A New Casino Near Chico: Construction Work Continues

People passing through Highway 149 or Highway 149 in Butte County, south of Chico, on the southern bank of Clear Creek, might have already noticed a big tent on the side of the road. It is just off Openshaw Road. The land where the tent has been set up is under the ownership of The Mechoopda Tribe. In May, Doug Elmets, the representative and spokesperson of the tribe Mentioned it to Action News. Now the tribe is working on building a ‘temporary casino’. But he refused to comment further on it. According to his statement, the county was opposed to the idea of the casino construction, posing limited access to a highway with high traffic as a reason. It is a considerable recharge area in terms of groundwater runoff for getting back into the aquifer. Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly believes that without an added overpass, the additional traffic congestion is going to create will lead to a dangerous situation. However, the tribe is not going to be a legal battle. As this can make things more complicated than it already is. Connelly also states that the tribe has told the county that they are going, to begin with, low-level gaming, such as bingo and slot machines for their casino. According to him, the tribe that is constructing the casino has promised to pat the country with some kind of fire and police response if there is an emergency in any situation. Nevertheless, they have not yet come up with a written contract to verify this claim for now. The state is going to work hand-in-hand with the tribe in regards to the game rules and the federal government is going to keep a close eye on the impact of the developments on the environmental impacts.