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Hearing consensus: Grant slots license
The only Ohio official to testify was the mayor of Lowellville.
HILLSVILLE, Pa. — The overwhelmingly positive response by the community will be a factor in the Pennsylvania State Gaming Board’s decision on whether to give Valley View Downs a license to operate 3,000 slot machines at the planned harness racing track.
Gaming Board Chairman Mary DiGiacomo Colins said after a public-input hearing at the Mahoning Township Building that the community response is a “very important factor.”
About 300 people came Thursday, and 24 government officials and community representatives as well as 16 residents spoke in favor of the slots license for the “racino,” as the combined track and casino has been labeled. It will be built near U.S. Route 422 and Pa. Route 551, Mahoning Township.
No one was opposed, a factor that DiGiacomo said is unusual in such hearings.
Now that the hearing is over, the gaming board proceeds with its investigation of Valley View Downs developer Centaur Inc. of Indiana before making a decision. DiGiacomo said the board is committed to a “very thorough and complete” investigation and anticipates a decision on the license in the fall. She said, however, a decision could come as early as the gaming board’s June 11 meeting.
And there is pressure for the earlier decision. At the end of Thursday’s hearing, Centaur presented additional evidence, telling the board that Centaur will be considered technically in default of its financing agreement for the facility if a slots license is not awarded by June 15.
Board member Kenneth T. McCabe asked Centaur officials whether the financing could not go ahead without the slots license approval due to the fact that the facility has already obtained a harness license. But Kurt Wilson, counsel for Centaur, responded that the two are fully integrated in the project.
The facility would bring nearly $6 million annually to this area in local real estate taxes, pointed out Robert Callen, executive director of the Lawrence County Council of Governments. In addition, he said Lawrence County will receive an estimated $16 million annually from a tax on gross terminal revenue, which will be used to fund county economic development projects that municipalities will apply for on a competitive basis. Mahoning Township will receive additional funds calculated on the gross terminal revenues.
The only Ohio official to speak, Mayor James Iudiciani of Lowellville commented that the proposed Mahoning Township is three miles from Lowellville and nine miles from downtown Youngstown. “The impact on Ohio will be unbelievable,” he said.
Former Bedford Downs president and local businessman Carmen Shick said that even though he competed with Centaur for the last remaining harness license, he has come to respect Centaur CEO Rod Ratcliffe as “a man of his word.” He said the site is “logistically perfect” and the facility positioned to be the premier harness racing track in the country.
Mahoning Township Supervisor Gary Pezzuolo said he grew up watching the local limestone industry decline and said he looks forward to the employment the track will bring.
Lawrence County Commissioner Chairman Steve Craig said the board is committed to the license and added that officials from Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio have told him they also welcome the facility. Lawrence County Commissioner Dan Vogler said that Lawrence County’s unemployment rate is consistently higher than average and that Valley View Downs will provide “a much-needed economic boost for our area.” Commissioner Joe Spanik of Beaver County commented that Beaver is close enough to provide employees for the racetrack. And Commissioner Brian Beader of Mercer County said Mercer commissioners unanimously support Valley View Downs.
The only clergyman to speak was the Rev. James Downs, pastor of Christ the King Catholic Parish, which includes Mahoning Township. He acknowledged that gambling already exists in Lawrence County and said the establishment of Valley View Downs would not create a gambling problem. He said that he welcomes “this wonderful project” and said that the parishes of the Lawrence County Catholic Deanery will be available to help anyone dealing with any form of addiction, including gambling.
Edward McCready , a local farmer, noted that the racetrack will help farmers because it will increase demand for hay, grain and straw as well as the need for small farms to be used for training, raising and breeding horses.
James Simpson, owner of a horse farm, said the size of the track at Valley View Downs opens the possibility of the “Hamiltonian,” the harness-racing equivalent of the Kentucky Derby, coming to Pennsylvania.
Other residents spoke about the positive impact that Valley View Downs will have on the wages paid to waitresses here, the importance it will have in providing jobs so youth won’t have to leave the area, the boost it will give to entertainment opportunities, the positive impact on building trades workers and improving the general economic well-being of those in the area.