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Beloit Council to vote on land sale to Ho-Chunk

BELOIT — The Beloit City Council will decide Monday night whether to sell 41.5 acres of city property to the Ho-Chunk Nation at the site of the tribe’s proposed casino for $1.87 million.

The nation already owns 32 acres at Willowbrook and Colley Roads just off Interstate 90-39 near the stateline, a site where it wants to build a casino, hotel and convention center.

The city of Beloit owns 41.5 acres in three parcels contiguous to the casino site, which the city would sell to the nation in a land contract.

The council will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the sale in closed session, then reconvene in open session to consider approving the sale, according to the agenda.

According to a draft of the land contract purchase agreement included with the agenda, the nation would make a $187,195 down payment at closing, and the balance would be paid off monthly over 10 years with a 4-percent interest rate.

The Bad River and St. Croix Chippewa previously had an option with the city to buy all but 1.2 acres of the land in the proposed sale.

The Chippewa tribes’ application to build a casino at the site was denied by the federal government in 2009.

The city plans to use about $160,000 from the sale to reimburse the sewer fund, which the city used to buy the property in 1982. The balance of the proceeds will be used for debt service on the tax-incremental financing district for the area and other TIF expenses to support the casino project, according to the proposed resolution to authorize the sale.

After the TIF district expires in 2022, the money would go into the city’s general fund.

The nation still is waiting for approvals to build its 145,000-square-foot gaming facility, which also would include a 300-room hotel and a 35,000-square-foot convention center.

The Ho-Chunk in spring 2012 submitted its application to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the off-reservation project in Beloit. The application review typically takes up to two years, and the Wisconsin governor has the final say on approval of the project.