Wynn Asks Foxborough to Vote on Negotiate Host Community Agreement
In a full page ad in the Foxboro Reporter, casino developer Steve Wynn asks residents to negotiate a Host Community Agreement.
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Steve Wynn says he wants the Foxborough selectmen to negotiate a Host Community Agreement and then let the voters decide what avenue to take, according a full page ad in this week's Foxboro Reporter on page 5.
Wynn tells the town's residents, "you have the right to choose" in the ad.
He also says he wants to answer questions that, according to Wynn, are frequently asked about the proposed resort-casino.
The No to Foxboro Casino group has sent the state a letter asking not to be considered a host community and asking them to look elsewhere for the site.
In the his ad, Wynn makes the following points:
1. Voters must be given specific details regarding traffic, police, fire and public unity improvements and a community impact fee.
2. Wynn says the community impact fee would cover any increased costs to the town, beyond the new tax revenues, which they say will be $10-15 million dollars a year.
3. All costs associated with the studies and the negotiations will be paid for by Wynn. The community impact fee and improvements will be described in a Host Community Agreement.
4. The cost of any voting will be paid for by Wynn Resorts and that the citizens have the finding, binding decision on whether the development moves forward.
In December, the selectmen voted 3-2 to send the state a letter that they didn't want to be consider as a host community. At selectmen's March 6 meeting, they voted to consider another forum to hear both sides of the issue, but no date has been set.
On March 11, the No Foxboro Casino sent a letter to Governor Deval Patrick and Stephen Crosby, the chairman of the State Gaming Commission, asking that Foxborough not be considered as a site for a casino. March 11 was the 100th day of the group's opposition to building a casino in Foxborough.
In the letter to the state, the No Foxboro Casino, writes, "Mr. Wynn does not have license-either from your commission or from a moral standpoint-to wage a scorched-earth campaign of propaganda and dire predictions in order to achieve his own personal and business goals."
The entire letter is available on nofoxborocasino.com.
More information on the casino is available at www.wynnfoxborough.com, jobsforfoxboro.com, and nofoxborocasino.com.
The following poll is not scientific and we ask you to vote once.
Chris
8:59 am on Monday, April 9, 2012
I cleared my browser cache and was able to vote twice. This poll is a bucket full of holes!
George
4:38 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
You are correct, Chris. I did the same before I read any comments
JAS
9:54 am on Monday, April 9, 2012
Another bushleague poll. Why do they even use these?
Buck Farack
11:42 am on Monday, April 9, 2012
<rephrased> Who cares what Steve Wynn says he wants?
Buck Farack
11:49 am on Monday, April 9, 2012
You know what wasn't a bush leage poll though? The first time the Patch did a Poll there were three options, For, Against and Undecided. Sure, there were a bunch of votes for and against and everyone figured out how to vote multiple times. After a few days there were about 2,000 votes total but even so, there were only a very few (around 30 votes) that were Undecided. I found that to be the most telling number because all we had been hearing was that there were was this grand silent majority who needed more information to make an educated decision. I guess that wasn't really the case now, was it? Of course after I pointed that out in the comments section the Undecided number took an unexplained jump (surprise surprise) but it was days afterwards. You can discard the pro & con numbers in that poll if you want but there's no way you can discount that there was vitrually no Undecided vote.
Chris
12:00 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
Lol. Even if you discount the people who voted twice....I wonder how many of those are actually Foxboro votes (like you Buck who isn't)? Not to mention, the undecided and pro-casino people aren't nearly as passionate as the anti's. If it was that obvious a savy billionarie like Wynn would quit wasting his time. Obviously, he's seeing something in his own polling numbers which encourage him to keep the issue alive. Key phrase: "The people of Foxboro".
Janet Sroczynski
12:29 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
The key phrase in all of this @Chris, is Menino. And Menino wants it in Boston, (not Foxboro), and Menino has an International airport...Logan. In Foxboro, you have an oak tree and a rock. That is hardly a destination resort.
Steve
12:44 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
and where does the govenor want it?
Buck Farack
12:38 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
Dunno Chris, if Wynn had an polling data that showed that "The people of Foxboro" wanted a casino he'd be trumpeting it loud and often before the election. He may be a savvy billionnaire but he doesn't get it right every time and the people he's been using locally for PR/Marketing are like the gang that can't shoot straight, they mess it up at every turn. My main point though was that I don't believe there is a majority of undecideds out there whether passionate or not, from Foxboro or not.
Janet Sroczynski
12:47 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
You must mean the new governor. Terms up.
Steve
1:54 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
you can see into the future, who is the new governor going to be??
Dennis Naughton
8:37 am on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Sorry. Deval Patrick, the best governor we have had in decades, will be our governor until the 2014 election.
Dave
6:51 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
the article is WRONG. On Mar 6 The board did NOT vote to hold another forum, Larry Harrington, possibly violating the open meeting law, UNILATERALLY decided he would hold another casino forum. The video and minutes are available on Foxboro's town site. This was his sad attempt to get negotiating started despite the 3-2 NO vote in December and before the May elections that will decide the fate of all of this, including whether he keeps his job. Get it right Patch.
Janet Sroczynski
10:22 am on Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Not everyone shares your opinion, that is what elections are for!