More than three years after Yuba County voters cast a majority of ballots against a proposed Indian casino, debate over the project seemed anything but dead Tuesday at a Yuba County supervisors meeting.

Yuba County supervisors voted Tuesday to send a letter to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs that said the proposed Enterprise Rancheria casino project wouldn't have an overall detrimental effect on the county.

But that only happened after lots of comment from those who support and oppose the project, and a push by some supervisors to add amendments to the letter to acknowledge the casino will have some negative effects.

"This letter was written in good faith," aid Rick Paskowitz, a Wheatland resident. "The result is what's suspect."

Supporters cited a need for local jobs and economic development. Robert Carr, a member of a plumbers union in the area, said the casino had been debated for too long.

"This is a good example of too much process," he said. "I think this is something you guys need to look at and get off the dime on this project."

The letter came at the bureau's request as part of a determination over whether to put the south Yuba County

land in trust for the casino. It will include amendments noting the casino will affect agricultural traffic, increase gambling addiction issues, and lessen county control if the land is put in trust.

Several speakers and supervisors John Nicoletti and Roger Abe pointed out that if the casino is built by the Oroville-based Maidu Indian tribe, that would be in defiance of a 2005 Yuba County advisory measure where voters opposed the project.

"The people of this county knew what they were voting for," said Sheldon Hadley, a Marysville resident. "Using this economy to sell this casino isn't right."

The approval of Indian casinos is handled at the federal level, so the measure reflected sentiment toward the casino, but was not a binding referendum on it. The county does not have direct control of whether or not the casino is approved.

Backers of the casino have said it would bring thousands of jobs to the area, critical during a severe recession. The letter estimated the project would bring about $32 million annually to Yuba County in payroll and benefits from full-time workers at the casino.

Hadley and other speakers disputed that, saying the casino would instead prey on a poorer community with addiction issues.

The number speaking against the casino were outweighed by supporters, including some from the tribe and representatives of trade unions whose members would benefit from the construction work.

The casino, which would include an eight-story hotel and conference center, would be north of the Sleep Train Amphitheatre in the county's southeast.

"In the times we're in right now, I see nothing but positive in the community for this," said Dave Slack, an engineers union member who also sits on the Mid Valley Building Trades Council board.

Supervisors also took differing sides on the letter, with Mary Jane Griego saying the letter should be sent as is and both Abe and Supervisor Hal Stocker saying more language regarding the casino's downsides needed to be added.

Griego said much of what Stocker and Abe asked for was included in a 2002 memorandum of understanding between the county and the tribe of which the bureau is already aware.

At the suggestion of County Administrator Robert Bendorf, Griego and the other supervisors ultimately agreed to let county staff add those amendments and show them to Griego and Abe for approval by the end of the day.

With those amendments, the board agreed the letter could be sent this week, ahead of Monday's deadline for responses to the bureau's original request. The amended letter will be released at next week's supervisors meeting.

After the vote, tribal chairwoman Glenda Wilson said she believed her side had been both transparent and accountable during the process, which stretches back seven years.

"We have an MOU that's of gold standard," she said. "We've lived up to our side, and we just hope Yuba County stands up to their side."

Some of the discussion among the supervisors, Nelson said, may be because some of them weren't on the board, as Griego was, when the MOU was finalized.

Nelson said she hopes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Department of the Interior could give final approval to the casino this year, but noted the process has already taken five years longer than originally hoped.

Contact reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com.