Firm creates advisory board
BROWNSVILLE – A Native American-owned firm is moving ahead with its plans to develop Brownsville as a tourist destination featuring a casino and related businesses by announcing the creation of an advisory board for the development. Phil Monture, president of Ohwista Ko:Wah, said the advisory board will begin meeting once Ohwista Ko:Wah has taken possession of properties currently owned by Ernest and Marilyn Liggett or their businesses. Ernest Liggett is a minor partner in Ohwista Ko:Wah. Other officers or investors in the company have not been identified.
“We’re still doing the land transfer. The title search is just about done. We should be up and running by the first of the year,” Monture said.
Monture said 114 properties in Brownsville or Brownsville Township owned by the Liggetts are being transferred to Ohwista Ko:Wah.
“We want input from the hands-on people in the community. We don’t want to get involved in political agendas,” Monture said. “We’ll work with them on designing the entire project for a destination resort. Many have volunteered their services and expertise.”
A news release prepared by Liggett identifies the members of the advisory board as Fayette County Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites (unconfirmed); Sheriff Gary Brownfield; Fayette County Planning, Zoning and Development Director Tami Shell; Leo Krantz of the Fay-Penn Economic Development Council; Kenneth Finney Jr., chairman of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority (unconfirmed); Brownsville councilmen Tom Bush and John Hosler; Hiller fire chief Pat Ballon’ Brownsville school director Stella Broadwater; Lou Hosler of the Construction and General Laborers Local 286; and Joe Kirk of the Mon-Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway Alliance.
Monture said Ohwista Ko:Wah, with the help of the advisory board, will prepare the development plan for a sovereign tribal nation to put into action. He said it still hasn’t been decided how much of the development site will be traditional commercial development and how much will be taken into trust as is required for Indian gaming.
“My experience with all this has been that there is also a negative side to that. Native land hampers economic development. There are certain things you cannot do,” Monture said.
Monture said it is possible that only the casino site itself could be taken into trust, with the rest of the land remaining on the tax roles for commercial development.
“I think it will be a boon to the community. Once the economic ball gets rolling, it just spreads out to everyone,” Monture said. “Something needs to turn around in the region and people are looking for something.”
Vicites said he has not yet spoken directly with Liggett or Monture, though he did receive a message regarding the advisory board.
“I haven’t agreed to serve. The question I have is, are the local elected officials going to be involved? I feel strongly about that and I want to make sure the mayor and the council president and members of council are involved. I don’t want the local government to not be fully engaged in the process. I would sit at the table if they were there. They serve that community and they should have the opportunity to be fully informed and involved,” Vicites said. “The one thing I’ve heard over the years is that there isn’t enough information about it.”
Krantz said the lack of information about the casino project is the very reason he decided to serve on the advisory board.
“The community is just starved for information. They’ve been fed promises for 11 years,” Krantz said. “I, like everyone else, want to see the picture – want to see the development plan. I’m not talking about the designs Ernest (Liggett) has done over the last 11 years.”
Ballon said he is representing all four Brownsville area fire departments on the advisory board, though his department has some special concerns. Ballon said the Hiller Volunteer Fire Department has been assured that the gaming operations will not have a negative financial impact on the department.
“They know that we have a pretty substantial bingo and they told us not to worry about it, we would be more than compensated for it,” Ballon said.
Ballon said that from preliminary talks, it appears that Ohwista Ko:Wah will be willing to subsidize the fire departments, possibly by paying for a qualified driver for the departments in Hiller, South Brownsville, Brownsville’s North Side and West Brownsville instead of funding any one paid fire department in the area, since equipment is needed from all the departments.
“There will be 6,000-10,000 people in buildings at any one time and they want to make sure they can get them out in a timely manner,” Ballon said.
He said it is his understanding that there are plans to rebuild the downtown and to install sprinklers in buildings even where they are not necessarily required by law. He said that if the land is taken into trust, the fire departments will have no jurisdiction on the property without an agreement.
Shell said she agreed to sit on the advisory board on behalf of the county to see what does or does not fall under county jurisdiction.
“I’ve been told that if the Indians actually take back the land, they are their own government and don’t need to go through the county,” Shell said. “I’m hoping this committee formation indicates a willingness to meet our regulations whether they need to or not. I’m hoping they will be willing to work with us.”
Shell said there is a need for permanent, good-paying jobs in the region, though the possibility of the creation of casino jobs needs to be weighed against the potential negative community impact.
She noted that the proposed casino will be close to California University of Pennsylvania and the impact that could have on student life needs to be considered, as well as the impact on Brownsville and Fayette County. If land is taken into trust by the Department of Interior for a tribe, an impact statement will come under the National Environmental Policy Act.