Casino news source: Mass Live - http://www.masslive.com/
New Palmer panel plans casino review
Monday, December 31, 2007
By LORI STABILE
lstabile@repub.com
PALMER - The second meeting of the Citizen Casino Impact Study Committee will be conducted on Wednesday, and the chairman expects subcommittees to be created for the 18 members.
Committee Chairman Gerald R. Chudy, the owner of Chudy's Oil Co. in Three Rivers, said last week that the plan is to have the committee meet every two weeks.
Its charge is to investigate the financial, social, cultural, and physical effects of a casino on the town, and to provide facts, both positive and negative, to the Town Council. Its responsibility is not to debate the merits of a local casino.
The committee will report its findings to the Town Council in April.
Chudy said he wanted to serve on the committee in order to "be of help to the town."
He said, "We have a bunch of very interested and dedicated people. I think it will go extremely well."
Another member, Paul S. Wisnewski, said he has not made up his mind on whether a casino would be good or bad for Palmer.
Wisnewski worked in the insurance industry before retiring, and also taught statistics and probability at Westfield State College, something he thought could be an asset to the committee.
Member George P. Roy moved here in 2004 from Worcester. He wants to stay in the area and become active, so he put his name in for the committee.
"If (a casino) does go through, it will have a substantial impact on the community," he said.
Roy, a pharmacist, said the mission of the committee is to educate townspeople, so that if they have to vote again on the casino issue, they will have enough information to make a decision.
Even if a casino does not come to Palmer, the information the committee gathers could be used for economic development initiatives, he said.
Town Manager Richard L. Fitzgerald gave the panel members a copy of the governor's casino bill, links to casino studies, and questions he sent to a Mohegan Sun casino official about siting a casino in Palmer.
Gaming may not be legal in the state, but it is not stopping communities from examining the issue, especially Palmer.
Mohegan Sun and Northeast Realty announced an exclusive agreement to build a $1 billion gaming and entertainment complex on 150 acres off Thorndike Street (Route 32), should casino gaming be approved and Palmer receives one of the three proposed licenses.
Northeast owns the land, which is opposite the state Turnpike exit.
The meeting will commence at 6 p.m. in the Town Building. |
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