Likely impact on towns, school systems studied

MONSON— State Rep. Todd M. Smola, R-Palmer, said this weekend that with Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s casino legislation heading for the Joint Committee on Economic Development for study and hearings, a debate on the bill may well not come before this fall.If that’s the case, communities that might find themselves in the neighborhood of a casino have plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons, and fully investigate the impact a casino next door might have.

Already Mohegan Sun has proposed building a $1 billion resort casino on 150 acres across from the Palmer exit of the Massachusetts Turnpike.

That is what gave rise last September to the Western Massachusetts Regional Casino Task Force.

“We’re not for it. We’re not against it. The task force is neutral and its goal is to fully evaluate the economic and social consequences such a project might have on our communities,” said Edward S. Harrison, selectman and chairman of the task force.

Discussion among officials of the towns surrounding Palmer will continue when the task force meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Monson Free Public Library.

Mr. Harrison said the idea of a task force emerged from an August 2007 meeting of the Monson Board of Selectmen at which Gretchen E. Neggers, town administrator, brought up the subject of casinos and the impact that a casino anywhere in the region might have on the town.

“It was the consensus of the board that it was something we needed to look at, given the potential impact, and as a result, selectmen from communities surrounding Palmer were invited to a meeting in September at which there was a consensus that with a pending casino proposal for Palmer and pending legislation authorizing three casinos in the commonwealth, a regional casino task force would be a worthwhile undertaking.”

Locally, the list of possible casino impacts, Mr. Harrison said, started with public safety concerns such as traffic, and related police, fire and emergency medical services as well as the impact on the town’s roads and bridges, water and sewer; and potential environmental impacts such as light pollution of the night sky.

Mr. Harrison said a casino in Palmer would likely bring long-term changes to Monson as well.

“Consider the impact on our schools. Schools represent 75 percent of the town’s budget, so if there were to be a significant increase in the school budget, how would we meet the challenge?” he asked.

Using as a base the figure of 5,000 jobs, Mr. Harrison said if each job represented a family and those families were distributed among the 10 or 11 towns closest to Palmer, one could reasonably expect maybe 500 families moving into Monson.

“If each of those families had one or two school-age children, you’re talking 750 to 1,000 additional students, and that translates into a new school,” he said.

Mr. Harrison said the town has built a new high school and rehabilitated the old high school into a middle school at a cost of $30 million.

The town will be paying that debt for a long time, he said.

“Where then would the money come from to build yet another new school?”

Mr. Harrison said that while a casino next door would alter the “quality of life” in Monson, he said the term does not adequately represent the real economic impact.

“As a community of 8,500, our voice isn’t necessarily going to be heard by legislators in Boston, and that’s long been a complaint of many smaller communities in Western Massachusetts,” he said.

“We decided to contact the selectmen of all communities surrounding Palmer, as well as Palmer, and see if there was any sentiment to discuss casino-related issues and the impact on individual communities as well as the region.”

Mr. Harrison said while the list of impacts may vary from community to community, the task force meetings present an opportunity to share concerns,

“In one sense, the impact of legislation authorizing the siting of three casinos, one of which would be in Western Massachusetts, represents just one more ‘unfunded mandate’ handed cities and towns by the state.”

“Insufficient mitigation of any identified negative impact constitutes an unfunded mandate, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

No one, he said, has demonstrated to his satisfaction that the revenue generated by the casinos would be sufficient to compensate communities for the costs they incur by their proximity to a casino.

“If we as a community, say, incurred doubled costs for providing public safety as a result of a casino, where’s that money going to come from? Right now, it would come from Monson taxpayers, and that’s simply unacceptable,” the selectman said.

“As selectmen representing each of the communities that make up the task force, it’s our responsibility to protect our communities economically from any unforeseen expenses,” he said.

Another of the points raised at task force meetings has been the potential negative impact that a self-contained casino operation would have on small businesses, Mr. Harrison said, noting that Sturbridge was particularly concerned about the potential toll.

Meeting at least once a month, the task force has provided an opportunity, he said for the sharing of ideas and concerns, as well as the ability to speak with a more powerful voice than that of just one small town.

“I think it’s important to state that at this time we neither favor nor oppose casinos. We have not taken an official position, but are engaged in fact-finding, from an in-depth look at the governor’s enabling legislation, to as many of the primary and secondary impacts a casino would have on each of our communities.

“I think it’s fair to say that if and when Palmer is designated as one of the casino sites, we want our respective communities to be informed as possible relative to casinos.” Mr. Harrison said.

With respect to any Massachusetts Turnpike Authority involvement, Mac Daniel, turnpike spokesman, recently said the Turnpike Authority has not given any assurances regarding the construction of ramps for a casino.

Mr. Daniel said the authority is not engaged in any discussions with gaming companies or anyone else regarding locating a gaming facility on turnpike property, or building ramps to serve a gaming facility on or off turnpike property.

According to assessors’ records, the Turnpike Authority owns four parcels in Warren for a total of 203 acres, 7 acres north of the turnpike and 196 acres south of the toll road.