Politics & Government

Malden Mayor to Sign Casino Agreement

The Malden City Council recently voted to authorize Mayor Gary Christenson to sign a Surrounding Community Agreement with Wynn Resorts, which has proposed to construct a resort casino in Everett.

The Malden City Council recently voted to authorize Mayor Gary Christenson to sign a Surrounding Community Agreement with Wynn Resorts, which has proposed to construct a resort casino in Everett, according to a city press statement.

As part of the agreement, Malden will receive an initial upfront payment of $1 million dedicated to public safety, infrastructure and beautification improvements, according to the statement. Once the Everett casino is open, Malden will receive minimum annual payments of $1 million to go toward business and community support, public safety and road improvements, the statement adds.

Additionally, Wynn would make at least $1.2 million payments to Malden each year starting in the sixth year of the casino's existence and the payments would increase by 2.5 percent annually thereafter, according to the statement.

“The voters in Everett have spoken in an unprecedented way of their support for this project, and we respect the right of any city to decide what is best for that city,” Christenson said in the statement. “I have said from the start of this process that it was vital for Malden to play an active role so that our concerns were heard. The Wynn executives reached out to us early and expressed their desire to be a good neighbor and help us address the issues important to Malden. Regardless of how one feels about gaming, we had an obligation to protect Malden’s interests and utilize the mechanisms available under the Massachusetts gaming laws to mitigate any resulting impacts. 

“This Surrounding Community Agreement ensures that we are compensated so that the negative effects of the potential casino in a neighboring city are lessened.”

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Based on the agreement, Everett will receive top priority when the time comes to hire a combined 8,700 construction and casino workers, followed by Malden, according to the statement. There will be 5,100 construction jobs during the 2-3 year buildout phase, and 3,600 positions created to run the casino, the statement adds.

Malden officials negotiated a "targeted spend" with Wynn, as they would need to spend upward of $10 million at Malden businesses to supply the resort, according to the statement. 

Find out what's happening in Maldenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Council President Neal Anderson commended the work of the committee involved in negotiating the agreement and in particular thanked Councillors David D’Arcangelo and James Nestor for their work to make sure Malden’s concerns were addressed, reads the statement.

“As a surrounding community, we have limited input into the project as a whole, but David and Jim took the time to understand the voice afforded to us through the gaming laws and to use that voice to negotiate an agreement that truly protects Malden,” Anderson said in the statement. 

The Surrounding Community Agreement is part of the completed application that Wynn will send to the Gaming Commission by Dec. 31, according to the statement. 

Meanwhile, casino licenses for all three regions in Massachusetts are expected to be awarded by sometime in the spring of 2014, the statement adds.


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