Although residents of Yuba County, California have noticed soil and percolation testing going on at the Wheatland site of a proposed casino by the Enterprise Rancheria, it doesn’t signal that the casino is poised to begin building.
The long-awaited project planned for Forty Mile Road near the Toyota Amphitheatre is still in a holding pattern. Tribal spokesman Charles Altakruse told the Appeal-Democrat, “There have been discussions going on. We will be sure to let you and the community know when there is something to report.”
There are obstacles to the casino’s opening. A neighboring tribe, the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians last month asked for a rehearing on a federal judge’s decision to allow the casino to go forward. A December 10 hearing has been scheduled to hear the arguments.
The Wintun tribe is challenging the federal government’s decision to put that 63 acres into trust. Attorneys for the Enterprise tribe wrote in their motion to dismiss: “Colusa has not made even a basic, prima facie showing that reconsideration is warranted. Colusa has, however, managed to further prolong (Enterprise’s) 14-year effort to re-establish a viable land base and move toward greater self-sufficiency. There is no just cause for further delay.”
The Colusa tribe has argued that the federal government did not take into account the economic effects the casino would have on its own casino operation, which it predicts will cause profits to fall by at least 7.5 percent, causing it “irreparable harm.”
Also the legislature has not taken action on the state tribal gaming compact that Governor Jerry Brown signed with the Colusa-based tribe in 2012. The compact expired and now the tribe is exploring opening a Class II casino.
