CALEXICO — The City Council claims it is moving ahead with plans to locate a casino along the busy Highway 111 corridor here, but shelved a vote on approving special outside counsel for the project Tuesday night.

Councilman John Renison said pending negotiations to finalize a new city attorney, no vote should occur on allocating city or RDA funds to consulting activities.

A $25,000 agreement between the city and outside attorneys for retention of special counsel had been discussed between staff, but not enough information was presented to the council, according to several members.

"We're putting the cart before the horse here," Renison said, adding he would like to see a citywide vote on the casino issue as soon as the summer.

The agenda item attracted a half-full council chambers Tuesday night, with many in the audience holding up "no casino" signs. Imperial County District 5 Supervisor Wally Leimgruber, a vocal opponent to the establishment of any casinos in the Imperial Valley, was in attendance but did not address the council.

Calexico officials along with representatives from Imperial County and several other cities met with representatives of the Viejas Tribe and the Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in August last year to work on details of setting up a compact with the state as well as negotiating a piece of property for a casino with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The attorney who the council was to consider for the legal work, Malissa Hathaway McKeith, is a Los Angeles environmental attorney who has a background in land use planning for large projects that are "politically sensitive," according to a Jan. 13 letter sent to interim City Manager Luis Estrada.

The draft agreement for the services of McKeith and David Gondek, a partner in McKeith's firm — Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith — calls for a fee of $25,000 for 90 days of work in composing a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Manzanita tribe.

"This amount is substantially less than our regular billable rates; however, I personally have a demonstrated and long-standing commitment to helping the community at a time of critical change for the city," McKeith writes in a document to the city.

McKeith declined to comment on her role with the casino project or with the city when contacted for this story.

Not everyone thinks the casino is a good idea.

Councilman Alex Perrone has been lukewarm to the idea of a casino and made his objections known to the council.

"I think this is premature," Perrone said of the proposed agreement. "There's not enough information."

In other business, Calexico downtown Port of Entry Assistant Port Director Al Miramontes gave a brief presentation to the council regarding the controversy surrounding gamma rays at the Calexico ports of entry.

The device in question, the radiation portal monitor, is a means to scan trucks and passengers for radiation and radiological materials, Miramontes said. Devices are used at both the downtown and Calexico East ports to scan railroad cars as well as truck cargo.

"This is a larger version of a device that is issued to all our inspectors that they carry on their belts," Miramontes said.

The monitors do not emit any radiation that is harmful to humans, he insisted.

Others in the audience had a different take on the issue.

Mexicali resident Cuauhtemoc Avila addressed the council, saying there are independent studies that show there are health risks with exposure to gamma rays and there should be independent investigation of the radiation levels at the ports.

Mayor David Ouzan called for a letter to be sent to the California Department of Health Services to see if there could be some follow-up investigation.

>> Staff Writer Marc Schanz can be reached at 357-7336 or at mschanz@ivpressonline.com