Casino: Collingwood says no to ‘slots barn’

Midland Free Press Tuesday, November 6, 2012

COLLINGWOOD — Collingwood won’t take a gamble on gaming.

On Monday night, town council voted by the narrowest of margins against a motion put forward by Councillor Joe Gardhouse to tell the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation it would be a willing host for a 300-slot facility.

His motion was supported by Mayor Sandra Cooper, Deputy-mayor Rick Lloyd, and Councillor Dale West. Councillors Mike Edwards, Kevin Lloyd, Ian Chadwick, Keith Hull and Sandy Cunningham voted no.

Georgian Manor Resort’s Peter Levoy, who watched the debate with his brother Gord, and new business partner John Simmonds, left council chambers immediately after the vote, calling it a “lost opportunity” for Collingwood.

Resort owners had signalled their interest to host the slots facility, making it the centrepiece of an expansion at Georgian Manor that would also include a 400-seat performing arts facility.

“I’m certainly disappointed,” Levoy told the E-B. “I’m a little stunned that we will not have that opportunity.”

Councillor Mike Edwards, in kicking off the debate on Monday, noted council had been “left with very little time to make an informed decision.

“I can’t in all honesty support a casino at this time,” he said. “There are economic benefits, but when I looked at the whole situation, I felt the negatives outweighed the positives.”

Each of the five who voted against cited statistics of gambling addiction, and the impact of problem gambling on families and the health system.

Councillor Kevin Lloyd noted he respected the right of individuals to gamble, “but I must look at (the decision to allow a gaming site) and ask, ‘at what price?'”

He also pointed out a gaming facility would see millions of dollars “siphoned from the community,” as people spend money in slot machines, and not in local business. The idea of a gaming facility is “clearly an antithesis of what this community is all about,” he added, noting Collingwood is known as a healthy community with lots of outdoors activities.

On the other side of the debate, council members in favour cited the potential economic impact of a facility, not only in revenue to the municipality, but also in employment. Councillor Dale West also noted, with regard to problem gambling, that the town was “mature enough” to handle the issue.

Deputy-mayor Rick Lloyd said the decision was akin to the one 20 years ago of Sunday shopping. However, he noted, the region appeared destined to get a gaming site, and it would be in Collingwood’s best interest to signal its interest.

The mayor also said she had some reservations, but saw the gaming site as an opportunity for employment. Cooper also said that if Wasaga Beach is selected, that the issues of problem gambling in the region will still be prevalent.

There is already online gambling, she said, as well as “the buses that ride off to Rama.

“We’ve professed to be open for business, and this is an opportunity.”

Behind the scenes at town hall there had been some hesitation on how to proceed, given the municipality is a signatory to a memorandum of understanding between the four municipalities that obliges them to undertake a “common approach” with the goal of submitting a joint proposal to the OLG, and to develop a formula to share the revenues. A host municipality stands to gain 5.25% on the first $65 million generated from the slots.

In early October, Gardhouse argued in an email to councillors and municipal staff that it was in Collingwood’s best interest to pursue a gaming facility, in spite of the agreement the town signed with the other municipalities.

His email came Oct. 2, the day after council deliberated on a motion to organize a public information session for Collingwood residents — which was held last Monday — but stopped short of instructing staff to identify a suitable location.

“We know the potential economic activity and benefits to the municipality are substantial. We also know that a gaming facility in the proximity of existing hotels, ski centres, restaurants and shopping areas (downtown of otherwise) is likely a preferred location for OLG and the operator,” Gardhouse wrote in an email obtained by the Enterprise-Bulletin under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. “$3 million-plus annually to the municipality, 300 jobs (not min. wage), millions in ancillary economic activity, direct $OLG support, all controlled by the host municipality.”

But as to the memorandum of understanding, Gardhouse suggested Collingwood should be the lead municipality.

“With all due respect to Elmvale (Springwater) and Nottawa (Clearview) county council reps… this RFP should be led by Collingwood council in a professional manner as requested by OLG,” he wrote. “The MOU gives us that warm fuzzy feeling on a cold day… but so does peeing your pants.”

Gardhouse’s email was followed up by acting CAO Ed Houghton, who implored council to provide some direction.

“I agree that we need to better understand if our community, in fact, would like to host a casino,” wrote Ed Houghton in an email response to Gardhouse, and a couple of other councillors who had joined in on the electronic conversation. “Exactly how we get that understanding is something I have not quite figured out, but we will, and as requested we will advise council as to the direction and the approximate costs.”

Houghton also suggested that as the town was coming at it fairly late in the game — at least compared to Wasaga Beach, which signalled its interest to OLG in late summer and has gone through the process of selecting potential properties that could host a slots facility — the town may need to rely on an outside organization to guide council, and facilitate the process of surveying the public.

Houghton stated in his email that if the desire of the community was to host a gaming facility, and a location with a qualified operator was determined, there would be a need to determine how to “share the wealth” with the other three municipalities.

“Are we still a party to the original intent of the Memorandum of Understanding, which was to work together to determine the appropriate host community and the appropriate location?” Houghton asked. “Should we be advising the other three communities that we are now on our own?”

Houghton cautioned that opting out of the MOU would mean that if the town were unsuccessful in its efforts to be the host, “there would be no sharing of wealth with us from the others.”

Houghton suggested Clearview and Springwater would be more likely to support a site in Wasaga Beach.

“If Collingwood wished to have a casino and we find a site, we may have difficulty getting the other three to support our bid,” he wrote. “This is the quandary that we will face. If we stay in the group, we may have issues having our option as the recommended choice by the other three, and if opt out and we are not successful, we may lose all.”

Houghton and Gardhouse’s email are among 120 pages of material obtain by the E-B. Much of the material involves correspondence between municipal staff in the four municipalities in setting up and promoting the public information session.

Gardhouse also sent an email to Houghton on Oct. 2, “as directed by the mayor,” on the top-10 “suggestions to handle the OLG.” On Monday night, Gardhouse said his email to Houghton was in response to an email sent to councillors by the mayor earlier in the day, asking them to provide “thoughts, suggestions” to the town’s executive management team.

The No. 1 suggestion by Gardhouse was for the mayor and deputy-mayor to “quit endorsing other municipalities for the facility in the press.”

Gardhouse also suggested inviting the mayor of a municipality that already hosts a gaming facility to address council — behind closed doors — on the financial and social affects.

After Monday’s meeting, Gardhouse had little to say about his email, but did note he had his concerns about the MOU.

After the decision, Cooper said she intended to ensure the other municipalities upheld the agreement, especially the clause with regard to revenue-sharing.

The agreement, said the mayor, was about the four municipalities “supporting one another and working with each other in good faith, and I would hope that continues.

“We have a good relationship with Wasaga Beach, and I will be pressing hard that Collingwood receives a share,” she said.