By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

GROVE, Okla. — A summer 2008 opening is planned for a $60 million-plus casino with a five-story, 125-room hotel, a 1,600-seat convention center and three restaurants.

Paul Spicer, chief of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, presented the tribe’s plans for the resort casino on 30 acres on the shore of Grand Lake to the Grove City Council on Tuesday. The resort is to be just east of Sailboat Bridge on Highway 59.

The chairman of the Quapaw Tribal Business Committee on Wednesday said he would release information early next week about the tribe’s plans near the borders with Kansas and Missouri.

The City Council took no action, and Spicer said he didn’t seek any council action.

“We wanted the city of Grove to be involved from the beginning,” Spicer said about presenting the plan to the council.

Spicer said the tribe plans to pay property taxes or the equivalent amount of money to the city.

“We want to shoulder that burden,” he said.

The resort casino would create about 450 jobs, Spicer said. He said the restaurants would be a steak and seafood restaurant, a large buffet, and a sports bar.

Spicer said it has not been determined if Grand Lake Casino, which the tribe now operates near Cowskin Bridge, just outside Grove, will remain open when the new casino opens.

Spicer said that at Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor Gary Bishop was satisfied with his answer to the mayor’s question about whether the land had been placed in trust. Spicer said he told the mayor that it wasn’t necessary that the site be placed in trust.

Councilman Larry Parham said he is not in favor of gambling, but that as a councilman, he must consider what is in the best interest of Grove residents.

“I guess the question is, ‘Would it be a benefit to the citizens of Grove?’” Parham said. “So far, it seems like a doable deal.”

Parham said three women who are members of the tribe spoke against the casino proposal. Bishop disagreed with that description, saying the women complained partly about the casino proposal, but when they began making personal statements about Spicer, he cut off their comments.