Aquinnah selectmen are asking the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah (Gay Head) to confirm a list of details about a planned bingo hall on tribal land in the town.
And the selectmen want a response by Tuesday.
In a Jan. 8 letter sent by email to tribal chairman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, selectmen ask for confirmation on a number of details that they say were discussed in a December meeting with selectman Jim Newman, town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport and Ms. Andrews-Maltais.
Those details include:
• The bingo hall will be built on the former Weiner property, acquired by the tribe for $1.15 million in 2014 and later taken into federal trust. The property has an address of 20 Black Brook Road but also has frontage on State Road.
• The facility will be so-called Sprung construction, a trademark construction company that builds tensioned fabric structures with an aluminum skeleton that can go up in a few weeks. A website for Sprung lists casinos and bingo parlors as examples of previous work.
• The gambling facility will be approximately 10,000 square feet in size and will house about 250 gambling machines.
• No restaurant is planned, but food service will be provided from food trucks.
The letter points out other details that remain unknown, including parking, hours of operation, bathrooms and intensity of use on the property.
“It is also our understanding that you do not intend to seek any permits from the town, other than a beer and wine license, or from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission,” the letter says.
Selectmen invite the tribe to discuss the potential public safety needs that would come with a gambling facility, including fire, police, and EMT services.
“We look forward to hearing from you on or before Jan. 15 . . . . and again invite you to meet with us to discuss the proposed facility and the related safety needs that would arise,” the letter concludes.
Ms. Andrews-Maltais did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The tribe won the right to conduct gambling on tribal land a year ago this month, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a federal court ruling that had cleared the way for the bingo hall.
The tribe announced in August that it would partner with Global Gaming Solutions, the Oklahoma-based gaming arm the Chickasaw Nation, to build the facility. The Chickasaw Nation has designed and opened more than 30 casinos, including those with electronic games.
Comments (10)
Comments
Comment policy »