The Wampanoag tribe has set mid-fall as a completion date for its bingo hall in Aquinnah, tribal chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais told a group of reporters Friday.

“We’re moving,” Ms. Andrews-Maltais said, referring to construction on the proposed class II gaming facility. Ms. Andrews-Maltais spoke to reporters following a hearing in federal court in Boston Friday morning.

She also said the tribe would not be participating in the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s public hearing and review process, which is slated to begin Monday.

“I have a busy agenda and will not be asking permission for something we are allowed to do,” Ms. Andrews-Maltais said.

Construction has paused at the four-acre site off State Road where a 10,000-square-foot, 250-machine bingo hall is planned. The property was cleared in early February. But on Friday Ms. Andrews Maltais said the halt in construction had nothing to do with litigation from the town or the commission, but rather to make sure everything was in order before the actual building phase got underway.

“We just had a pause to make sure everything is in place,” Ms. Andrews-Maltais said. “And now of course we are into summer, so logistics are a challenge.”

She penciled in autumn as an expected date for completion.

“Fall,” Ms. Andrews-Maltais said. “It was early fall, now mid-fall.”

She cited the town’s cutting of an electrical connection to the building site as part of the reason for delay. Although the town electrical inspector has said previously that he has not heard from the town about the tribe’s electrical permit request, both Ms. Andrews-Maltais and an electrician working for the tribe — who was present at the hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston on Friday — said a permit request was filed by Willett Electric.

Ms. Andrews-Maltais further said that any effort by the town to inspect the facility was unnecessary.

“Our officials meet or exceed those of the town,” Ms. Andrews-Maltais said. “We don’t need to have the town’s shared, part-time officials.”

Tribal attorney Scott Crowell expressed frustration that the commission and tribe were unable to engage in a fruitful dialogue, but he said it would be difficult to participate in a public hearing review process with litigation pending.

“The frustration is that it’s one thing to say, we have mutual interests, let’s engage in a government-to-government dialogue,” Mr. Crowell said. “It’s another to say, we have jurisdiction.”

At the hearing in federal court on Friday, Mr. Crowell said that any attempt to stop the tribe from pursuing its sovereign rights to construct the gaming facility would be “repugnant,” in the legal sense.

Ms. Andrews-Maltais said despite ongoing skirmishes in court, the tribe will move forward with the project. She said by her estimation most tribal members were in favor of the development, and that the tribal council has given its express consent to continue with construction.

“The tribal council is unanimous in that they want to proceed,” Ms. Andrews-Maltais said. “We’ll pursue, persevere, and move ahead.”