Signaling more court battles ahead over the planned bingo hall on tribal lands in Aquinnah, the Wampanoag tribe registered its strong opposition Thursday to a ruling by a federal judge that it must obtain building permits from the town to construct the facility.

In lengthy filings in U.S. District Court, attorneys for the tribe make the case that the tribe and its partner in the gaming facility, the Chickasaw Nation, have their own procedures under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to ensure the building is safe and environmentally sound that are as good or better than those required by state and local law.

The tribe is asking for a stay of a ruling issued last month by Judge Dennis Saylor 4th while it appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals First Circuit. A stay would allow the tribe to proceed with construction immediately.

At a public hearing before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday, Aquinnah town administrator Jeffrey Madison told commissioners that the tribe had in fact restarted construction on the property and that the town would be filing its own action in court.

“As of yesterday, the town has seen movement on the property and is filing a contempt of court order,” Mr. Madison said.

The MVC has taken steps to review the bingo hall as a development of regional impact following referrals from both Aquinnah and Chilmark.

In their filing in federal court, tribal attorneys said without a stay the tribe will suffer irreparable harm and significant monetary loss while the bingo hill remains unbuilt on cleared land off State and Black Brook Roads.

“The tribe is being deprived of . . . critical revenue stream, estimated to range from $3 to $5 million per year from the initial phases of the operation,” attorneys wrote in a memorandum that accompanies the motion seeking a stay.

Supported by an affidavit from tribal chairman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, the memorandum also states that the tribe expects to create some 100 new jobs through development of the bingo hall and that its revenues will support critically needed services for the tribe.

“Every day of delay is a delay in funding essential health services, education, housing, social services, cultural protection, police and fire protection, EMT services . . . and a multitude of other government services,” attorneys wrote. “Every day of delay is also lost governmental revenue that will never be recovered.”

Notice of appeal in the case was filed late last month in U.S. District Court, two weeks after the ruling by Judge Saylor. Thursday’s motion asks for expedited review by the court.

The legally complicated case dates to 2015 and has wound through the U.S. District Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which affirmed the tribe’s right to build the casino when it declined to hear a petition for review by the town in 2018.

That decision appeared to be an open-and-shut victory for the tribe until the town sought and received a ruling from Judge Saylor that held that even though the tribe had the sovereign right to pursue gaming on tribal lands, it still needed to abide by state and local permitting regulations.

Meanwhile, at the MVC hearing Thursday, Mr. Madison said the town has photographs showing that the tribe had put in footings for the new bingo hall.

“It’s anathema to all of us who live in Aquinnah as to how there is to be a court order that is summarily ignored,” he said.

Selectman Juli Vanderhoop also attended the hearing. She described the situation as “ugly and disrespectful.”

Jim Vercruysse and Kathy Newman, who both sit on the commission as Aquinnah representatives, expressed sadness that they had been unable to work amicably with the tribe.

In the end the commission voted unanimously to deny the project on procedural grounds because the application is incomplete.

Noah Asimow contributed reporting.