Plover to vote on Lac du Flambeau casino proposal

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000 | 9:18 a.m.

The tribe approached the village about building a $50 million to $100 million hotel-casino complex near Interstate 39 and sharing $4 million in annual profits with the village and Portage County, Village Administrator Oliver Merriam said Tuesday.

The village board put the issue on a nonbinding referendum Sept. 12, he said.

"I think there is a clearly a division of opinion on the issue," Merriam said.

For months, the tribe has been shopping the project in various parts of Wisconsin.

Lafayette County has approved an agreement negotiated with the tribe regarding the project, clearing the way for the tribe to begin looking for a site, authorities said.

Last week, the Brown County Board voted to move ahead with talks with the tribe, which is interested in building a casino in the Town of Lawrence.

The tribe also had started talks with the Town of Caledonia in Racine County and with Kaukauna in Outagamie County, Chairman Tom Maulson has said.

In recent months, about a dozen communities including Ashwaubenon, Belgium, De Pere, Johnson Creek, Port Washington, Sheboygan and Waukesha, have declined the tribe's project after residents showed strong antigambling sentiments.

The tribe needs approval from the governor and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs for any casino. Gov. Tommy Thompson has said he would not approve an off-reservation casino without clear support from local and county governments.

The Lac du Flambeau now operates the Lake of the Torches Casino on its reservation in northern Wisconsin.

According to Merriam, the tribe is interested in building a 300-room hotel and a 55,000-square foot convention center along with a casino that would have 2,500 slot and video poker machines and 40 to 60 blackjack tables.

The project would need up to 120 acres of land, he said.

The tribe offered to share $4 million in annual profits, and local governments would benefit from $1.4 million in new property taxes each year that would be generated from the non-casino properties, he said.

"It's an attractive offer. They are saying essentially the same offer they talked to Lafayette County about and proposed to Ashwaubenon near Green Bay," Merriam said.

Plover is located about 30 miles from Nekoosa, where the Ho-Chunk Nation operates a casino.