There’s a meeting set for Monday night in downtown Niagara Falls that centers on the future of downtown Niagara Falls.

It’s being organized by One Niagara building owner Frank Parlato and held in that building at the U.S. end of the Rainbow Bridge. Time: 7 p.m. It has to do with Niagara Falls’ and, by extension, New York state’s the United States of America’s relationship with the Seneca Nation of Indians.

When one stops to think about it, it’s a fascinating topic that bears exploration. After all, up until the establishment of the casino, that was land that was under the jurisdiction of city, state and federal governments. Now, it’s under the sovereign control of the Senecas.

Parlato has a dog in this hunt because of his ownership of One Niagara, the former Occidental Office Building (the so-called “flash cube.” Remember those?). In a Guest View on this page Thursday, Parlato posed some interesting questions. They centered on the nation’s tax-free status and its ability to operate a gambling casino while residents and business owners in Niagara Falls and New York state cannot.

Parlato sees the tax and gambling difference as a severe impediment to success for other business owners in the city. He claims 55 businesses have closed in the area and attributes the demise of most of them to the Senecas and their operations.

Other than whining over the milk that has already been spilt, are there actually steps that could be taken to level the playing field, should the city want to play hardball? Of course there are treaties and legal agreements that govern relationships between the Senecas and the city, state and federal governments. But here are some ideas to throw out:

• Passports. By treaty, Native Americans are allowed to travel freely between the U.S. and Canada and, presumably, the same goes between their sovereign nation and the U.S. But when it comes to the rest of us, we could explore the possibility of requiring passports to reenter the United States from the Seneca nation. That would mean any non-native customers of the casino, or the hotel or any other Seneca enterprise that sprouts up on that land would need a passport to get back home.

It’s certainly possible for all of the customers to possess a passport, but would they want to go through the time and hassle of producing travel documents each time they want to hit the slots? Many would. The casual bettor might not.

• DWI checkpoints. Alcohol is served in the Seneca Niagara Casino. But any problems with drivers who consume too much alcohol there don’t become the headache of the Senecas; they travel on the streets and highways of Niagara Falls and New York state. A case could be made that city and state police have probable cause to conduct breath tests for blood alcohol levels on everyone leaving the casino.

n Vehicle inspections. Much of what passes for increased traffic flow downtown is the result of cars and trucks using city streets to reach and leave the Seneca operations. Do police have a responsibility to make sure each and every vehicle entering the casino has a proper safety inspection and meets all state requirements? Perhaps.

• Utilities. The city has the casino as a water and wastewater customer. But is Niagara Falls required to provide those services to members of a sovereign nation? Just wondering.

Are these measures far-fetched? Sure. Are they even legal? Who knows? In fact, the city of Niagara Falls has a vested interest in the continued prosperity of the Seneca casino and might not be a willing participant in any of this. Public officials and others with their hands out eagerly line up for hunks of slot machine cash like pigs waiting for slop at the trough. And, casino supporters are quick to point out, where would the local unemployment rate be without the Senecas?

As the business owners in the downtown area become more and more desperate, more radical plans of action are likely to be proposed.

No one is advocating extreme actions like those listed above. At least, not yet. This could get very interesting.

Dick Lucinski is the managing editor of the Niagara Gazette. His columns appear on Wednesday and Sunday.