Briefcase

Springfield Voters OK MGM Proposal

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield voters went to the polls on July 16 and endorsed an $800 million casino proposal by MGM Resorts International. Voters supported the MGM plan by a vote of 13,973 to 10,260, with roughly 25% of registered voters turning out. MGM now moves to the next phase of the competition for the lone Western Mass. casino license — review by the Mass. Gaming Commission. The commission’s votes on licenses for three regions — Western Mass., Eastern Mass., and the southeastern part of the state — are expected in early 2014. MGM plans to build in the tornado-damaged South End neighborhood — more specifically, a multi-block area between State and Union streets, Main Street, and East Columbus Avenue.

 

West Springfield Voters to Consider Casino Question on Sept. 10

WEST SPRINGFIELD — The West Springfield Town Council voted unanimously to set Sept. 10 as the date for a referendum on Hard Rock Hotel & Casino New England’s proposal to build an $800 million casino project near the Big E. Many of the 60 onlookers at the vote wore T-shirts reading “Westside Support Hard Rock, Yes.” One council member was absent. Hard Rock would like to construct a destination resort casino project on 38 acres on the Eastern States Exposition campus off Memorial Avenue. Plans include a 12-story hotel, a Hard Rock Café, and a parking deck. Hard Rock has also taken out options to buy property along Circuit Avenue to use for additional parking. West Springfield voters must approve the project for it to move ahead. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission may authorize up to three casinos in the state, with one slated for Western Mass. In another recent vote, Springfield voters approved the project proposed by MGM Resorts International to build a casino in the city’s South End.

 

PVPC ‘State of the People’ Report Receives Award

SPRINGFIELD — The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission has been selected as the recipient of the 2013 Medium Metro General Achievement Award by the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC). PVPC received the award in June at NARC’s 47th annual conference and exhibition in Philadelphia. The award recognizes the 10-year update of the “State of the People of the Pioneer Valley” report, which provides simple and familiar images to help evaluate eight categories of health and well-being indicators for the people who live in the region: children and youth; the elderly population; education; health and safety; economic security; housing; civic, arts, and recreation; and the environment. Each indicator is evaluated with a letter grade, and maps are provided to examine equity by comparing communities throughout the region. A unique function of this report is that it evaluates every topic area as well as each individual indicator with a letter grade (A-F), making it easier to quickly get a sense of the trends described by the data. Grades incorporate trends for the region over time, the Pioneer Valley’s comparison to rates statewide, and two measures of equity between the communities within the region. The report is the product of a vibrant working partnership among eight of the major foundations, hospitals, and planning organizations in the Pioneer Valley, including the Beveridge Family Foundation Inc., the Community Foundation of Western Mass., Cooley Dickinson Hospital, the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, Partners for a Healthier Community Inc., the United Way of Hampshire County, and the United Way of Pioneer Valley. “This expansive collaboration is the result of many regional partners coming together with the goal of having available good, accessible, and easy-to-comprehend data about the trends in our region,” said PVPC Executive Director Timothy Brennan. “The hope is that this data will help drive strategic decision making for funding, planning, and service organizations, and that having a shared understanding of the state of our people will give us a shared sense of goals for our region.” The National Assoc. of Regional Councils (NARC) serves as a national voice for regionalism by advocating for regional cooperation as the most effective way to address a variety of community planning and development opportunities and issues. In service to this mission, the NARC General Achievement Awards recognize excellence in programs and services of regional councils and metropolitan planning organizations across the U.S., thereby contributing to better and more efficient government. In past years, PVPC has submitted successful NARC annual award nominations for Valley Vision 2, the regional land-use plan for the Pioneer Valley region (in 2008); for the Plan for Progress, the region’s economic-development plan (in 2005); and on behalf of the Mass. Assoc. of Regional Councils, of which PVPC is a member (in 2004). The 2013 “State of the People” report is available at www.pvpc.org/stateofthepeople.