NATCHEZ — Premier Gaming Group’s President Kevin Preston fielded several questions from local residents about the Roth Hill Road casino at the Friday Forum at Natchez Coffee Company.

Preston noted at the forum, which is hosted weekly by the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce, that the Magnolia Bluffs Casino project has stretched over several years because of the inability to acquire financial support due to the downturn of the economy.

The rising river, Preston said, has recently slowed the project, but the casino is still scheduled to open by the end of October and will create nearly 300 permanent jobs.

Chamber member Ruth Nichols asked Preston what kind of positions would be available at the casino.

Preston said several different available jobs will employ a broad spectrum of local people, including card dealers, food service and security.

Community members in attendance asked if employees were to be trained at a gaming school if it would be possible for the school to be at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

Preston said employees will be trained 90-120 days prior to the casino’s opening. He said his company utilized a community college as a location for a gaming school during another project and would be interested in doing the same at Co-Lin.

Former senator Bob Dearing, who was also present at the forum, said legislation to allow gaming training at community colleges did not pass in previous sessions, but other non-gaming training, such as culinary, can be done at the campus.

Members of the public also inquired about the casino’s target market.

Preston said his staff has looked at the local market, and he believes the casino will capture a lot of visitors that might normally visit casinos in Vicksburg and Baton Rouge.

Natchez Visitor Reception Center Public Relations Coordinator Sally Durkin asked Preston what the company was planning to do in case of flooding, and Preston said the casino will be built a foot above the highest river level during the record flood last spring.

Durkin also asked if the roof of the parking garage would be used for parking, and how much of the roof would be visible to people looking over the bluff. A resident, who lives near the bluff, said she was concerned about the parking garage’s lighting shining over the bluff.

A section of the roof, Preston said, will be used for parking and the additional section covered in greenery.

Natchez City Engineer David Gardner added that the parking garage will be somewhat recessed into the bluff so it will not be entirely visible from the top of the bluff. He said the bluff stabilization will not be disturbed, and the same designers are being used for the garage that did the stabilization.

Gardner also said he believes the lights will shine down toward the garage, not toward the bluff.

A resident asked Preston about the traffic flow accommodations of Roth Hill Road once the casino is operational, and Brown asked Gardner the details of the casino’s emergency response route.

Preston said a required traffic study found that Roth Hill Road should be able to accommodate the two-way traffic for the casino.

Gardner said the emergency route was tested and approved by the local fire marshal. He said a Natchez Trails Project sidewalk, which will extend toward the casino and stop at the end of city property, will be constructed thicker and wider than normal so it could potentially serve as access for emergency vehicles or to other potential developments on the casino’s neighboring properties.

In other casino news:

• Colin Uter, owner of Blade Construction and the project’s general contractor, said construction crews will work to finish pile work and soil stabilization so foundation work can begin.

Uter said crews will do some work with a crane and other equipment from a barge that arrived Wednesday night and will stay docked until the work is completed in the next couple of months.

• The casino’s metal building is scheduled to arrive on Feb. 13. Natchez City Planner Bob Nix said the next permits needed for the casino building’s foundation are not entirely contingent on the approval of the casino’s design by the Natchez Preservation Commission at its meeting Wednesday.

Nix said the dimensions of the proposed building and the building previously approved by the commission are similar enough that, as long as foundation plans are code-compliant, planning staff should be able to issue a permit for foundation work.