Milford Casino: Impacts on Water Supply and Area Schools

Casino Water Impact Update

In a press release last week, Selectman Brian Herr of the MetroWest Anti-Casino Coalition released an independent study of the water supply and demand related to the proposed Foxwoods Casino in Milford. The results are profoundly damning.  Kleinfelder, a global authority in water engineering, found in its report that the existing water supply from the Milford Water Company (MWC) is marginally adequate to meet the average daily water demand of Milford residents and the proposed casino, and that existing MWC sources are incapable of meeting future demands. The worst part:  the study warns that Foxwoods’ consultants used non-industry standard methodologies to assess water demand. Read the Press Release.

Casino Impact on Schools

Milford Superintendent of Schools Bob Tremblay spoke with a number of superintendents in school systems surrounding the Connecticut  casinos.  Bob concluded the following: “High student turnover, increased free and reduced school lunch eligibility, increased drop-out rates and added demands for specialized instructional services seem to be a common theme in every study that I reviewed,”  Tremblay wrote in his report. Tremblay added another concern, “A school district’s capacity to keep up with population growth is important to the quality of education that students receive. Lack of buildings means overcrowded classrooms and overcrowded classrooms are simply not conducive to quality learning.”[1]

The following was an observation by Elaine Bono, a long-time planning commission member from Ledyard, CT. I witnessed firsthand how casinos take trade away from local businesses and malls. Casinos also put a strain on the pool of available employees in the area. So many employees had to be brought into the area to support the casino, along with their families, that there was a crunch on the affordable housing market, as well as overcrowding of local schools, putting a strain on local school budgets.[1]

The town of Norwich, CT went from 40 English as a Second Language students to 400 in a span of 10 years. As a Norwich city council candidate recently noted: Our school system is heavily impacted by the transient population shifts caused by our proximity to the casinos. Student turnover last year in k-8 amounted to the equivalent of six full classes.[2]

Read more on Casino-Free Milford’s website.

Vote Coming Up

As a reminder, Milford will vote in two weeks on Tuesday, November 19 in a referendum on whether or not to allow a casino. Only residents of Milford will be allowed to vote. Hopkinton and Holliston residents, no matter how close they live to the proposed casino site, will NOT be able to vote.

Yard Signs

Casi-No! yard signs are available for $6 at Fiske’s General Store, 776 Washington St, Holliston MA 01746. Open Mon-Fri: 9a-7p, Sat: 8a-6p, Sun: 9a-6p. Cash only.