Spokane County commissioners were barred from commenting when business leaders opposed to a new Indian casino asked them for help in defending Fairchild Air Force Base.

The Spokesman-Review reported commissioners are bound to remain silent under a deal in which the county would receive payments to offset the effects of the Spokane Tribe's casino and hotel development.

Commissioner Mark Richard defended the intergovernmental agreement that requires commissioners to remain neutral on the casino project, which is under consideration by the U.S. Department of Indian Affairs.

The Spokane Tribe's proposal is a hotly disputed issue in Spokane County, in part because the proposed casino would be close to the Kalispel Tribe's Northern Quest casino resort on the western outskirts of Spokane. The Spokane Tribe's proposed casino needs federal permission because it would be located off their reservation.

County commissioners Al French and Todd Mielke are looking for ways to regain their ability to influence the decision on permitting a 14-story casino hotel near the flight path of Fairchild training missions.

The hotel is the sort of "encroachment" that would weigh against Fairchild in another round of military base closures expected in 2014, according to Greg Bever, past chairman of Greater Spokane Incorporated, the region's economic development agency.

"We need the county's voice on this issue," Bever told commissioners this week.

Bever and Greater Spokane President Rich Hadley opposed the Spokane's casino proposal in a Sept. 12 letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"We are concerned that the 4,500 jobs at FAFB will be placed at risk if a major casino resort complex is developed," they wrote.

In addition to navigational interference, they cited concerns about putting large concentrations of people in the path of hundreds of monthly flights at less than 2,000 feet from the ground.

Richard said he felt "kind of ambushed" by Bever's comments. He said he supported the Spokane Tribe's Airway Heights proposal as a matter of fairness. While the Kalispel Tribe already has an Airway Heights casino, the Spokanes are "the tribe for which this community is named," Richard said.

Spokane Tribe Chairman Greg Abrahamson said Wednesday the project poses no navigational threat to Fairchild or the nearby Spokane International Airport.

He pointed to a Nov. 3 ruling by the Federal Aviation Administration that the tribal hotel tower wouldn't interfere with navigation and needn't have warning lights or markings.

"The tribe has met with Fairchild officials and no so-called encroachment' issues have been identified," Abrahamson said in a news release.

He said the development, on 140 acres at the western edge of Airway Heights, is expected to generate 3,800 permanent and part-time jobs. It will include retail shops, medical offices and a tribal cultural center.

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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com