Thursday, March 6, 2003                                                           Bangor Daily News

Tribes negotiate for possible casino sites

SANFORD (AP) — The Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes are expected to secure options within days on several hundred acres in the southwestern part of town for their proposed casino resort. Negotiations are under way with several property owners, said Erin Lehane, casino project manager for the tribes.

The tribes would like to buy 200 acres, and may work with several different landowners, Lehane said. The resort and accompanying golf course would require about 150 acres, she said.

Lehane said the property owners would not be identified until negotiations are completed sometime in the next month. She said several of the properties being considered on are the west side of the town near the Sanford Regional Airport and that there are several that would work well for the project.

Some of the large property owners across from the airport include Maine Energy, which owns about 1,000 acres, New England Energy, of Cotuit, Mass., which owns several parcels of more than 150 acres, and Modern Continental, of Boston.

The town also owns land across from the airport. But Julie Carlson, the town's casino liaison, said Sanford is not among the property owners negotiating with the tribes. Carlson said she did not know who the property owners were.

Casino gambling is now illegal in Maine, but the tribes hope voters will approve their project. Last month the Secretary of State's office certified the signatures collected by the tribes to put the proposal on the November ballot. If the measure wins approval, the tribes would buy the land and begin construction almost immediately, Lehane said.