Leupp OKs alcohol at proposed resort

Leupp Chapter on Saturday overwhelmingly approved the sale of liquor at the proposed Twin Arrows casino resort, over the protests of a family who has not signed off on the land withdrawal.

The chapter voted 48-9-1 in favor of the resolution, which reaffirmed support for gaming in the chapter in addition to allowing alcoholic beverages to be consumed in the proposed resort's five restaurants - but not on the casino floor.

Most of the nine people opposing the resolution were members of Betty Scott's extended family.

Scott, an elderly rancher, is the last holdout among the residents who hold grazing rights to the 100 acres the chapter wants to withdraw for the $180 million development. Her home is about a mile and a half from the proposed casino.

"No! No! Adin (nothing)!" Scott shouted, rising from her seat as Chapter President Thomas Cody called for the question on the resolution after a lengthy presentation by the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise and a question-and-answer session the Scotts thought ended too abruptly.

"It just seems like this is happening so fast," said Scott's daughter, Norma Scott, after the meeting. "They have this whole plan, and they don't even have our approval to withdraw the land."

Speaking during the special chapter meeting, Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise CEO Bob Winter said the enterprise "isn't trying to cram anything down your throat."

"We're coming to Leupp Chapter with an opportunity," Winter said. "If you don't want it, we'll go somewhere else."

Leupp, however, would be the ideal location for the proposed resort, which would include a 118-room four-star hotel along with a casino and a European-style spa, Winter said.

Of the 12 Navajo Nation sites studied for potential casino development, "Leupp is the jewel in the crown," Winter said - and the only site with the infrastructure and traffic to support a resort on the scale the enterprise wants to develop.

Winter said he needed the resolution passed as soon as possible so the enterprise could go after financing for the resort. Without liquor sales at least in the restaurants, he said, it would be difficult to find a bank willing to back the plan.

The two-hour-long presentation included a rough design for the resort, which would be built to blend into the landscape and reflect Navajo culture with an emergence-story theme and large windows on the west for vistas of Dooko'oosliid, the western sacred mountain.

It would be built to avoid the five archeological sites which have been identified on the land.

Winter said net revenue projections run about $42 million for the first year, with about $55 million per year after five years, before debt service on the $180 million project.

Market studies indicate the casino would host about 1.6 million gamer visits per year and draw people from as far away as Phoenix to the south and Page, Ariz., to the north, plus tourists cruising the I-40 corridor to the Grand Canyon and other local attractions.

According to the Winter, the resort would employ 810 people, mostly Navajos, and bring in a payroll of $23 million in salaries and benefits.

In addition, an average of 620 people would be working at the site daily during the 22-month construction period.

A 1,500-foot-deep well would be drilled into the Coconino-de Chelly aquifer to supply the needs of the resort, and could also be tapped by the local community, Winter said.

Electricity, fiber optic cables and telecommunications improvements could also be tapped by the chapter, and residents could develop side businesses to attract the casino patrons, Winter suggested.

Many of the 120 people who packed the chapter house for the presentation liked the sound of the statistics Winter and his panel, including Navajo Nation Vice President Ben Shelly, presented.

"What do we have here? Nothing!" said Chilton McCabe, speaking in favor of the resolution. "A flea market across the street - that's all. We need to wake up."

But Betty Scott's son, Nelson Scott, said his family seemed to be getting lost in the shuffle.

"My family has been on that land 140 years," Scott said. "We've been sitting here three or four hours, and not once have I heard anything about how this is going to affect our immediate family."

Edward Scott, another Scott relative, wondered if the pro-casino faction had considered the potential for alcohol abuse and gaming addiction the casino might bring.

Winter replied that, as at Fire Rock, the tribe's first casino, employees would be trained to recognize "problem gamers" and ask the individual to leave.

However, he said, the average amount gambled at Fire Rock per person per day is around $25.

Norma Scott asked how the family would be compensated if they give up their grazing land. Winter replied that federal Indian gaming law prohibits Indian casinos from distributing incentives to individuals, but Cody said the chapter could compensate the Scotts.

This prompted Council Delegate Leonard Chee (Leupp/Birdsprings/Tolani Lake) to remark that the family was sending "mixed messages."

"I hear 'no, no, no' to a casino and then I hear on the side, 'What's in it for me?,'" Chee said. "I'm getting mixed messages."

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