Last minute agreement between City, Tribe keeps vital sewer sevice to Snoqualmie Casino

After a somewhat contentious year that included repeated accusations of irresponsible development over the Tokul Roudabout project, a race discrimination lawsuit and worries over whether the popular Snoqualmie Casino would have sewer service after November 2016, in a joint press release The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe and the City of Snoqualmie announced Tuesday, September 27, 2016 that they had finally reached an agreement to continue sewer service to the Snoqualmie Indian Reservation.

According to the release, the Snoqualmie Casino, that employs more than 1,100 people and provided more than $6.6 million in business to vendors in the local area over the past year, will have access to the City of Snoqualmie’s sewer services for at least four more years.

“We are pleased by this mutual commitment to ongoing dialogue to protect an enterprise that serves both the Tribe and the City of Snoqualmie,” said Steve de los Angeles, Council Member of the Snoqualmie Tribal Council. “This is a welcome step forward to building a relationship of trust and respect between our Tribe and the City.”

“The City of Snoqualmie is pleased to have come to a long-term, mutually beneficial solution concerning the City’s utility service to the Snoqualmie Casino,” said Mayor Matt Larson. “We believe the City’s wastewater system offers significant environmental benefits and cost efficiencies. There are many opportunities for the City and Snoqualmie Tribe to partner on local and regional initiatives, and a healthy business relationship is a great start.”

Last year the city agreed to a one-year sewer service contract extension for the casino, but questions remained as to whether the agreement would extend past that one year. The Tribe had little options for the needed and vital sewer service due to land and time constraints to construct their own facility and legalities that kept it from contracting with the next closest city, North Bend.