Monson town lawyer complains to Massachusetts Gaming Commission about surrounding communities' exclusion from Palmer casino discussion
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on September 25, 2013
MONSON - The lawyer for the town of Monson has sent a strongly worded letter to Mohegan Gaming Advisors and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission regarding the town's dissatisfaction with the way the surrounding community process is unfolding.
Gretchen E. Neggers The Sept. 25 letter, sent by lawyer Jeffrey I. Fialky, states that, to date, Mohegan has not met with the selectmen or residents about its casino proposal or host community agreement, despite Monson being an immediate neighbor.
Instead, he writes that Mohegan Sun and the Gaming Commission have engaged in a "private collaboration" with each other and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission "to the exclusion of the town of Monson and other potential surrounding communities."
He writes that besides being late in the process, this "undermines the (gaming) commission's own mission of transparency."
"Indeed, it is surprising that the commission would engage directly in negotiations of any kind with a gaming applicant, as opposed to avoiding any appearance of bias," Fialky wrote.
He also wrote that there has been no assurance that the town's adverse impacts or mitigation costs would be properly identified through a regional process.
Mohegan has been negotiating with Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to use its services in dealing with surrounding communities to the proposed resort casino on Thorndike Street (Route 32) in Palmer.
A Gaming Commission spokeswoman said in response that the meeting was preliminary, and that "it has been working very hard to identify ways to assist communities with navigating this process."
"This offer of (Regional Planning Agency) assistance to communities is strictly voluntarily. The Gaming Commission is deeply committed to transparency and has had frequent public discussions about our partnership with the RPAs and will continue to do so."
Casino companies must reach mitigation agreements with surrounding communities as part of the process for applying for a state license from the gaming commission.
Concerns about the lack of information coming from Mohegan Sun and last week's closed-door meeting between Mohegan, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Gaming Commission again were voiced at Tuesday's selectmen's meeting.
Selectman Richard M. Smith said he is not comfortable with having the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission speak about Monson's needs.
Selectman Edward S. Harrison, a member of the Western Massachusetts Regional Casino Task Force, said the task force advocated for regional planning agencies to be part of the process.
"Now it seems like they're all in bed together and surrounding communities are left out in the cold," Harrison said.
"We're supposed to have someone looking out for our best interest," Smith said.
Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers replied, "The only one looking out for our best interest is us."
Selectmen expressed concern that time is running out to craft an agreement that adequately addresses impacts from a nearby casino. The deadline for casino applications is Dec. 31, and the Gaming Commission is expected to make its decision on the one Western Massachusetts casino license in April.
Selectmen Chairman Edward A. Maia said he hopes the residents of Palmer are watching "how underhanded Mohegan Sun are dealing with this whole surrounding communities thing."
Maia, who called Mohegan "liars," said that Mohegan first said it would reach out to surrounding communities after Labor Day, then gave another date that didn't happen.
"You think they're going to care about the citizens of Palmer?" Maia said.
Neggers noted that the town has incurred legal fees associated with this process, fees that will cost the Monson taxpayers.
"This isn't just about putting a red light somewhere," Neggers said.
Neggers said she thinks the board's only recourse is to continue to use the town attorney to express frustrations with the process.
"I expected better," Neggers said. "I didn't think we would be completely ignored."
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/09/monson_lawyer_writes_to_gaming.html#incart_river
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