Sturgis commission says yes to casino

STUGIS, Mich. (WOOD) - By a 9-0 vote the Sturgis City Commission has decided to explore a possible casino near the state border.

24 Hour News 8 has learned the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians is the tribe that wants to build that casino -- titled Fawn River Crossings -- outside Sturgis.

A tribal representative and the developer behind the project made a presentation to the community Wednesday night. Sturgis city leaders say they have spent the past two weeks looking at proposals and speaking with other communities that already have casinos.

The idea is to build the casino near the I-80/I-90 toll road. The tribe and developer say the plan would create 2,000 jobs for the community and include retail space along with a gaming facility.

But there are a number of hurdles preventing this casino from being built near the state border. The biggest issue -- the Burt Lake tribe is not federally recognized. Only federally recognized tribes are eligible to build casinos.

The tribe has petitioned four times to be recognized by the federal government and each time has been rejected. In 2006 the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs noted many members of the tribe, which is located in Brutus, south of Mackinaw City, also associate themselves with other nearby tribes.

State Sen. Cameron Brown (R-Sturgis) cited a notice to the Sturgis City Commission that legal representatives from the Senate majority leaders office have looked at the law and say without federal recognition there is no legal way for an Indian tribe to build a casino in Michigan.

Plus, any such casino project would require the land be put into trust by the federal government, a process that usually takes years and has in the past been delayed by lawsuits by casino opponents.

Eric Bush with the Michigan Gaming Control Commission told 24 Hour News 8 getting the land into trust could be difficult, because since the early 1990s the U.S. Department of Interior has been denying requests to put land into trust that is located a great distance from the tribe's home community. Sturgis is located 300 miles from the Burt Lake tribe's home office.

Once the tribe is federally recognized and land is put into trust the tribe would then need to negotiate a gaming compact with the state.

Burt Lake tribe chairman Curtis Chambers wouldn't outline his legal argument at the meeting Wednesday, only saying his attorneys have looked at the law for six months and the tribe wouldn't propose the project if it was not legal.

Community members in attendance of the meeting were split on the plan. Some welcomed the idea of new jobs and tourism, while others criticized casino gambling and voiced their concern about what it would do to their community.