Officials: Raynham covered by host community agreement
Raynham Board of Selectmen, from left, JosephPacheco, RichardSchiavo and MarieSmith
RAYNHAM —
Elected leaders in Raynham said that the host community agreement they reached on a proposed 1,250 slot machine gaming facility will mitigate all impacts on the town related to the development project.
The town’s consultant for the project has determined that major infrastructure improvements to the town’s water and sewer system are not required for the first two phases of development planned for the Raynham Park slot project.
But if and when further phases of development come to be, including plans for a hotel along with retail stores and restaurants at the 125-acre site on Broadway, the host community agreement covers it, said Raynham Board of Selectmen Chairman Joseph Pacheco.
“They recognized impacts that are going to be put on this community as a result of this,” Pacheco said on Wednesday. “At the end of the day, we came away with an agreement that is good for Raynham and operating a business as well. There is a whole separate section in the agreement about infrastructure improvements. Those costs will be exclusively bore by Raynham Park.”
On Tuesday night, the three-member Raynham Board of Selectmen approved a host community agreement that would provide the town $1.1 million annually, in addition to property taxes, permitting costs and other fees that the developers must pay the town on the proposed 175,000-square-foot gaming facility they plan to construct. Raynham Park, which was a dog track for nearly 70 years and has been holding simulcast racing since greyhound racing was banned in 2008, must invest at least $125 million according to the Massachusetts gaming legislation.
“The negotiation obviously had its challenges,” Pacheco said. “Their top priority is operating a business, obviously. I do have to give them credit. They recognized impacts that are going to be put on this community as a result of that. At the end of the day, we came away with an agreement that good for Raynham and operating a business as well.”
The community host agreement has not yet been released to the public, but the Selectmen said on Tuesday night that they would be releasing the 13-page document within seven days. A town-wide referendum vote is expected to take place in mid-August, but should be announced in the following days, Pacheco said.
When it comes to covering a potential influx of police or ambulance calls, Pacheco said that Raynham Park would not be the only business generating calls for service in the area.
Also, the issue is complicated by the fact that a plan to police the slot casino, which may involve the State Police, has not yet been formed at this point, according to a consultant hired by the town.
“We’re getting over a million dollars a year to handle impacts and so forth,” Pacheco said. “The board, at our discretion, is going to make decisions if there is an appropriate need for (police and fire) staffing. … There will be some increase in calls for service. But nobody should just make the presumption the calls will just be for Raynham Park. We have other businesses in the town of Raynham.”
Conor Yunits, a spokesperson for Raynham Park and its owner George Carney, said that the developers are in the process of finalizing all the renderings of redevelopment at the Route 138 site, located just off of Interstate 495 and not far from Route 24. Yunits said that Raynham Park, along with its partner Greenwood Racing/Parx, of Pennsylvania, has a tentative plan to release the renderings, and more economic information surrounding the proposed slot casino project, next month.
“We’re in the process of finalizing all the renderings,” Yunits said. “Also there is all the economic data, the jobs numbers and everything else. We expect to have it all completed in the next two weeks.”
Yunits said that following the tentative announcement set for July, Raynham Park plans to follow it up with a series of community meetings at Raynham Park “so people can come ask questions and learn more” prior to the town wide referendum.
Yunits said a website, dedicated to information about the project, is set to launch by the end of June.
“We are trying to get it done as soon as possible,” he said. “We want to make as much info available to the public as soon as possible.”
What is known right now about the economic impact of the project is that B&S Consulting, which was hired by the town to analyze the proposed slot casino, has said the Raynham Park slot parlor would generation between 411 and 500 new jobs. The firm’s figure is lower than the initial estimate of 600 put forth by the developers. [Experience elsewhere indicates the ratio is 3-4 SLOT MACHINES per Employee, not specifying shifts, part-time workers. These are LOW WAGE JOBS.]
Raynham Park and town officials said that after three years, the annual $1.1 million payment to the town will increase by 2.5 percent for each following year. Out of the $1.1 million, $100,000 of that will go toward capital costs for the town, which would pay for things like police cars and dump trucks, even after three years as the formula for host community compensation changes.
Another detail of the agreement is that that the 2.5 percent yearly increases to the $1.1 million payment would be subject to a “1 percent gross gaming revenue cap” after 20 years of operations.
In addition to the $1.1 million, during the second year and beyond, the agreement calls for $15,000 to be contributed by Raynham Park each year to a fund that will provide payments to local businesses that apply for façade improvements on the Route 138 corridor. The Raynham Park developers also agreed to conduct a traffic impact study at the junction of Old North Main and Elm streets, along with perfuming additional traffic, water and sewer studies as recommended by the town’s planning consultant for the project.
State Rep. Angelo D’Emilia, R-Bridgewater, said he believes the agreement is good for Raynham.
“I think the Carney family has proven in the past they can run that kind of establishment and if the community agrees moving forward, it’d be a great thing getting jobs back to Raynham,” D’Emilia said.
State Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, said the agreement sounds good, but the issue is for Raynham to decide.
“From a state perspective, we’re certainly interested in these licenses,” said Pacheco, noting that the gaming legislation calls for a 40 percent tax on the holder of the slot license, which will be awarded later this year or early 2014.
Joseph Pacheco said he believes that public opinion in Raynham is positive about the proposed gaming facility, partly because of Raynham Park’s history in Raynham and how it has employed many residents over the years.
“There has always been deep support in Raynham for Raynham Park,” Pacheco said.
[Not from the Raynham residents I've spoken to!]
http://www.tauntongazette.com/newsnow/x1484773708/Officials-Raynham-covered-by-host-community-agreement?zc_p=0#axzz2W6PigrLu
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