Aquinnah: Casino complex In the "Remote" Red Zone

Casino complex In the "Remote" Red Zone
Friday, March 30, 2012


Governing Aquinnah Settlement Agreement:
INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT ON COOPERATIVE LAND ...
An Aquinnah Planning Advisory Board (hereinafter referred to as the ... with, and be governed by, the provisions of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. ... on the date of the 1983 Settlement Agreement, and any amendments to such ...aquinnah-ma.gov/documents/Intergovernmental_Agreement.doc - Similar

The legislation is linked here:
http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/subject/about/gambling.html

Tribe Seeks Casino Compact with Massachusetts
By Ryan Trowbridge

BOSTON (AP) — The Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah is stepping up efforts to develop a casino in southeastern Massachusetts.

The Martha’s Vineyard-based tribe says it has secured options on two attached tracts of lands, one in Freetown and the other in neighboring Lakeville.

Freetown officials have scheduled a May 29 referendum on the proposed casino and the tribe has asked that a vote be set in Lakeville.

The tribe has also asked Gov. Deval Patrick to open talks on a casino compact. The new state gaming law gives a federally-recognized tribe first crack at a casino license in the southeastern region if a compact is signed by July 31.

The state’s only other federally-recognized tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoags, have proposed a casino in the city of Taunton.


Aquinnah eye casino site off Route 140 in Freetown, Lakeville
By GEORGE BRENNAN
March 30, 2012

Working to keep its options open, the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe Thursday unveiled land deals in Freetown and Lakeville for a resort-style casino.

On Thursday, tribal council Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais met privately with Freetown officials to talk about 100 acres the tribe has under agreement between Exits 8 and 9 of Route 140. Here we go with PRIVATE MEETINGS! Why?

The tribe also has under agreement 400 acres that straddle Freetown and Lakeville across the street from the Freetown property. Tribe leaders met in a public session with Lakeville selectmen Thursday night.

Today, the tribe plans to meet with Fall River leaders on a third proposal that Andrews-Maltais said at Lakeville's meeting is about 230 acres.

"They are considering a resort casino, and that entails a number of things — anchoring the activity with gaming but having entertainment, hotel and other venues," said Richard Brown, Freetown's town administrator.

A series of informational meetings is planned prior to May 29, when Freetown voters are scheduled to vote on a referendum. A date has not been set for the first informational session, Brown said.

"We had a good meeting," he said. "Everybody, both from the town and the Aquinnah tribe, were excited."

Freetown selectmen Chairwoman Lisa Pacheco said town officials will work with the tribe to create a plan that addresses a possible casino's impact on public safety, infrastructure and the school system.

"We are going to proceed as if we were chosen as the host community and we're going to develop a contingency plan for a compact" with the tribe, Pacheco said.

Next week, she said, she and Brown will meet with leaders of town departments to discuss their needs in an event of a casino coming to town.

She added they will wait to hear whether the tribe has narrowed its options to one host community, possibly by the end of next week.

"At the end of the day, it's up to the townspeople and what townspeople want," Pacheco said.

The 100 acres entirely in Freetown are zoned commercially but located in a residential section, not far from local schools. Ideally, the tribe would like access to the casino land directly from Route 140, tribe spokesman James McManus said in an email.

"The property we are looking at in Lakeville is on the west side of Route 140 at the Lakeville-Freetown border," Andrews-Maltais told Lakeville officials Thursday night. "It is remote enough and far enough from impacting on housing and communities."

The tribe and town are working under tight deadlines, laid out by Lakeville Town Clerk Janet Tracy, in order to meet the 60- to 90-day time limit from the initial notice to the town. The referendum election in Lakeville is targeted for June 2 and the ballot question must be turned into Tracy by April 27, 35 days before the election.

The bigger parcel of land is about 400 acres, with slightly more in Lakeville than Freetown.

"These are separate towns, separate parcels, separate owners, but purchased together," Andrews-Maltais said.

Should either Lakeville or Freetown oppose the plan while the other community supports it, the casino can be built in the town that wants it and the land in the other community could be used to house other buildings, such as a museum, she said.

"We intend to put up a world-class casino," Andrews-Maltais explained. "It is our right to do so and we would try to be as respectful as possible not to impact a community that doesn't want it."

The tribe has not identified its developer. It intends to hold outreach meetings with various small and larger groups in the town to explain its position. It will hold a larger regional meeting with Lakeville and Freetown and the developer, probably at Apponequet Regional High School.

The tribe has historic and cultural ties to land in both Freetown and Lakeville, a necessary part of any application to put land into federal trust for Indian gaming, McManus said.

According to a history of the town written for the Friends of Historic Preservation website, Freetown was settled by Pilgrims and purchased from the Wampanoag Indians in 1659 for kettles, coats and shoes, in part to settle the tavern debt of Massasoit, the Wampanoag leader. The purchase is known as "The Freeman's Purchase," which likely led to the town's name, according to the account.

This is the latest push by the Martha's Vineyard-based tribe to get into the casino game after the state passed legislation that authorized three casinos — one of them possibly an Indian casino — and a single slot parlor.

The Aquinnah are competing with the Mashpee Wampanoag to meet a July 31 deadline to negotiate a compact with Gov. Deval Patrick. The compact, which would detail payments in lieu of taxes on gambling revenue, also requires approval by the state Legislature.

Material from Standard-Times staff writer Brian Boyd and contributing writer Bill Abramson was used in this report.