NATCHEZ — The Mississippi Gaming Commission has requested Roth Hill casino developers send a copy of their finalized lease with the City of Natchez to the commission because the recently proposed lease amendment ties the lease to the funding of the casino.

Gaming Commission Deputy Director Eddie Williams said Natchez Gaming Enterprises LLC is not required to send the lease as a part of its finalized funding documents that must be submitted by Feb. 24 in order to keep its approval to proceed with development.

Williams said, however, the commission requested a copy because the recently proposed lease amendment names Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Inc., one of the casino’s investors, a third-party beneficiary and leasehold mortgagee.

Williams said the commission will not be approving or controlling the lease itself because it is between the city and the developers.

“If the city approves the lease (amendment), the commission will take no issue with it,” he said.

Natchez Enterprises, a Premier Gaming Group company, was granted approval to proceed with development in October. Williams said in order to receive the approval, developers must submit letters of commitment from funding sources.

The finalized documents that must be submitted, Williams said, will be final confirmation of the funding sources in the letters of commitment.

Williams said if the final funding documents are not submitted by Feb. 24, Natchez Enterprises’ approval to proceed with development will expire, and the company would have to halt the project.

The casino’s site approval will still be valid, Williams said, but Natchez Enterprises would have to go through the process for approval to proceed with development again, which would require appearing before the commission at one of its monthly meetings.

The city is currently working to finalize the lease with Natchez Enterprises and redraft the lease amendment after its proposal was met with concern from residents and city officials.

The amendment includes provisions that seemingly reduce the casino’s commitment to non-casino projects in the city and include the possibility of a parking lot near the casino instead of a public park and an annual percentage of the casino’s revenue to a community development fund instead of an annual fixed $225,000 in the original lease.

Middleton said he believes some of the new provisions are requests from LLCP.

“They’re the lenders, and if you’re going to be major lenders, you want some kind of collateral,” he said. “That’s just good business sense.”

The Natchez Board of Aldermen voted to hire outside legal counsel to review the lease amendment. Middleton said the board will announce the attorney hired to review the lease at its specially called meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Natchez City Council Chambers.

Middleton said the board will go into executive discussion to discuss hiring the outside counsel. He said there could possibly be two attorneys the board will decide between for the job.

The board, Middleton said, will also discuss the proposed lease amendment with the attorney in executive session and come up with new provisions to be given to Premier Gaming Group for approval so the lease can be finalized and signed.