NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk city council approved a resolution that dedicates revenue from the development of the casino to two Norfolk schools.
On Tuesday, October 1, Norfolk City Council voted a resolution regarding the Pamunkey Casino and revenue earned from the sale of the land going toward two schools. The resolution passed 7-1. The only vote against the resolution was Councilwoman Andria McClellan.
"We received notice at midnight on Monday night with a hand-delivered letter to the councilmembers' houses that we were going to vote on a resolution but no mention of what the resolution was and I was surprised we didn't get a copy of it until five o'clock when we were in the middle of our work session," she told 13News Now Wednesday night, a day after the vote.
She said, like the September 24 land sale vote, council didn't release the information and give citizens enough time to ask questions ahead of a vote. She believes there should be more public input.
"We should be talking to civic leagues. We should be talking to the business community. We should be talking to folks who own restaurants, the hotel owners downtown," she said.
The resolution dedicates revenue from the option to purchase, the sale of the land for the resort casino, or its development prior to the opening of the resort casino in Norfolk to Booker T. Washington High School and Maury High School.
This means that the $10 million from the sale would go towards the schools. The resolution does not mean earned after the casino is open and running would go towards schools.
At the council meeting on September 24, city council approved the sale and development of land near Harbor Park for a resort casino to the Pamunkey Tribe.
Many people, including Councilwoman McClellan and the Nansemond Tribes, were against the casino vote and felt citizens should have more time to learn about it and ask questions.
McClellan wanted to know where the money from the casino would go and urged for some of it to be dedicated to schools.
Maury High School, one of the schools that will receive funding from the resolution, is in McClellan's District.
McClellan argued with the way the vote was run claiming they were notified about the meeting at midnight Monday and didn't receive the resolution until 5 p.m. Tuesday.
According to the resolution, the funding will go towards Capital Improvement Projects ar the two schools.
The Nansemond Tribe was against the deal because it believes the Nansemond Tribe's history is in this area while the Pamunkey Tribe doesn't have a history here. They felt as though the sale of the land and making it tribal land could diminish the history of the Nansemond Tribe in the area.
The resolution states that at the time of the Pamunkey Proposal, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe is the only federally recognized tribe in Virginia with the right to engage in tribal gaming.
The ordinance for the sale is set to be effective on October 23.
A group of Norfolk residents is still working to overturn the vote with a petition.