The moment of clarity

By , March 4, 2010 7:53 am

This Globe column has me wondering if Middleboro BOS chairman Pat Rogers is starting to have an “aha” moment about the prospects for the Middleboro casino and the slim chance that it will move forward:

“They said they needed time to get their house in order, and we gave them that,’’ Rogers said. “But we haven’t heard anything from them in a while, and we’d like to get some of the capital projects needed for the casino started.’’

Rogers said reports of the tribe talking to Fall River officials didn’t concern him. “What does bother me is they don’t seem to be moving this project forward,’’ he said.

Town officials, though, were dismayed after they recently discovered that the tribe had completed an exhaustive Environmental Impact Statement on the Middleborough site but has not turned it in to the federal Department of the Interior. “This project has to be on a dual track, with federal recognition and an environmental impact statement to make sure the site is suitable,’’ Rogers said.

He said the release of the environmental analysis will also help leaders in neighboring communities with their planning for possible impact from the casino. “There’s no reason for them to be sitting on it,’’ Rogers said of the tribe. “Right now, they seem to be stagnating.’’

The last I heard, the tribe owed something like $30K to the company that did the EIS but didn’t have the money to pay for it. I could be wrong on that number but no matter how much they owe, it’s short money considering the millions that investors have flushed into this project. So why the delay on submitting the EIS? Granted there really is no rush since there is no way for LIT to be approved, but still. Why not submit the EIS to maintain the illusion that the project is on track? Maybe by submitting the EIS, the tribe will have to start ponying up millions to Middleboro for the needed infrastructure – money that they don’t have and can’t get.
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I don’t know but it’s fun to speculate.

categories Middleboro

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