Grand Forks City Council gives first approval to Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa resort plan
During its Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night, the council recommended, in a 4-3 vote, moving forward with the letter of intent. Council members Rebecca Osowski, Tricia Lunski and Ken Vein voted against. Conversations about the proposed casino, resort and event center have happened in Grand Forks for at least two decades. The letter of intent is designed to be the starting point for the regulatory processes and potential agreements. It lays out that the city has a role in helping serve future projects with infrastructure and that the city will be a partner as the tribe seeks approval from other entities.
"We envision a broad economic development initiative that will involve numerous stakeholders from the public and private sectors, including city, county and governmental entities throughout this area," Tribal Chairman Jamie Azure said. "It must be a destination hub with multiple options to bring people from other areas."
Azure added that the goal is to capture visitors, especially Canadians, who drive past Grand Forks to visit places like Fargo or Minneapolis. He said Grand Forks in particular is the right location as the tribe has deep historical ties to the area, a key factor and requirement for the tribe to operate gaming operations off reservation land.
"The Turtle Mountain tribe is the only tribe that has solid, well-documented historical ties to this area," Azure told the council. "This isn't an overnight process. This will take a lot of time and a lot of effort into moving forward."
The Turtle Mountain tribe has the largest enrolled population of any tribe in the state, with over 30,000 members. The tribe is headquartered in Belcourt, North Dakota, 140 miles northwest of Grand Forks along the Canada border.
To open a casino in Grand Forks, changes in state regulations will need to be made as well as getting approval by the United States Department of the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs for the project. According to Azure, Gov. Kelly Armstrong has been positive about the project and the Department of the Interior could be receptive given that former Gov. Doug Burgum is being considered as the department's next secretary.
Some on the council have questions about the potential tax implications and what role the city would play; namely what the city would or would not get in property and sales tax collections as tribal lands follow different rules. Many of the details are still to be decided because what the Turtle Mountain tribe is proposing doesn't have many examples in North Dakota.
"I think sometimes people feel like we're starting construction tomorrow. ... And really, in my mind, what we're doing is we're spilling a 100-piece puzzle on our table and we're putting a corner piece down to look forward to moving forward with this project," Council Vice President Danny Weigel said.
However, some on the council felt like they need more information before agreeing to the letter of intent, no matter how preliminary the discussions are.
"I do worry about the implications to what's here currently," Vein said. "But I feel like what I'm missing is a rollback of what we are trying to do and what are all the features."
Under the current proposals, the facility would be
located on the west side of Interstate 29 near the future 47th Avenue South interchange.
The casino would be built on land already owned by the tribe and employ around 800 people, making it one of the largest employers in the city.
In other news, the council:
* Received updates from Epitome Energy CEO Dennis Egan. Epitome is expecting to close on the financing in the first half of this year and begin
construction on its Grand Forks soybean plant by the end of the year.
* Recommended accepting a grant from the Federal Economic Development Administration for the December 2023 ice storm. The $3.2 million in funds, designed for economic resiliency efforts, will go toward
road improvements near the Epitome Energy project and 70th Avenue North.
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