Oxford County casino may have new hope

AUGUSTA — When Pat Lamarche was pounding the pavement last fall on behalf of a $184 million resort casino, to be built near Oxford Plains Speedway on Route 26, the point she made over and over was that local voters should have sole discretion the matter.

Ultimately the Oxford Highlands proposal was killed in a statewide vote, with 54 percent of Maine voters against the development.  And, while the measure passed by a wide margin in Oxford County, Lamarch's fears held out — it was voters in southern counties, and in places where previous casino votes had failed, who blocked passage of the referenda.

However, last Novembers vote is not fated to be the final say on the matter. 

Legislators have submitted 1,535 bills for consideration this session, and while State Representative H. Sawin Millet, Jr., (R - Waterford) has turned in just two, both are sure to set tongues to wagging.

One would allow school districts to adopt alternative calendars, including a four-day school week.  The other would give Oxford County voters the power to decide on their own whether or not to place a casino in their own backyard.

“This is simply a stand-along bill that would allow up to 1,000 slot machines and a multitude of gaming tables,” said Millett, on Monday.  “It would not preclude other counties from trying something similar, if they wish, but  I drafted it as an single-facility authorization for Oxford County.

“It would require a majority approval in the county-wide vote, and in the host community, but it would not submit the question to the remaining 15 counties,” said Millett.

Love for the casino idea is not universal in Oxford County. November’s vote passed 19,045 to 12,760 with several notables, including state Rep. Jim Hamper (R - Oxford) and former state senate president Rick Bennett solidly in the no camp.

However, Millett says he put his bill forward at the urging of town managers and selectmen across the region who yearn for the revenue, and the jobs a casino would bring. 

Estimates in a casino-backed study last fall pegged the expected windfall at nearly $75 million per year and upwards of 1,500 jobs, from both direct and indirect sources

Currently, Millett’s bill exists in title only.  Still, he has turned in details of what he wants the bill to include, and expects the office of the Revisor of Statutes to have a draft ready in the next few weeks.

“By March, I should think the bill will be in print for and ready for a public hearing before the Legal and Veterans’ Affairs Committee,” says Millett.

That committee has oversight of state gambling operations.  In committee, the bill could be amended to include other counties, before it is recommended for passage, or not, by he full legislature.

Millett has patterned the bill after the one put before voters last fall.  However, he has excised from the more controversial sections proposed by its original author, Rumford lawyer Seth Carey.

In particular, Millett says, the new bill would eliminate all references to Carey’s Evergreen Mountain, LLC, later purchased by a Las Vegas-based company, which would have had a decade-long run as the only casino allowed in Maine.

Instead, Millett envisions an open, competitive bidding process, in which Maine’s Gambling Control Board will select the best proposal.  That plan would go before Oxford County voters, perhaps as soon as this fall. 

Millett says he has not spoken directly to anyone from the Olympia Group, which backed the Oxford Highlands proposal.  However,  he expects it and other developers could have plans on the table as early as July, assuming his bill is adopted by the full legislature by margins wide enough to withstand an expected veto from Governor John Baldacci.

Millett’s bill also removed passages from last fall’s measure which would have put the casino head on two dozen state board’s and commissions, as well as provisions that would have lowered the minimum age for casino employees and patrons.

Although Gov. Baldacci has said he does not see a casino as a viable economic development tool, Millett says that’s precisely what he hopes to accomplish with his bill.

“I respect the governor’s point of view,” says Millett, “but I think today we are so in need of job stimulation and creation that, if this were to come to pass, this could have a really significant rejuvenation impact on the economy in Oxford County and its rim counties, and even in the southern counties and parts of New Hampshire.”

Gone from the Carey version are plans to dole out casino revenue to a buffet of state and local agencies.  Instead, while Millett would direct 1 percent of gross gambling revenue to the state’s general fund, it also would require funding of a program to address gambling addiction “if it gets out of hand.”

Millett then would direct 40 percent of the net proceeds to the state, giving 1 percent of that to the host community for necessary infrastructure.  The other 39 percent would be equally divided between economic development and transportation improvements.  Half of each half payout would stay in Oxford County, while the other half would go to toward statewide projects.

“We’re talking a fairly large potential for income,” says Millett.  “I wanted to separate the flow of the monies that accrue to the state from a whole laundry list of programs. 

“From my point of view, I think I can justify that the two biggest needs in both Oxford County and the state — where we are in critical need of help, right now — are economic development and improving our transportation corridors,” says Millett.