Tribe and Snoqualmie reach deal for proposed casino services
Published 12:00 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
SNOQUALMIE – The city of Snoqualmie and the Snoqualmie Tribe signed what could be an historic agreement that will bring together municipal and Tribal governments for services on a scale unseen before in Washington State.
At its April 26 meeting, the Snoqualmie City Council approved an agreement that will provide police, fire and utility services for the Tribe’s proposed casino, tentatively called “Casino Snoqualmie,” that has been in the works for more than two years.
The Tribe plans to build a 147,000-square-foot casino off North Bend Way just east of Interstate 90’s Exit 27. The casino, estimated to cost about $60 million, is set to include a 36,000-square-foot gaming floor for slot machines, Vegas-style card games, roulette and craps. There will also be a 250-seat lounge, three restaurants and a break-out space and meeting area that can accommodate 1,000 people.
Revenue from the casino will go to the Snoqualmie Tribe but its business will be managed separately from it.
“The casino will operate as a business separate from Tribal politics,” said Tribal Administrator Matt Mattson.
While other approvals at the state level for the casino have gone through, the project must receive a final approval from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
Presently the land is just a parcel in unincorporated King County owned by the Tribe.
Once the parcel is declared Tribal land by the BIA, however, it will become separate in a legal sense from King County and the state of Washington and will therefore be subject to different laws. Usually the county a casino is located in provides police protection and emergency services for the Tribal land.
Under the Snoqualmie agreement, the city will provide those services. In return, the city will receive money from the Tribe to cover the costs of hiring and equipping another police officer, two more firefighters and covering two-thirds of the cost of a new ladder truck for the fire department.
A water and sewer utility agreement was also worked out with the city, with it taking $3,529 from the Tribe per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) used by the casino. ERU readings measure how much waste flow the city can handle from a particular structure. The casino can’t exceed 360 ERUs.
City Attorney Pat Anderson said the agreement allowed Snoqualmie to have a say in how the casino will affect the area. The city was not looking forward to having a big and bright casino like those that have appeared near other municipalities and by working with the Tribe, Anderson said the city is protecting the image it is trying to maintain.
“We didn’t want to have a tent and a big neon sign,” Anderson said.
Both the city and the Tribe have stressed the casino’s stylistic differences from others in the region. There will be no signage for the casino on Interstate 90, and the only sign proposed to go up would be one of the brown-colored state signs denoting the border to an Indian reservation. The actual casino structure, which will be a Northwest lodge-style building, will be set back in the woods and will not be visible from North Bend Way.
In addition to upholding the city’s aesthetic requests, Anderson said Snoqualmie is also financially protected. In order for the project’s sewer system to be built, the city will have to issue $1.9 million in bonds to fund its construction. Although the city will be issuing the bonds, the Tribe will be required to pay the city back.
Snoqualmie Police Chief Jim Schaffer said the police department has prepared for the impacts the casino will bring by visiting other casinos in the area. He said the problems that come with a casino are like those with any other event that has a lot of people in one place, like a football game.
Should a crime be committed at the casino, the casino staff can detain the suspect and call on the city to put the suspect into custody. Most crimes committed in the casino will be sent to a state court. More serious crimes will be sent to the FBI. On some reservations, tribal members apprehended for a crime can face a tribal court. The Snoqualmie Tribe does not have a tribal court, but Mattson said it may be something the Tribe will look to form in the future.
The agreement is in effect for seven years after the casino opens and will be automatically renewed for five periods of seven years after that. Either the city or the Tribe can back out of the agreement by giving the other side at least six months notice.
While both sides said there was some disagreement on what each party should give and take, the city and the Tribe agreed a spirit of cooperation got the deal sealed. Mattson said Mayor Fuzzy Fletcher realized that dealing with the Tribe is like dealing with another government, not just a developer.
“We first entered with a bit of healthy skepticism,” Mattson said. “The mayor deserves a lot of credit for setting the tone of the government-to-government relationship.”
The agreement could be a historical one for Washington State. While many tribes agree to some kind of compensation for services they received from governments, the range of services agreed upon by the Tribe and Snoqualmie could be wider than any other in the state.
“This is the first I have seen like this,” said Meagan Eliot, a municipal government analyst for the Association of Washington Cities. “I would commend them for it.”
Ben Cape can be reached at (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at ben.cape@valleyrecord.com.
