Host Community Agreement Likely to Come Next Week

The City and Mohegan Sun are in the midst of intense negotiations this week on the new host community agreement, with all indications pointing to the agreement being unveiled early next week. The new host community agreement is expected to be much more lucrative that the City’s first version of the agreement – which compensated the City as a host community without having any buildings on Revere soil. Now, under the new Revere-only effort, the agreement is expected to contain much more. “We continue to actively work on an amended HCA cognizant of the December 31st deadline,” wrote Mayor Dan Rizzo in an e-mail on Tuesday.

The Dec. 31 deadline is when Mohegan Sun must have its entire application – including a host community agreement, but excluding a certified referendum vote – to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC). “We will be looking forward to another ballot question vote in Revere likely in mid-February,” said Suffolk Downs COO Chip Tuttle on Tuesday at a vendor forum. “We are finishing up another host community agreement with Revere right now…We’re looking forward to that and the next step of Mohegan Sun filing an application in a few weeks.”

City Councillors on Monday indicated that the host community agreement was “imminent” and could happen any day. Nevertheless, by a vote of 8-2, councillors requested that Mayor Rizzo meet with them in a special Executive Session (private) meeting to discuss the terms of any agreement prior to its being finalized. Councillors Richard Penta and Charlie Patch opposed the idea, with Penta saying it was against the open meeting law.

The measure was proposed by Councillors Brian Arrigo and Stephen Reardon – both of whom rejected Penta’s claim that it was against the open meeting law.

“I think we are at a critical stage and are looking at something that is exponentially more beneficial than the old situation,” said Reardon. “This time around, I think it’s important we give (the mayor) the benefit of our advice…It’s not that we’re trying to get our thumbs into everything, but giving him the benefit of our input could be helpful.”

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