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Massena man wants alternative deal to tribal land claim, thinks it should include casino on old GM site

Posted 1/6/15

By ANDY GARDNER MASSENA -- A Massena man is trying to drum up local and tribal support for a plan that he says could bring up to 2,000 jobs to the area, along with a new casino and outlet mall. …

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Massena man wants alternative deal to tribal land claim, thinks it should include casino on old GM site

Posted

By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- A Massena man is trying to drum up local and tribal support for a plan that he says could bring up to 2,000 jobs to the area, along with a new casino and outlet mall.

Thomas Gramuglia says he and a group of less than 10 local citizens, who he did not name, have formed what they are calling Common Cents for St. Lawrence County.

Gramuglia says the committee is pushing a plan to turn the former General Motors site into a destination casino resort, along with adding an outlet mall.

“This county needs jobs very, very badly,” he said. “It’s a means to and end, not an end to a means … this is a home run, and we need a home run.”

He says the casino revenue would generate direct payments to both St. Lawrence and Franklin counties in lieu of the money they are supposed to receive pending the settlement of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe land claim case.

As an alternative, Gramuglia says the counties should negotiate a new settlement directly with the tribe.

He says the deal would call for the RACER trust, which owns the old GM site, to sell it to an LLC that would lease it to one of the 14 companies that recently bidded for a chance to build a downstate casino, but lost. After 99 years, the land would be returned to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

Of the casino revenue, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties would get 5 percent each. Each county would be able to spend half of the money to help pay up to half of the tuition for eligible county residents making less than $100,000 per year to attend college or trade school. The other half would go to an agricultural development fund.

“It’s very specific. It can’t be siphoned off,” he said.

The agriculture money could fund projects such as hothouses, which would allow crops like soybeans and tomatoes to be grown year-round.

The tribe would also benefit from the deal. Gramuglia said 10 percent of the casino revenue would be paid directly to families living on both the American and Canadian side of Akwesasne.

By Gramuglia’s calculations, a family would receive $10,000 per year, based on the casino generating $100,000,000.

To go along with the casino, Gramuglia thinks the plan should include a high-end outlet mall. He says that in addition to creating hundreds of decent-paying jobs, it would attract shoppers traveling from Canada to similar places downstate.

The one obstacle in the way of all this is the exclusivity agreement between the tribe and New York state. It guarantees the tribe exclusive rights to operate a casino in a 12-county area on northern New York in exchange for a share of their slot machine revenues.

“It’s not a problem at all … we need to negotiate an agreement with the tribe,” Gramuglia said.

Although it would seem the hypothetical casino and the existing Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort could compete, he thinks the reality would be they work hand-in-hand to turn the area into a destination for tourists who like to gamble.

Go to http://www.commoncentsslc.com to read more about Common Cents for St. Lawrence County.