Fruitport

Little River Band’s Fruitport Casino Compact Not Discharged From Committee

Kate Fort1 Comment

Yesterday the Michigan House had to clear the board to prevent a huge loss on the vote to discharge the compact (a concurrent resolution) from the Reg Reform committee.  The Muskegon Chronicle has the news story:

Fruitport casino plan gets the cold shoulder from Michigan House of Representatives

Published: Thursday, August 26, 2010, 12:33 AM     Updated: Thursday, August 26, 2010, 1:11 AM by Eric Gaertner

FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP — The chances of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians building a casino at the former Great Lakes Downs racetrack site suffered a setback Wednesday.The state House, which is required to concur with a compact amendment allowing the tribe to open an off-reservation casino in Muskegon County, failed to even approve the discharge of the resolution from committee.

State Rep. Doug Bennett’s request to have his bill discharged was on the verge of defeat during a House floor vote Wednesday when he had the board cleared and his request withdrawn. Greg McCullough, Bennett’s legislative aide, said the roll-call vote was at 53-13 against the discharge when Bennett withdrew his request. Bennett, D-Muskegon Township, introduced the bill in April.

Even if the discharge vote had been approved, the resolution still would require a full House vote on whether to concur with the compact amendment signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Little River Band Ogema Larry Romanelli earlier this year.

McCullough called Wednesday’s vote frustrating. Fruitport Township Supervisor Brian Werschem said it was beyond disappointing.

“The delay continues,” Werschem said. “I’m a little surprised that the Legislature would stall economic development in West Michigan. We were looking at bringing jobs, entertainment and dollars to this community.”

Robert Memberto, Little River Band’s commerce director, criticized House Speaker Andy Dillon for listening to lobbyists, other tribes worried about competition for their casinos and the Detroit corporate casinos. Dillon, D-Redford, ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor.

“Speaker Dillon is playing politics with jobs,” Memberto said.

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Photos and Captions from Hearing in Muskegon on LRBOI Compact

Kate Fort

From the Muskegon Chronicle.  Click through for the slideshow and captions.

Also, live blogging coverage of the event, also from the Chronicle.  Not sure why the updates end before the hearing did.

Video excerpt, starting with Rep. Johnson and Ogema Romenelli.

Little River Withdraws Petition for Land into Trust, Will Likely Resubmit

Kate Fort

From 6/25/10 MIRS (subscription only):

Feds Nix Indian Casino Expansion, For Now
At least for the time being, the U.S. Department of the Interior delayed a Michigan Native American tribe’s plan to move forward with a casino project near the site of the now-defunct Great Lakes Downs Racetrack near Muskegon.

The Little River Band of Chippewa Indians wants to open a casino on the Great Lakes Downs location. The tribe was one of the four tribes that compacted with the state in 1998 for the right to operate class III (Las Vegas style) casinos. It currently operates a casino in Manistee.

Because the location is not within current tribal boundaries, there are several hurdles the tribe would need to clear in order to operate a casino at the Muskegon site. One hurdle has already been cleared. On March 19, Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM signed two amendments to the state’s compact with the Little River band that would let it build the new casino.

The Governor attached her signature after a deal was negotiated between her administration and the tribe.

“It would mean considerable revenues,” John WERNET, deputy legal counsel told MIRS today. “The good news would be that this would mean more dollars for the School Aid Fund (SAF). The bad news is that this would take years before it happened.”

The next step would be to have the Legislature approve one of the amendments. This is HCR 0054, sponsored by Rep. Doug BENNETT (D-Muskegon), which is currently before the House Regulatory Reform Committee.

Meanwhile, the other amendment to the compact was sent to the U.S. Department of Interior for approval. That’s where the project hit a roadblock.
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Fruitport Backs LRB Off-Reservation Casino Proposal

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians won support for its off-reservation casino in Muskegon, Michigan.

The Fruitport Township Board voted 4-3 on a resolution in favor of the casino at the defunct Great Lakes Downs. Residents said they welcomed the jobs the facility would create. The tribe operates the Little River Casino on its reservation, about 80 miles from the proposed gaming site.

Get the Story:
Divided Fruitport Township Board supports casino (The Muskegon Chronicle 7/29)