The Multiple Choice Aquinnah Announce One Location

Aquinnah tribe identifies possible casino site in Lakeville
By Christopher Nichols
Taunton Daily Gazette
Posted Mar 30, 2012

LAKEVILLE —
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay-Head Aquinnah identified on Thursday the 200-acre parcel of land where the tribe would look to develop a resort casino in Lakeville.

The potential site — located immediately to the west of Route 140 between Exits 8 and 9 — is attached to the parcel of land the tribe previously announced as the potential site in Freetown.
“We’re hopeful that this property’s location is something that the town would be interested in pursuing,” Aquinnah Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais said.

With this announcement, the selectmen also stated that they are looking at June 2 for the date of the town’s referendum on the future of the casino project. Andrew-Maltais said the tribe plans on holding public forums and assembling more details on the project in the near future, something that Selectman Chair Stephen Olivier said is necessary.

“(June 2) is the date that we need to get all the information together so that everyone can make an educated vote at that time,” Olivier said. “...We’re going to need as much information as possible.”

Freetown officials previously scheduled a referendum on the casino for May 29.

If only one of the two towns supports the casino, Andrews-Maltais said the Aquinnah would still wish to go ahead with the casino project, even though the parcels in each town are connected. In this scenario, the Aquinnah would build the casino as far away as possible from the town that did not support the project.

Andrews-Maltais did not say what would happen if both towns support the casino, but she did say it could potentially turn into a two-town project.

Selectman Derek Maksy supported the idea of working with Freetown.

“We’re all going to get the traffic. We’re all going to get the impact,” Maksy said.

The Aquinnah have also discussed building a casino in Fall River — where they say they have an option to purchase land in that city. They will be meeting with Fall River officials on Friday to release details of their plan.

In Lakeville, Andrews-Maltais said the Aquinnah are ready to invest about $200 million for a resort casino — although the financial backer for this project was not revealed on Thursday.

Since the parcel in Lakeville is culturally significant to the Aquinnah, the tribe also has plans to include housing, health clinics, museums and open space in their casino project, Andrews-Maltais said.

The expanded gaming law, which was passed last year, allows for one resort casino in each of three designated regions of Massachusetts: eastern, western and southeastern. A provision in the law gives a federally recognized American Indian tribe exclusive rights until July 31 to negotiate with the governor for the gaming license in the southeastern region.

If a tribe and the state government are unable to negotiate such a deal by the July 31 deadline, then the bidding for the Southeastern Massachusetts casino license will be opened to commercial entities.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe requested to begin negotiating with Gov. Deval Patrick in a March 14 letter, after the Taunton City Council announced June 9 as the city’s referendum.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay-Head Aquinnah identified on Thursday the 200-acre parcel of land where the tribe would look to develop a resort casino in Lakeville.

The potential site — located immediately to the west of Route 140 between Exits 8 and 9 — is attached to the parcel of land the tribe previously announced as the potential site in Freetown.

“We’re hopeful that this property’s location is something that the town would be interested in pursuing,” Aquinnah Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais said.

With this announcement, the selectmen also stated that they are looking at June 2 for the date of the town’s referendum on the future of the casino project. Andrew-Maltais said the tribe plans on holding public forums and assembling more details on the project in the near future, something that Selectman Chair Stephen Olivier said is necessary.

“(June 2) is the date that we need to get all the information together so that everyone can make an educated vote at that time,” Olivier said. “...We’re going to need as much information as possible.”

Freetown officials previously scheduled a referendum on the casino for May 29.

If only one of the two towns supports the casino, Andrews-Maltais said the Aquinnah would still wish to go ahead with the casino project, even though the parcels in each town are connected. In this scenario, the Aquinnah would build the casino as far away as possible from the town that did not support the project.

Andrews-Maltais did not say what would happen if both towns support the casino, but she did say it could potentially turn into a two-town project.

Selectman Derek Maksy supported the idea of working with Freetown.

“We’re all going to get the traffic. We’re all going to get the impact,” Maksy said.

The Aquinnah have also discussed building a casino in Fall River — where they say they have an option to purchase land in that city. They will be meeting with Fall River officials on Friday to release details of their plan.

In Lakeville, Andrews-Maltais said the Aquinnah are ready to invest about $200 million for a resort casino — although the financial backer for this project was not revealed on Thursday. Since the parcel in Lakeville is culturally significant to the Aquinnah, the tribe also has plans to include housing, health clinics, museums and open space in their casino project, Andrews-Maltais said.

The expanded gaming law, which was passed last year, allows for one resort casino in each of three designated regions of Massachusetts: eastern, western and southeastern. A provision in the law gives a federally recognized American Indian tribe exclusive rights until July 31 to negotiate with the governor for the gaming license in the southeastern region.

If a tribe and the state government are unable to negotiate such a deal by the July 31 deadline, then the bidding for the Southeastern Massachusetts casino license will be opened to commercial entities.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe requested to begin negotiating with Gov. Deval Patrick in a March 14 letter, after the Taunton City Council announced June 9 as the city’s referendum.


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Aquinnah tribe seeking casino talks with Patrick
March 30, 2012By Mark Arsenault

The Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah said Thursday that it had satisfied the legal requirements to begin negotiations with Governor Deval Patrick for a tribal casino off Route 140 on the Lakeville-Freetown town line, and has formally asked Patrick to begin talks.

The tribe has options to buy two contiguous tracts that straddle the two communities, said Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, the Aquinnah’s chairwoman.

At the tribe’s request, Freetown officials have scheduled a May 29 referendum for local voters to weigh in on the casino plans.

The tribe has also asked Lakeville officials to set a referendum vote. It controls land in Fall River, and is pursuing a vote in that community, too.

The state’s new casino law authorizes up to one gambling resort in each of three regions in the state. It delays bidding on a commercial casino in Southeastern Massachusetts to give a federally recognized tribe, not specified by name in the law, a chance to show progress toward developing a tribal casino. A tribal casino, authorized by federal law, would be approved under a different process than commercial casinos in Massachusetts, which will be licensed by the state gambling commission.

A major step along the lengthy federal approval process for tribes is negotiating an agreement with the governor that outlines how a casino would be regulated and what portion of its revenue, if any, would go to the state.

Tribes must secure land and schedule a local vote before negotiations with the governor may begin, under guidelines in state law.

The Aquinnah requested to start talks in a letter hand-delivered Thursday to Patrick’s office, Andrews-Maltais said.

The Aquinnah’s request could complicate the governor’s ongoing negotiations with another tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag, which is pursuing a casino in Taunton.

The state lawmakers who wrote the casino legislation never contemplated two tribal casinos in Southeastern Massachusetts. State officials have maintained for years that the Aquinnah gave up the right to host tribal gambling in a land settlement in the 1980s.

The Aquinnah strongly dispute that they surrendered their rights.

“It’s just not true,’’ said Andrews-Maltais, who said the question was put to the US Department of the Interior in the 1990s when the tribe was considering a high-stakes Bingo hall. “And the Department of the Interior said, yes, we do have the right to game.

“We’re getting ready to celebrate our 25th anniversary of federal recognition on April 10,’’ she said, “and I think a quarter of a century is long enough to wait.’’

A Patrick adminstration spokesman confirmed that the Aquinnah had asked to begin talks. “We have received the Aquinnah’s letter and will consult with our outside counsel before taking any further action,’’ said Jason Lefferts, director of communications for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

Agreement with the governor is one step in a long federal approval process.