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East Greenbush

Selling the positives of a proposed casino while deflating its opposition was a strategy set by town officials and the developer of the Capital View Casino and Resort, according to meeting notes.

"Come for the gambling. Stay for the sunset," was a catch phrase for summing up the Thompson Hill Road site its views to the west of downtown Albany.

The problems of making that happen were repeatedly touched upon in the notes released by the town through a Freedom of Information request. These included quieting local neighbors, waging a public relations campaign, dealing with the media and the possibility of a lawsuit to block the application as well as meetings with the public and with town and county political leaders.

A tactic discussed for pushing back against developing public opposition was to provide just one chance for a public information meeting.

"Do just one — any more continues to promote 'negative side' more than anything, like E23," the notes state, referring the now abandoned plan for a casino near Thruway Exit 23 in Albany.

The 22 pages of government notes taken on six dates were obtained through a Freedom of Information request filed by Don Johnson of Save East Greenbush, the grass-roots anti-casino coalition, which provided the documents to the Times Union.

What emerges is a depiction of behind-the-scenes maneuvers by the town with Saratoga Casino and Raceway and its partner, Churchill Downs, to win the state license to operate a casino in the Capital Region.

"I firmly believed and still do that there were conversations early that were not disclosed to anyone," Johnson said. "There was a predisposition on the part of the board to make it happen and not to find out if the community wanted it to happen."

The Town Board voted 5-0 Thursday to support the casino proposal for Thompson Hill Road.

Included in the notes are the assessment of meetings on the casino held separately by Supervisor Keith Langley with each Town Board member — Mary Ann Matters, Deberah DiMartino, Susan Mangold and Phil Malone.

Langley did not respond to a request for comment.

When it came to setting the odds for the East Greenbush site winning the state license, "60/40" was what James Featherstonhaugh, the influential lobbyist and leader of Saratoga Casino, was noted as saying.

Featherstonhaugh also predicted that of 22 applications for the four state licenses, only 14 casinos would file for a license by the June 30 deadline. Locally, according to the notes, he said Howe Caverns might drop out. The only way the city of Rensselaer would be in play, he said, would be if another Capital Region site moved. That happened when E23 developer David Flaum dropped that plan. The other sites are in Schenectady and at Thruway Exit 27 in Amsterdam and the town of Florida.

Of a meeting held with neighbors of the casino site, the notes said this would involve 12 houses and "establishing assisting in property taxes — mitigating property taxes for five years. Property owners would have to reach out to opt in."

The developers told the town that they were sending out mailers to town residents promoting the benefits of the casino if it came to East Greenbush.

The notes also cover the need to obtain a State Environmental Quality Review for the site, traffic issues, demand on water and sewer lines, local employment and planning issues.

Save East Greenbush put the Town Board on notice in a letter delivered Thursday.

"We have obtained information through a Freedom of Information Law request, which clearly details that a casino and more specifically a casino located on Thompson Hill has been the subject of back-door negotiations for months," said Jeff Meyer, the attorney for Save East Greenbush, which has threatened the possibility of filing a lawsuit to stop the casino. "This Town Board is completely biased toward this application, having met with the developer and lobbyists for the casino on numerous occasions."

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