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Wampanoag tribe eyes Freetown as home of new resort-style casino |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 03 February 2010 |
Wampanoag tribe eyes Freetown as home of new resort-style casino
By JEFFREY D. WAGNER
GateHouse News Service
Posted Feb 03, 2010
Freetown — The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has contacted Fall River officials, and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head has contacted Freetown selectmen.
At Monday’s selectmen’s meeting, a letter from Aquinnah Wampanoag Gaming Corporation Chairwoman Naomi R.A. Carney and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais was read. In the letter, the tribe expressed its desire “to build a resort-style gaming casino in southeastern Massachusetts.”
Selectman Lawrence Ashley told the board he would contact the tribe and meet with its members.
He said he will bring back information to the Board of Selectmen and a decision would be made as to whether the board will meet with the tribe.
Before Monday’s meeting, Interim Town Administrator John Healey said he believes many communities received a similar letter from the tribe and that there is not yet strong interest among selectmen in the proposal.
Ashley on Monday said he has not given any thought yet to where a resort casino could be built in town.
He said he will use an open-minded approach in a meeting with the tribe.
Ashley said he was contacted “years ago” by the same tribe, but the board never formally met with its members.
On Friday, Ashley said he made a call to the tribe and that he is currently in the process of setting up a meeting.
In the letter to selectmen, the tribe said it is pursuing economic opportunities and wants to remain in its ancestral lands. The tribe said that it has maintained interest in a casino in the area since the early 1990s.
The tribe also said that it has considered wooded sites in town as possible areas for such a development.
http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x1878078057/Wampanoag-tribe-eyes-Freetown-as-home-of-new-resort-style-casino
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