Business group backs bingo plan

SHABBONA - Shabbona Business Association members are showing their support for a proposed American Indian bingo parlor, but Village President Claudia Hicks said there is no formal request from the tribe to make the plan a reality. &#8220Just because the association wants it doesn't mean it will happen,” Hicks said Friday. The Shabbona Business Association at its Wednesday meeting unanimously approved a resolution requesting the village board pursue annexation of land within a two-mile radius of Shabbona, including the site of the proposed bingo parlor at University and Preserve roads, SBA President Vicki Bray said. The association has 56 business owners. Eighteen were at the Wednesday meeting, Bray said. The resolution will be presented at the Shabbona Village Board meeting on Dec. 18. Hicks said the meeting will be moved to another building, possibly the Indian Creek High School cafeteria, because more people are likely to attend it. &#8220We're putting it (the resolution) on the agenda,” Hicks said. &#8220But no action will be taken. I still have not had a request from the Potawatomi to annex.” In April, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation purchased 128 acres of what it considers tribal lands for $8.8 million and began working with county officials on an agreement that would allow them to build a bingo parlor on the site. Negotiations were cut off in October amid questions about whether the county can enter an intergovernmental agreement with an entity whose status as a governmental body is in question. The county's decision came after a letter issued by an Interior Department official on Sept. 22 raised question in the minds of county officials about the tribe's legal status in Illinois. &#8220I don't know what's to believe,” Hicks said. &#8220They (The Potawatomi) believe they have a claim, but if you talk to (House Speaker Dennis) Hastert, (state Sen. Brad) Burzynski or (state Rep. Bob) Pritchard, they say they don't.” The tribe has not made any public announcement of what it will do next. Bray, who has been in town for about three years, owns Vicki's Corner Treasures. She said the group supports the annexation and the bingo parlor because it could have a positive impact on the community. &#8220With the annexation, we realize the population is moving out this way more and more,” Bray said. &#8220We feel if maybe it continues to grow and maybe a bingo parlor does come forward we may see an increase in business coming to Shabbona. Maybe we should be part of that, too.” Bray said the association is aware that there is some controversy surrounding the bingo parlor plan. &#8220I'm hoping this could be a positive,” Bray said. She said thinks the community is split down the middle between who wants the bingo parlor and who doesn't. &#8220I think when I first heard about it several years ago I was not for it, either,” she said. &#8220But I have changed my mind.” Bray said she read about it and an association member visited the Potawatomi-owned casino in Kansas and brought more information to the board. Prairie Band Potawatomi Vice Chair Rey Kitchkumme attended the association's meeting on Wednesday and provided more information, the business association said. &#8220I think that once I realized they were purchasing the land, that this was going to happen, I thought, ‘OK, let's be positive about this. This could be a good thing for Shabbona,'” she said. &#8220They're here, we might as well be good neighbors and work together.” Aracely Hernandez can be reached at ahenandez@daily-chronicle.com.