State Representative Michael Wray confirmed today that proposed casino legislation is still live and will be discussed in the general assembly’s short session.
Next year’s short session will come as Halifax County has caught the attention of developers, he said.
But it took work to catch that attention in a process that has been ongoing for about two years with discussions centering around casinos and video lottery terminals.
“The process had been going on with one particular company and it got to a point that some people didn’t feel like one company should have all the casinos in North Carolina,” he said.
Originally, a consulting group had determined four sites — Rockingham and Anson counties, Rocky Mount and one site designated for the Lumbee Tribe. “They were the four sites that were picked and there were a lot of negotiations going on,” he said.
Then the former Roanoke Rapids Theatre was purchased by a group that includes Weldon Mills Distillery — a venue that is located in the Carolina Crossroads Entertainment District. “The site in Rocky Mount was having some problems with local support. I worked, along with the local developers, about their vision and about what they wanted to do with the entertainment district. Once we determined their direction I was able to look up the language that was written up,” he said, explaining that anytime language is written up it doesn’t mean there’s a final version.
The original language noted that the Tier 1 county sites had to be 60 miles from a major airport while Halifax County is about 72. “I got them to put language in there (for) 75 miles.”
That change put Halifax, Northampton, Vance and Warren counties in the mix. “With all the overwhelming support that we were having in the local community, we caught the attention of development groups that were looking to do casinos across the state and we went from basically a ground-level zero to about a nine. We weren’t even a beacon in the beginning of the session and we will continue to move forward.”
With this current session projected to end this month as the issue of redistricting begins to be discussed, the casino issue is expected to be the topic in the short session.
Wray sees the proposed casino as a benefit to counties as the developers are not asking for incentive grants or matching funds. “One of the positive things is they have to vest $500 million and one of the things about it is they’re not asking for any local tax breaks, no help, no nothing.” With that investment will come jobs, Wray said. “They’ll be good-paying jobs and people will have the opportunity to start off at different levels and grow up within the industry. If the casinos do come to North Carolina the outgrowth just around the casinos will be tremendous no matter what areas they go in.”
He said he has been pleased to see resolutions passed in Halifax County. “I think the resolutions from Roanoke Rapids have been very supportive because it’s in the Roanoke Rapids city limits. I think Halifax County tourism, economic development, Halifax Horizons, the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District have been very, very supportive.”
As far as the Halifax County Board of Commissioners, who have twice rejected similar resolutions, he said, “I hope the county commissioners will continue to take a look at it. Basically it’s an entertainment district and the casino is a small part. At the end of the day it’s about jobs, economic development and tax base — it’s more than just a casino.
“I think people should look outside the box because it’s an entertainment district. It’s been here for almost 18 years. We’d rather it be a success story of opportunities and buildings being built and jobs being created. The infrastructure is already in the ground — over $75 million of water, sewer and natural gas are already online. We’re ahead of the game for a lot of the people, a lot of other communities.”
He said he would like for the county commissioners to be onboard. “We would like them to be leaders because what would progress just around the entertainment district will be able to push out into the county because the county coffers will be getting more property taxes, they would get more sales taxes because more people would be stopping.”
He sees it as a destination potential. “People would stay in a hotel and buy more gas and more food and in that token more money would be going to the county and the county would have more funds in the general fund to do raises for their employees where they have done extensive feasibility studies.”
He said this could be money the county could use for other opportunities such as the detention center and the 250th anniversary of both the Halifax Resolves and the Declaration of Independence. “It’s like the field of dreams — you build it, they will come. The destination of an entertainment district alone is that people come — some people come in for the day and some people come in for the week and some come in for two or three days. The community and developers want it to be a destination so people can go down to Weldon and see the beautiful river and see Sylvan Heights and go to Medoc, go to Lake Gaston, the Underground Railroad, Historic Halifax.”
