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By Diana Bowley, Of the NEWS Staff - GREENVILLE Local residents may be asked this November if they would favor a casino in town. Town Manager John Simko suggested to selectmen Wednesday that a nonbinding public referendum question be placed on the November ballot. His suggestion was tabled and is expected to be discussed at the next board meeting. Simko believes that such a venture would bring visitors year round to this tourist community and would provide more valuation. There also are some disadvantages, he acknowledged Thursday. A legislative task force has been established to explore the feasibility and the relative costs and benefits of a casino in Maine. The Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indian tribes are considering construction of a Foxwoods-style casino resort in southern Maine. But they must get permission from the Legislature first. It strikes me that the entire state has focused on this possible moneymaking venture in southern Maine, and has not entertained the notion of a northern Maine location, Simko said. He suggested that in order to let the rest of the state know that northern Maine exists and is open to economic development opportunities, the nonbinding public referendum question should be offered to residents. Even though the Indian tribes have focused on southern Maine, some communities there have expressed no desire for a casino. Voters in Kittery, Eliot, Kennebunk, North Berwick, Ogunquit and Wells opposed casino gambling in referendum votes. Dexter residents, who completed a questionnaire provided last June, also made it clear that they have no interest in a casino. |