Each member will create a checklist, which they will discuss at the next meeting in February.
Edward HarrisonMONSON - Only a handful of Western Massachusetts Casino Task Force Committee members showed up at Wednesday's meeting, the first since casino gaming became legal, but the chairman was pleased with the outcome, as the group decided to create a list of ways member communities could protect themselves in the event a resort casino project opened in their community, or next door.
"This was good. I really wasn't sure where we were going to go from here," Task Force Chairman Edward S. Harrison said.
Harrison, along with Warren Selectman Robert Souza, Brimfield Selectmen Chairwoman Diane M. Panaccione, Brimfield selectmen's assistant Carol M. DelNegro and James M. Mazik, deputy director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, attended the meeting.
Each member will create a checklist, which they will discuss at the next meeting in February.
"It could be a wealth of knowledge for some towns," Souza said.
The list will address how a community will be impacted by a resort casino, Harrison said, adding that roads, infrastructure, zoning bylaws, schools and public safety come to mind.
Harrison said it will be up to each individual town if they want to hire a consultant to perform an in-depth study of impacts. Panaccione said selectmen will discuss hiring a consultant at their Monday meeting, and noted that they want MGM Resorts International to pay for it. MGM wants to build a resort casino in the northwest corner of town on 150 acres, on a wooded site near Washington and Old Millbrook roads.
Brimfield resident Judy Sessler expressed concern about hiring a consultant too early, and said towns could be left with an "enormous debt" if the casino operators fail to fund these studies. She said there is "resentment" in Brimfield that the selectmen are moving too fast.
In addition to Brimfield and Monson, the task force includes Palmer (where Mohegan Sun wants to build a casino), Belchertown, Brookfield, Hampden, Holland, Ludlow, Stubridge, Wales, Ware, West Brookfield and Wilbraham.
"It's important members start meeting again, now that it's a law," Souza said.
Harrison attended the Monson selectmen's meeting on Tuesday night to discuss how the casino legislation will affect Monson as an abutting community, and how communities also will have the opportunity to create a memorandum of understanding with casino operators. Harrison explained that the Gaming Commission will decide what communities are considered "surrounding" and as a result would be eligible to create a memorandum of understanding with the casino operator to mitigate impacts.
He said there will be an appeal process if communities are not considered "surrounding" by the Gaming Commission. He added that if communities cannot come to an agreement with a casino license applicant, the Gaming Commission will step in and determine the memorandum of understanding itself. Harrison said the commission is not going to let a disagreement over the memorandum get in the way of a casino opening.
"Ultimately the entire power of this thing falls into the hands of the Gaming Commission," Harrison said.