Bill 16-32 Resolution to approve agreement with Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indiana

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RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, APPROVING AN AGREEMENT WITH THE POKAGON BAND OF POTAWATOMI INDIANS WHEREAS, under 25 U.S.C. §§ 1300j et seq. (the Restoration Act), the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (the Band) is a federally recognized Indian tribe eligible for special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians, as recognized by the United States Secretary of the Interior; and WHEREAS, the Restoration Act sets out a ten (10) county service area in southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana in recognition of the Band's ancestral homelands, and the Band and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on January 11, 1999 (the MOU) establishing general principles for the geographic areas within which the Band will acquire land to submit to the Secretary to be taken into trust. The Band is directed under the MOU to concentrate its land acquisition within four "consolidation sites" within four geographic areas, three of which are in the State of Michigan and one of which is in the vicinity of South Bend, Indiana; and WHEREAS, the Band acquired approximately 166 contiguous acres of land located within the City of South Bend (the City), bounded by Prairie Avenue (State Road 23), U.S. Highway 31, and Locust Road (the Site); and WHEREAS, pursuant to the Restoration Act and the MOU, the Band on or about May 14, 2012, filed an application with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (Trust Land Application) to have the Secretary take title to the Site in trust for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians; and WHEREAS, the Band plans to develop the Site into a tribal village with 44 housing units and a multi - purpose facility with health service and other tribal government facilities; and WHEREAS, the Tribe's development plan for the Site also includes a casino gaming resort facility, in accordance with Pokagon Band law and the Indiana Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, P.L. 100 -497, 25 U.S. C. § 2701 et seq. (IGRA), which shall bear the Band's naming brand "Four Winds" (the Resort); and WHEREAS, a "Local Agreement" has been negotiated among the Band, the City, through its Mayor and its Corporation Counsel, and the Pokagon Gaming Authority, an unincorporated instrumentality of the Band (PGA), which establishes and memorializes the various and beneficial mutual commitments made out of recognition and respect for the sovereignty and best interests of each party, a full, complete copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 1; and WHEREAS, among the beneficial provisions of the Local Agreement, the City is assured