About that road work …
Going back to 2007, I’ve been saying that the amount of infrastructure the tribe is required to do as specified in Middleboro/Mashpee IGA makes the Middleboro casino a difficult proposition. Even a large facility would have difficulty with the $260M price tag. The only reason the tribe made that promise was because they were sure that the state or the feds would pony up the dough – they never had any intention of paying it themselves. It was later that they learned that the state and feds were absolutely not going to pay that bill.
In my most recent Gazette column, I opined that a small casino can’t work for this very reason. Well guess what? The tribe finally admitted it in this week’s Gazette:
The tribal officials said the new relationship will have no impact on the tribe’s agreement with Middleboro.
However, they said they will continue to look for ways to address the section of the agreement that deals with improvements to Rte. 44 that would be necessary to provide access to a casino resort. The agreement says the tribe would anticipate state funding to help pay for the more than $260 million in estimated costs.
“Things have changed since then,” Mr. Cromwell said, in relation to the state’s financial condition. “We will see how we can mitigate1 traffic concerns without the tribe paying $260 million.”
Funny, I wouldn’t call reneging on $260M dollars of infrastructure “no impact”.
IGA Violation
Every pro-casino person had their reasons for supporting this project. Some wanted to sell land. Some wanted to sell antique carousels. Some thought their local business would benefit. Some just wanted to go to a casino and other entertainment venues. And some wanted that infrastructure – particularly the Rt. 44 improvements because that would give us a chance for other commercial development. Legend has it that businesses are shunning Middleboro because of Rt. 44 and the rotary.
The tribe has basically said that they will not do the road work. They can’t afford to. Now the question becomes: What will the BOS do about it. Here an excerpt from my column in this week’s Gazette:
But there is one big problem with the Foxwoods model for our particular casino. The agreement with Middleboro calls for the tribe to do more than $250M in infrastructure improvements and pay the town a minimum of $7M per year. It also forbids the use of local roads – essentially requiring a full re-working of Route 44 for access. The obvious problem is that only a unicorn with a magic wallet would spend in excess of a quarter of a billion dollars to build a glorified bingo parlor.
The only way the Foxwoods model will work is if the tribe is allowed to violate the IGA by skimping on the gas, electrical, water, sewer, and road work improvements and given permission to use local roads to access the scaled down casino. Are the BOS allowed to selectively waive portions of the IGA to accommodate a smaller facility?
What indeed will the BOS do? Will they waive the roadwork and allow use of local roads? What other benefits in the IGA are going to turn out to be empty and broken promises? Remember good ‘ol Glenn promising a check for every homeowner whose property values were affected?
What the BOS should do is toss out the whole casino deal. Failing that, they should re-open negotiations and use this leeway to get a hefty percentage of the casino. The tribe can’t afford the roadwork and can’t use local roads. Give them some leeway on that in exchange for more, much more, money. If they cry poor mouth, they could defer some of the percentage until the tribe is no longer paying off the investors. That might be ten years down the road – but that’s OK. We have to plan for the long term and not sell ourselves cheap for a pittance that will mean nothing in a couple of years.
That, or course, won’t happen. The pro-casino majority on the BOS have steadfastly refused to take action and I expect the same will hold true in this case.
So if you approve of the casino, you’d best check with the Middleboro BOS to make sure that the benefits you’re expecting don’t get arbitrarily discarded.
1 Mitigate – wiggle word that means making something suck less. It should be noted that the thing will still suck. Just not as much.
Please join me 
By the looks of things, if the casino were ever to be built, the profits will be heading off to China, while we (Middleborough) will be getting pennies on the dollar. That’s just great for our state and country! BOS, dump the deal now!!
We also seem to be back to the “Full Resort Model” again also.
How many times is this project going to change?
How can a environmental impact study possibly reflect this ‘Resort’ if no one not even the tribe knows what is going to be built?
Allin is totally correct. The EIS(Environmental Impact Study) is a complete joke. You can’t look at impacts without knowing *exactly* what the facility will be.
When Foxwoods opened, it was a tin shack bingo hall. Ten years later it was the largest casino in the world. The environmental considerations have to include what *may* be built in addition to what is *planned* to be built.
I still don’t understand how the land ownership changes. Don’t the previous investors hold the title to the land? Why would they relinquish it to the new investors? Do they HAVE to relinquish to the new investors? As I understand it at the very least, the tribe does not own the land, but rather the original investors do, hence my lack of confidence that all agreements between all parties will be honored, especially since the relationship between the Tribe & the first investors went to h**l in a handbasket. In my opinion, I think so many aspects of the IGA have significantly changed, it would be malfeasance on the part of the BOS to not renegotiate.
Land ownership will be decided by what ever agreements the old and new investors come up with.
Kerzner etal own a stake of the tribe’s casino(that’s not coming). The new investors will buy that stake and presumably that land. Or maybe the land will be left with TCAM until/unless the land-into-trust happens(which it’s not).
It’s all speculation until the details are revealed.
Emsie,……. The “so called” previous investors do not hold title to all the land. 125 + / – acres of land is listed as being owned by Herb Strather (Detroit investor). The remaining land is, and always has been, under option to purchase. There is usually a small fee to hold the land under option that the landowner recoups when the deal is severed. my guess is a new deal (option or sale) will get put in place with the new “fat cats” and landowners. If the “Land Into Trust” ever comes to fruition, the Investors purchase the land, turn it over to the Tribe, and the Tribe in essence turns it over to “Big Brother”, who lets them use it !
There is no price tag today or tomorrow that should be considered !