Holyoke City Council to take-up casino issue after Morse's reversal

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - After a surprising change of heart from Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, the City Council is now scrambling to take-on the casino issue.

Although it's not listed on the agenda, casino plans are expected to come up at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

Two casino developers have paid the city a $25,000 fee to proceed with their proposals, one of which would construct a resort at Wyckoff Country Club, while the other would build at Mountain Park.

Morse is expected to ask the council to approve his plan to use the money from the fee for a grant program.

Councilor Gordon Alexander represents Ward 7, which is where both proposed sites are located. He says that the Council has been largely kept in the dark about what is going on.

"We've been very uninvolved in the process, and I think at this point there are going to be many councilors calling for additional studies, particularly the terms of these grants, the conditions by which they can be utilized and the conditions under which they were requested,” Alexander said.

Morse also sent out letters this week to all area mayors and town managers to be part of a discussion on the regional impact of a casino. In the letters, he lists 14 criteria he thinks should be considerations in picking a developer.