Despite objections from Nebraska and Iowa, the Carter Lake City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to ask for more information on a proposed Indian casino so a final decision will be an informed one.
Nebraska filed a lawsuit to stop it and Iowa is thinking about it.
Against the backdrop of two riverboat casinos in Council Bluffs, the Carter Lake City Council asked Iowa and Pottawattamie County to also get more info on the project before rushing to judgment.
The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska has nearly five acres of land to develop gambling. A health clinic on the site didn't work out. The federal government has given permission to build the casino.
"It's about money, the reason Ponca wants to build it,” said Carter Lake Mayor Russ Kramer. “It's about money the reason I as mayor of the city like it. The economic benefits I can see. It's about money why the folks over there don't like it because they think they stand to lose money."
The Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce has said a third of its casino business would be lost to the Ponca plan, more than $30 million.
Wendy Wingate of Carter Lake sees the pros and cons. "It helps bring the revenue in for the city of Carter Lake. The con side of it is the lack of manpower for the police department and fire department."
Ponca Chairman Larry Wright tells Channel 6 News the tribe would no doubt help to cover the cost of increasing the Carter Lake Police force and even add a few full-timers to the volunteer fire department. Widening a road out front and building sewers would also be part of the deal.
"They don't need the opportunity to have more addiction," says Candace Gregory of the Open Door Mission who is against the plan. She runs the nearby homeless shelter.
"It's just ironic that this would be two blocks from a large nonprofit campus. It's on the bus line and it's right in the middle of poverty. I think it's a poor location."
The Ponca Tribe says it will show its plans for the land soon. "People have the misconception that Indian casinos is a couple of trailer houses bolted together and they call them a casino,” said Kramer. “He says he knows coming to this area he'll have to build something that's at least comparable to what they have in Council Bluffs if not better, if he's thinking at all at attracting the market share."
In the end what Carter Lake says, what Pottawattamie County says, what Iowa and Nebraska say, may not make much of a difference considering the federal government has already given the go-ahead to put a casino on Native American land.
Wright said he was pleased with the vote. He said the tribe could take the money and run and not share revenues. It's not required to do so like other casinos, but he sees this more as a mutual benefit and wants to have a positive relationship with Carter Lake.