On July 20, the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians put down ,000 in earnest money toward the purchase of a 120-acre parcel owned by Fruitport Township, Michigan schools. The agreement stated the tribe had to finalize the sale within 180 days, by January 20. The land is located four miles from the site of a casino the tribe has proposed developing at the former Great Lakes Downs site. The tribe currently operates the Little River Casino Resort in Manistee.
The school property is zoned residential and Fruitport Community Schools Superintendent Bob Szymoniak said there’s no connection between it and the casino project. “Early indications were that they’re going to put a residential development in there,” Szymoniak said. Tribal Director of Public Affairs Glenn Zaring noted, “At this time, the tribe is conducting a due diligence assessment of the property. Following the due diligence study and analysis of the survey results, the tribe will announce specific plans for the 120 acres near Mt. Garfield and Sheridan roads.” If the sale goes through, the tribe would pay property taxes to Fruitport Township.
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has held a public hearing on the Little River Band’s proposed casino as part of an Environmental Impact Statement to be completed next year. Governor Rick Snyder recently said he’s waiting for the federal government to act. He said if the casino proposal reaches him, “I’ll review it, because, again, this is where I’ll need to wait and see what the federal government actually does and how they handle it and time frames. I want to look at the overall environment. We’ve been trying to do a lot of work with all of the tribes across the state in terms of making sure we have a rational market for casinos, and the state’s a partner in that process.”
