Tiverton Town Council votes to ask General Assembly for casino plan on ballot

By Kirsten Glavin

kglavin@abc6.com

@kirstenglavin

It’s a green light from Tiverton Town Council members on its 75 million dollar casino plan. The council, in a 6-1 vote, decided Monday night to officially ask the general assembly to put the project on next year’s ballot.

More than 200 people attended the two hour meeting. Town council members decided that the question of whether a casino should be built in Tiverton should ultimately be up to the voters.

The General Assembly will now put the Twin River Casino referendum on the state ballot next November.

"It’s good for getting voters to have a say on the ballot," said one audience member.

The public meeting Monday night got heated at times as Town Council members hashed out the logistics behind a $3 million dollar return guarantee, per year.

"Provided it passes, we’re guaranteed a minimum that the legislature can’t change. I don’t want to negotiate with the legislature," argued one councilman.

"We have one year to work with the legislature to see whatever assurances or guarantees if we want to use that word we can achieve over that one year period," said another.

The audience shared their own opinions for over an hour, discussing everything from environmental impact, traffic, and moral concerns.

"I just don’t want a casino in my backyard. I don’t want my son to grow up in that," one resident explained at the podium.

Everyone, either for the casino or against it, did agree that the public should speak for itself.

"We’re going to give the opportunity to all of the citizens in this town to decide one way or another what they want. That, I think, is important," said another resident.

The 2016 ballot vote would give Tiverton Council Members one year to work with the state legislature and discuss the fine print in the plans. 

© WLNE-TV 2015