Amendments to casino lease still unresolved, citizens express concerns
Published 12:03am Saturday, January 28, 2012NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez is working to finalize a contract with an attorney hired to review the Roth Hill casino lease.
Mayor Jake Middleton said he and some of the aldermen have met with the attorney but would not name the attorney until the contract was in place.
The aldermen voted unanimously on Jan. 19 to seek outside legal counsel to review an amendment to the lease proposed by casino developers.
Residents at the meeting voiced concerns that the city would lose significant authority in the casino’s dealings by agreeing to the amendment.
Some of the same residents who spoke out against the amendment at the meeting signed a letter that was placed in the mayor and aldermen’s mailboxes at City Hall Thursday stating their arguments against the amendment.
Paris Winn, who signed the letter, said the residents are not against gaming but are only concerned about the decreased financial and community benefits and the increased legal liability of the city that would be a result of the new amendment.
The letter outlines the residents’ concerns about financial threats to the city in the lease amendment, including doubling the acreage in the lease with no additional money paid to the city, delays and reductions of payments of casino money for community development projects and safety and emergency vehicle access at the site.
Marc Doyle said along with the other residents, he was concerned that the amendment would make the city liable to Natchez Enterprises for any damages or injuries at the casino site that the city or city employee directly or indirectly caused.
“The city does not have the money to meet liabilities to function as a city now,” he said. “With the city’s delicate financial situation and the prospect of being involved in this project for a very long time, if one little thing goes wrong and today’s financial prospects are tomorrow’s financial problems.”
Doyle said the amendment would cause the city to lose control of the lease if the casino fails, giving the casino assets to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Inc, one of the casino’s investment companies named in a leasehold mortgagee and a third-party beneficiary in the amendment.
The amendment would allow LLCP to purchase part of and have equity ownership of Natchez Gaming Enterprises and would not allow the city or Natchez Enterprises to terminate the lease without notifying and receiving approval from the investment company.
Doyle said options in the current lease for a 49-year extension to the 50-year lease period could mean the city could feel the repercussions of the lease terms for a long time.
“We’re about to have something happen here that’s going to be unfixable for 99 years, and I think that’s going to come as a shock for the vast majority of the citizens here,” he said. “What was sold as the salvation of the town could very easily become the death of the town.”
Middleton said at the Jan. 19 meeting he wanted to hire an attorney by this week. He said Thursday that he hopes the attorney will be officially hired and the amendment redrafted next week with the changes that would benefit the city.
Middleton said the aldermen would call a meeting to openly discuss the redrafted amendment and vote on it. He said the meeting could possibly be next week, and the city will give the legally required 24-hour notice to the public.
Natchez Enterprises is required to send all finalized funding documents to the Mississippi Gaming Commission by Feb. 24. Middleton said the city is trying to finalize the lease before that deadline, but he said he is not sure if the lease is one of the required funding documents that must be sent to the commission.
