The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) last week began construction of a Class II casino on a 4.1 acre site on its reservation on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The 10,000 square foot casino will have 250 slot machines, a beer and wine bar, food truck area and employ about 100 workers.
Site work, including removal of brush, had already begun and heavy equipment began arriving last week.
According to Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, the Aquinnah Cliffs Casino will be built with Williams Building Co. of Hyannis as general contractor. In a press release to the Martha’s Vineyard Times, the chairman wrote “We remain committed to bringing positive economic development to our tribe, the town of Aquinnah and our neighbors in the larger Island community.”
She added, “At the start of construction, we bring to life the vision for this entertainment experience. We look forward to the creation of new jobs, supporting the local economy and local businesses and bringing a new and exciting entertainment venue to our Island.”
Construction of the modest-sized electronic bingo casino will take about six months, said the release. The tribe has partnered with Global Gaming Solutions to build and operate the Class II casino. The release added, “We are thrilled to have such a wonderful development partner like Global Gaming Solutions, to help us achieve economic self-sufficiency in order to supplement our necessary programs and services.” GGS is the development authority of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.
The announcement follows closely a letter the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) issued to the tribe after the towns of Aquinnah and Chilmark referred the project to it. The tribe won a series of federal lawsuits that culminated in the refusal a year ago of the U.S. Supreme Court to review the last court’s decision. The state of Massachusetts, the town and the Aquinnah/Gay Head Community Association were all on the losing end of those court rulings.
The tribe asserts that it is not under the jurisdiction of the town or commission. “This issue has been litigated all the way to the United States Supreme Court, the tribe has prevailed, and this issue is now settled law,” wrote Andrews-Maltais.
The commission disagrees. It maintains it has the authority to review all project of regional impact. It wrote the tribe: “We trust as the representatives of the original Islanders you share our desire to preserve the unique values of the Vineyard,” adding, “DRI review has been used for 45 years to improve projects and protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the Island we have all come to know and love. Regardless of political boundaries we are one island.”
The chairman’s letter asserted that the town is trying to “do indirectly what it knows cannot be done directly.” She threatened to not engage in any discussions with the town on gaming issues. She also threatened “aggressive legal defense” if the town continues to try to stop the casino and does not withdraw its letter of referral to the MVC.
The chairman wrote separately to the MVC making the same points but inviting, “If the MVC embraces that court decision and acknowledges that the MVC lacks jurisdiction over the gaming project, the tribe is more than happy to engage in government-to-government dialogue with the MVC.”
The federal National Indian Gaming Commission affirmed last week that the tribe has met all the requirements for a casino. The general counsel for the tribe agrees with the chairman that local boards such as the MVC has no jurisdiction over the casino—only the tribe. “IGRA does not give state and local authorities any jurisdiction over Class II gaming operations,” the general counsel wrote the Times.
The casino is a controversial issue on Martha’s Vineyard.
Chilmark Board of Selectmen Chairman Jim Malkin said his board’s purpose in referring the casino to the MVC concerned public safety. Persons going to the casino would have to pass through his town. “That’s going to have an impact in terms of public safety,” he told the Times. The town wants to know if it will need more public safety officers on call, he said.
The tribe has ambitions besides just a Class II casino. For years it has unsuccessfully tried to negotiate with the governor to take part in the Bay State’s gaming market. When it became clear that then Governor Deval Patrick was standing fast on discouraging the tribe from a casino on the mainland, it began its efforts to build one on the island.
