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Connecticut Tribe Brings Up Casino Proposal Again

"`Forty-two days ago the tribe presented you with a plan,' David A. Rosow, a principal with Eastern Capital Development, told the City Council. `The tribe has spoken with many who feel this bold proposal should be discussed.'

"Rosow, who is working with the tribe, asked the council to consider the economic impact the multimillion project would have on the city and its residents and appoint a committee to discuss it.

"…The tribe, which has yet to be federally recognized, wants to build a 228,000-square-foot casino with 300,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, and 297,000 square feet of support facilities on about 60 acres of land on and around State Pier. The tribe has offered to pay the city $7.5 million for the State Pier property, if the state turns it over to the city, and make $6.5 million annual payments to the city for the general fund, education, housing, social and cultural programs.

"The City Council held a public forum on the proposal in April when the Easterns asked the city for support in lobbying the state to turn over State Pier to the city. The city in turn would sell it to the Easterns.

"…The tribe is seeking a memorandum of understanding from the city to help persuade state officials to turn over the state's portion of the site for a casino. The Easterns have suggested that their casino would employ 4,500 people. The deep-water port that the state has sunk millions into developing will employ about 200 and generate about $600,000 a year in revenue for the city, according to the Easterns."

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