concerning the roads,” Heller added.

Frances Yu, another resident of Shantok Heights Road, asked just how much of the road will be closed off once the tribe installs the gate. The young resident, who said she was attending her first Town Council meeting, said there’s a blind spot she and her father try to avoid when driving in the area. Their work-around route will no longer be an option once the gate is installed.

“Personally, I would just like to say, I’d rather it stay the way it is,” she said.

McDaniel responded in his closing remarks that if the line of sight issue remains if the roads are turned over, then an agreement on the issue can likely be made with the tribe.

“But you’ll need to get out to vote,” McDaniel said.