Aquinnah members of the local government board and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head have started to exchange correspondence over the gambling venue which the Native American tribe plans to open in the town.
At the beginning of September 2018, a letter was sent by the Aquinnah selectmen to Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, the tribal chair, asking for a meeting to be held on a number of matters, including the possible concerns about public safety issues associated with the offered class II gambling facility.
A reply from Ms. Andrews-Maltais was received by the town representatives on October 9th, explaining that no casino project plans have been yet finalized by the tribe, but still saying that it is interested in having a meeting with the selectmen. As written by Ms. Andrews-Maltais wrote, the Wampanoag Tribe understood town representativesā concerns and interest in the proposed gambling facility project and is open for a meeting once the venueās plan is more fully developed and further details are available.
A draft response to the letter from Ms. Andrews-Maltais was presented to the Aquinnah selectmenās board by Ron Rappaport, the town council, and Jeffrey Madison, the town administrator, at the meeting of the members of the local government which took place on Tuesday. The selectmen highlighted that the town representativesā presumption that no construction work will be given the green light before a meeting between the two parties takes place.
For the time being, no date has been chosen for the meeting to take place.
No Public Details about the Proposed Gambling Facility Revealed Yet
The exchange of correspondence between the two parties comes after in August 2018 the Wampanoag Tribeās gaming arm revealed that it had joined forces with the Chickasaw Nation to take part in the proposed class II gaming facilityās operation and construction works.
Despite the fact that very few public details about the bingo hall have been announced yet, tribal members who took part in the August 2018 meeting revealed that the planned gambling facility would be situated on 10,000 square feet on a piece of land is adjacent to State Road between Black Brook Road and Moshup Trail. Currently, the piece of land in question still remains undeveloped.
As far as future construction works are concerned, one of the townās selectmen ā Jim Newman ā noted that the public safety agreement between the tribe and the town has not been renewed for four years. And although Mr. Newman insisted that a meeting with the tribe was needed for that agreement, he also explained that Randhi Belainm the local police chief, required from the two parties to hold two separate meetings about the public safety agreement and the discussions regarding the proposed gambling facility.
