St. Joseph City Council members will be asked Monday night to show their support for a private development that could bring a casino and event center in the downtown area.

Inner Circle Investments is hoping to build a new facility in the parking lot just north of the Radisson Hotel at 102 S. 3rd, and then move St. Jo Frontier Casino to that location.

A member of the Inner Circle board of directors met with the council during a work session last month. On the council’s agenda Monday night is a resolution authorizing a memorandum of understanding “…expressing the desire to further study” the plan.

Inner Circle will fund the project itself, as well as possible incentives to the casino.

City Manager Bruce Woody says neither the resolution nor the memorandum of understanding are legally binding.

“They express mutual understandings and intentions between two parties,” Woody said, “but without any legal consequences for not following any expressed terms, conditions or meeting prescribed dates.

“However, they do carry a degree of seriousness and imply each party’s good will and intentions.  They are often a prelude to a potential, future legal agreement,” Woody said.

Woody said the MOU will give the developer some confidence that the city is interested in seeing redevelopment occur in the area immediately surrounding the Radisson Hotel and Civic Arena and remains interested in the various concepts identified in the 2010 and 2013 planning documents by Hunden Strategic Partners regarding downtown redevelopment.

“This is important to the developer prior to them investing time, effort and money is negotiating with other area property owners, Affinity Gaming, and other third parties to develop a proposal to present to the city later in 2017,” he said.

The meeting begins at 7pm in the Council Chambers on the 3rd floor of City Hall.

You can watch the meeting online here.  (under “Upcoming Events”)

Here’s the resolution on the agenda Monday:

“A Resolution (#865-14) authorizing execution of a Memorandum of Understanding with Inner Circle Investments LLC expressing the desire to further study the creation of a new event center and relocation of the existing casino to the downtown with the intent to revitalize the downtown as outlined in the 2013 Downtown Entertainment District Study.”