meeting minutes of the
PALMER CITIZEN CASINO IMPACT STUDY COMMITTEE
general group meeting 29
palmer town building, meeting room 1
april 8, 2009 – 6:30 pm
Meeting opened at 6:35 pm by Gerald Chudy, Chair.
attendance
present Rocqueline Blazejowski, Charlotte Burns, Gerald Chudy, Anthony Dimitropolis, Mickey Ghosh, George Roy, Stephen Sears, Carol Sugrue, Michael Swiatlowski, Paul Wisnewski
absent CathyAnn Gehlhausen, Joseph Mastalerz
others present Ken Somerville, Gordon Christianson
general discussion with gordon christianson
Gordon Christianson introduces himself to the committee. He states that he was the former chairman of the committee against the casino in the late 1990’s. He is here to ask our committee about some of the facts and figures we have found in our studies.
Mr. Christianson asks about the number of cars that are expected to be in the area and the number of employees expected to be hired by a casino. A. Dimitropolis answers that Mohegan Sun has estimated 3,000 employees and roughly 10,000 cars visiting per day. Each car is estimated with 1.5 persons traveling and this number does not include employee or commercial vehicles.
S. Sears adds that the President of Sedar Foods had visited our committee and was very concerned with the amount of traffic. S. Sears states that the town may lose that industry due to traffic concerns as they rely heavily on easy access to and from the Turnpike. R. Blazejowski disputes this interpretation of the discussion.
P. Wisnewski adds that no comprehensive traffic study has been commissioned by our committee and asks if the former anti-casino committee had commissioned any formal studies. Mr. Christianson replies that they did not because of a lack of money.
G. Chudy adds that he has suggested that Mohegan Sun staggers their employee hours to help mitigate the traffic concern. M. Swiatlowski states that Mohegan Sun has estimated 3,000 employees and if every one of the employees commuted by car, it still would not compare with the larger visitor estimation from Mohegan Sun of 9,500 cars per week day and 13,500 cars per weekend day.
R. Blazejowski asks about delivery service schedules. Ken Somerville speaks about his experience and knowledge of delivery hours.
Mr. Christianson reminds the committee to keep an eye on the details and not be swayed by the casino representatives. He thanks the committee for the time.
minutes approval
Minutes for Meeting 18
R. Blazejowski points out typos on page 1, paragraph 1 (the bill), and on page 3
(Deleo and “by the”). S. Sears points out typo on page 3 (legislators).
A motion was made by P. Wisnewski to accept the minutes with corrections.2
A. Dimitropolis seconded. The vote passed (10-0).
Minutes for Meeting 27
M. Ghosh asks that on page 3 change people to residents.
There is a discussion of the last paragraph on page 3. Slight modification to the word-ing will be made. The last sentence of a paragraph on page 4 will be removed as it is an inaccurate statement.
A motion was made by R. Blazejowski to accept the minutes with corrections.
A. Dimitropolis seconded. The vote passed (8-0, 2 abstain).
Minutes for Meeting 28
S. Sears has answer to status of the land proposed for a casino. According to the Assessor’s office, the site is owned by Northeast Realty and was purchased in April of 2005. In Palmer, the tax valuation is the same for commercial and residential prop-erty. The amount is $15.19 per thousand dollars. The land is not in Chapter 61.
A motion was made by P. Wisnewski to accept the minutes.
A. Dimitropolis seconded. The vote passed (10-0).
review of cover letter
M. Ghosh points out typos (must, as to how, residents). C. Sugrue asks for alterations (should rather than must, the town must). S. Sears asks that the 3% increase state-ment be changed to consumer price index. P. Wisnewski asks that the amenities sec-tion be changes to “improve quality of life in the community.”
A motion was made by A. Dimitropolis to accept the Cover Letter with corrections.
G. Roy seconded. The vote passed (10-0).
review of problem gambling amendment
C. Burns added the figure of average income of $41,000 and added statements by Dr. Lori Rugle regarding the breakdown of costs associated with the treatment of problem gambling.
A motion was made by P. Wisnewski to accept the amendments to the Problem Gam-bling report. G. Roy seconded. The vote passed (10-0).
general discussion
C. Burns has prepared an itemized list of costs found throughout our report. P. Wis-newski states that the issue of presenting a list of costs was voted down at the previous meeting. He states that C. Burns should hang on to the list and perhaps give it to the Town Council separately. S. Sears questions why we would not include this. After a discussion on the advantages/disadvantage of including the list, M. Swiatlowski reads the minutes of the motion to not include an itemized list. The list will not be included as part of our committees report.
It is discussed that the report’s tabs will be numbered for better organization of the report. G. Chudy invites the committee to attend the Town Council meeting on
Monday, April 13th where he will present the report.
S. Sears will send the electronic files to M. Swiatlowski who shall print out the revised Education and Social/Cultural reports and give them to G. Chudy to be included with 3
the full report. M. Swiatlowski will also make copies on a cd to be included.
The Town Council may decide to dissolve the committee. The committee members thank one another for all of the time and effort put into the studies.
adjournment
A motion was made by A. Dimitropolis to adjourn meeting at 8:15 pm.
R. Blazejowski seconded. The vote passed (12:0).
minutes submitted by michael swiatlowski.
approved – september 16, 2009
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PALMER CITIZEN CASINO IMPACT STUDY COMMITTEE
general group meeting 30
palmer town building, meeting room 1
september 16, 2009 – 6:30 pm
Meeting opened at 6:35 pm by Gerald Chudy, Chair.
attendance
present A. Dimitropolis, J. Mastalerz , M. Swiatlowski, G. Chudy, R. Blazejowski, P. Wisnewski, M. Ghosh, C. Burns (late, did not vote on minutes)
absent G. Roy, S. Sears, C. Sugrue, C. Gelhausen
minutes approval
A motion was made by P. Wisnewski to approve the Minutes for Meeting 29 with typo corrections. R. Blazejowski seconded. The vote passed (6:0, 1 abstain)
adjournment
A motion was made by G. Chudy to adjourn meeting at 6:45 pm.
R. Blazejowski seconded. The vote passed (8:0).
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