PALMER CITIZENS CASINO IMPACT STUDY
SUB-COMMITTEE ON INFRASTRUCTURE
DPW MEETING W/RICHARD KARZMARCZYK
FEBRUARY 19, 2008 AT 9:00 AM
WHAT HE NEEDS,
New building regardless if the casino is built in Palmer. He states that the present building is subject to flooding. As a matter of fact the football practice field of the Palmer Cowboys across from the highway department was under water when we were interviewing Richard. He said they are having problems with the old furnace in the building but do not have the funds to have it repaired.
He would like to see it built on the 160 acres the town owns at Burleigh Park.
EQUIPMENT
He said that he would need a 10 wheeler to take care of the plowing on roads such as Old Warren Road and other outlying streets where he could get away with one truck to do the plowing. He also said he would need two new 6 wheelers.
He said that the present equipment dates back to the early 90’s and should be replaced in the near future. He said that it would take $2,500,000.00 to replace the present equipment.
EMPLOYEES
Presently have 10 for highway (5 years ago they had 18) would like to add 10 more.
“ “ 2 for cemetery which is ok.
“ “ 3 for parks and would like to add 3 more.
He would also like to hire high school kids part time in the summer to help out in the cemetery and parks like we did in the past.
PARKS AND RECREATION
He would like to see a large complex built at Burleigh Park with several baseball fields and soccer fields along with a new pavilion that could be used by the town for projects. We could also rent it out for outings and with the money from the casino we could hire a night watchman for the complex.
STREETS
All main arteries leading to the casino would have to be resurfaced.
Thorndike Street would have to be widened to 3 lanes going north to the Mass Pike and 3 lanes going south to the pike. One lane for turning onto the Mass Pike, one for going straight thru and one for turning onto the casino property. New wide sidewalks would also have to be constructed.
Pleasant street in Thorndike would need to be done all over because that street is sinking in places.
OTHER COMMENTS
He said we should get an independent outside firm to do traffic studies and determine which roads need to be redone and exactly what needs to be done to them. This way Mohegan Sun can’t say we are padding our proposal.
He told us the highway department gets less than the Palmer Public Library for their budget.
He said he has $20,000.00 left for this fiscal year which ends in June
They have $30,000.00 left for parks with most of that already allocated for fertilizer this spring.
$4,000.00 left for paving including fixing of potholes.
They are $6,300.00 in the hole for diesel fuel.
Richard gave us copies of the fiscal 2009 budget recommendation, what he asked for and what he actually received. He also gave us a copy of what was given to them for their budget from 2007 and 2008. We were given a copy of snow and ice control from December 2006 to February 19th of this year. He said a 4 inch snowstorm costs the town $2,100.00 to clear.
He said that we should definitely recommend to the town manager and council to have professionals come in to do the studies for everything so that we get it right when we come to negotiating with the state and Mohegan Sun.
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