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The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, in its bid to open casinos throughout Ohio, has agreed to land-purchasing terms with a Lawrence Township property owner while dropping all but one of the defendants from its statewide land-claim lawsuit.
“This ends litigation,” Mason Morisset, attorney for the tribe, said. “This allows us to focus on these specific places we’ve identified. We end speculation and concern about this area and that area. The court case is over, the litigation is over if the court accepts the settlements we’ve proposed.”
The only city still in litigation in U.S. District Court in Toledo is Lima, which filed a joint request with the tribe to extend talks until December. The tribe hopes to finalize settlements in other areas.
“What we’ve still got going in (Lawrence Township) is a complex situation where we hope to finalize settlement agreements with the local folks and any landowners against which the tribe has potential claims but does not actually have in its lawsuit,” Morisset said.
A deal with Nathan R. Glick of N & N Development Group LLC calls for 49 acres at the northwest corner of Ohio 21 and Arcadia Street Northwest to be turned over to the tribe, which has previously and unsuccessfully courted Massillon and Canal Fulton officials for intergovernmental agreements for casinos. Glick, whose name is listed as a member of the development group on public documents, did not return calls to his business Friday.
“The tribe has an understanding with a private landowner,” Terry Casey, a lobbyist for the tribe, said, “and we’re going to be working with municipal officials and outlining for the community what the economic impact could be for revenue, jobs, indirect jobs ... .”
The tribe dismissed several counties in filings late Thursday night. The move came days after the tribe dismissed Franklin County and the state of Ohio from the case, which now exclusively focuses on Lima.
“We’re saying to the court that we’re not going to hold everybody out and try to run up their legal bill,” Casey said of the dismissals.
Casey said the tribe wants to renew talks with Canal Fulton City Council, admitting the tribe rushed officials through initial negotiations for an intergovernmental agreement.
City Council President Linda Zahirsky said council has not had any contact with the tribe since a memorandum of understanding fell short of votes in May.
She fears the city could end up without any benefits – like a share of gaming revenue – if it does not listen to the tribe.
“If we don’t, does that mean they are going to do it anyway and then we have no benefit?” she said.
“Are we going to have to widen roads, provide police and fire protection and have no benefits? That’s the scary part to me. We have to sit and weigh the benefits of negotiating versus the drawbacks of not.”
Councilman Victor Colaianni called the tribe’s previous dealings with the city “inconsistent” and said it needs a waterline run to the property, which could require annexation.
Mayor John Grogan, following in the footsteps of his counterparts in Lima and other Ohio municipalities, said he has submitted a letter to the court supporting the tribe’s case.
A copy of the letter could not be obtained Friday.
“What I support is anything that is going to create a positive economic impact for the community and this on the surface appears that that is what it will do,” Grogan said.
Friday was the first time a specific tract of land had been made public by the tribe.
The tribe claims that the land lies within hunting, gathering and fishing areas to which it holds treaty rights.
The 49 acres, though not the 100 to 150 originally sought by the Eastern Shawnee, is still enough to build a casino, hotel and most of the “family-resort destination” the tribe pitched to city officials in April, Casey said.
The legal filings also mean that Massillon, which was first considered by Republic Steel site owner Steve DiPietro, is officially out of consideration.
“The tribe felt like it got booted out and just moved on,” Morisset said.
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