Officials are moving forward with plans for Beloit's first casino.

The City of Beloit has been working for months with the Ho-Chunk nation to draft a plan for a casino along the interstate and Willowbrook Rd. County of Rock supervisors heard the updated details Thursday night for the first time.

Ho-Chunk Nation President Jon Greendeer says plans are still in their "fetal stages." Still, he is hoping to build a casino and accompanying 300 room hotel and convention center in the next two years.

Before the group can break ground, there's an extensive set of approvals still to meet.

First, the city, county, and state need to sign off on an intergovernmental agreement. A draft of that plan was detailed Thursday. Beloit City Manager Larry Arft says since the casino property would essentially be its own country, so the plan has to outline everything form how they share police to how they share revenue.

Even if the plan is approved in Wisconsin, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs has the final say.

Ho-Chunk plans to pay Beloit 2 percent of profits since they cannot directly pay taxes. They also offer $2 million for infrastructure improvements at the site. The off-reservation casino would employ less than 15% Ho-Chunk workers and hire hundreds of locals from the area. Construction alone could cost the tribe more than $150 million.

Critics say since there are other casinos in Milwaukee, Madison, and the Chicago area, the project in Beloit might only draw business away from others in the area. Officials disagree.

"The kind of development that is being proposed would be a regional draw, drawing from the upper midwest down to the Chicagoland area," said Rock County Administrator Craig Knutson.

"Certainly you start getting into Rockford and Northern Illinois and around the surrounding areas as well," predicts Greendeer.

Arft says the BIA approved two similar projects back in 2011. He is optimistic they would approve the casino in Beloit. Still, Greendeer says plans to begin building in the next two years are very optimistic.