The Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) is looking to build a casino on band lands and is seeking support for a license application from the Town of Osoyoos.
Mayor Sue McKortoff and CAO Allan Chabot met with Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) Chief Clarence Louie and Mike Campol, managing partner of Nation First Investment Group, on Feb. 7.
At that meeting it was requested that Mayor and Council consider lending their support to an application from the band for a Community Gaming Centre (CGC) to be built across the street from the Petro Canada Gas Station on Highway 3 in Osoyoos, according to a report from Chabot.
The planned 6,500 to 7,500-square foot facility is aiming to have 100 to 150 electronic slot machines, 100 electronic bingo machines, a 50-square foot off-track betting area and as 1,500-square foot, 50 to 60-seat pub and bistro.
The (CGC) facility will be designed to “reflect the cultural history of the Osoyoos Indian Band and the unique environmental history of the northern point of the Sonora Desert,” according to Campol.
All parking and access points will meet the highest bylaw and design standards, according to the report, and “the gaming centre would result in local construction employment and expenditures and casino service provider jobs once it was operational. A gaming centre may also result in increased hotel/motel and food service revenues, overnight stays and the retention of gambling revenues that currently leave the community for other venues (e.g. Okanagan Valley and Lower Mainland, State of Washington),” Campol states in the staff report to Osoyoos town council.
Should the centre be built on band lands the host local government share of community gaming centre revenue would be paid to the band and not the Town of Osoyoos.
The OIB is seeking a letter of support to the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch for the Osoyoos Indian Band’s application for a license to operate a Community Gaming Centre on band lands. Osoyoos town council will discuss the recommendation from staff to send the letter of support at the Feb. 18 regular meeting at town hall.
