Communities surrounding casinos may get reimbursement from them in areas such as traffic, public safety and the environment.
AGAWAM – The mayor’s Casino Advisory Committee is negotiating with Hard Rock International for it to pick up costs associated with the effects on Agawam of the $800 million casino the company hopes to build just across the Westfield River in West Springfield.
Town Clerk Richard M. Theroux, who chairs the committee, also said Friday that MGM has agreed to speak with Agawam about its status as a community abutting the casino it would like to build in the nearby South End of Springfield.
“They are waiting for their vote July 16,” Theroux said of the referendum in which Springfield voters will decide if they will allow a casino in their community. “After that, we will negotiate our status with them and will talk about traffic, revenue sharing and other issues.”
Theroux pointed out that under the enabling legislation legalizing casinos in Massachusetts, communities abutting casinos may seek reimbursement from them to take mitigation measures. Abutting communities may also get compensation for legal fees and consultants on such issues as traffic, public safety and the environment.
Theroux said Jeffrey Fialky, the city’s legal counsel on casinos, is negotiating money for fees and consultants with Hard Rock International.
“I am adamant that the taxpayers of Agawam should not incur any of these costs,” Theroux said. “We want to protect the Town of Agawam. They (Hard Rock International) should be paying for the expertise we need.
Agawam officials have expressed concerns that a casino on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield will cause traffic tie-ups around the Morgan-Sullivan Bridge over the Westfield River between West Springfield and Agawam. They have also said a casino in Springfield has the potential to create traffic problems on Route 5 near the South End Bridge.
Mark Rivers, president of the Bronson Companies, consultants to Hard Rock, confirmed that he is negotiating with Agawam to reimburse it for a peer review of Hard Rock’s traffic study and its expenses negotiating a surrounding community agreement with Hard Rock.