City to provide utility service to new casino

April 5, 2022

Osage Nation to voluntarily pay 5 percent of hotel revenue

The City of Bartlesville will provide wastewater infrastructure and services to the new Osage Casino currently under construction west of Bartlesville thanks to a vote of the Bartlesville City Council on Monday.

The Osage Nation Gaming Enterprise is developing property for use as a casino, hotel and supporting food service approximately 1 mile west of Bartlesville along U.S. Highway 60 and has requested City sewer service for the property with a privately financed public improvement, Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen said in a report to the City Council last week.

“The Osage Nation will construct a lift station and force main to pump wastewater from their development to the City’s collection system, which is located north of the intersection of State Highway 123 and Frank Phillips Boulevard,” Lauritsen said. “The development of this property is anticipated in phases, with the first phase generating an estimated 125,000 gallons of wastewater per day.”

Lauritsen said the City’s wastewater collection system downstream of the proposed connection has the capacity to accommodate this phase of development. However, he said, the casino’s discharge will require future downstream improvements to ensure no bypasses occur during rain events over two inches, as the goal of the City’s collection system is to convey peak flows generated during a 2.25 inch rain event.

The Tribe will financially participate in the upgrade of the City’s downstream collection system through a separate agreement, Lauritsen said.

“The agreement stipulates that the Osage Nation will design and construct the lift station and force main in accordance to applicable City, State, and Osage Nation regulations,” Lauritsen said, noting that ownership of the pump station and pipeline will be transferred to the City once the system is complete.

The Tribe will pay the City $625 per month for the first 60 months to cover the operation and maintenance of the lift station and pipeline, after which the monthly fee may be adjusted annually to reflect increases in operational and/or maintenance costs.

The council voted 5-0 on Monday in support of the sewer system/services agreements, as well as a related but separate agreement in which the Tribe agrees to pay the City of Bartlesville five percent of all revenues derived from the rent of hotel rooms.

“Essentially, the Osage Nation will voluntarily pay the same hotel tax rate as they would if they were in our jurisdiction in exchange for these services,” said City Manager Mike Bailey. “To be clear, this is not a tax, because the property is not located within the city limits of Bartlesville. But as we are under no obligation to provide these services to a business outside our jurisdiction, it is a way to alleviate the concerns of local hotels and restaurants who are, and which are therefore subject to the local lodging tax.”

According to Osage Nation officials, the development will include 102 hotel rooms. The casino is targeted to open around the end of this year or early 2023.