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HARTFORD — The state's Freedom of Information Commission Wednesday adopted its hearing officer's recommendation that negotiations about a possible casino at Bradley International Airport correctly took place in executive session.

MGM Resorts International, which is building a $950 million casino and entertainment complex in Springfield, filed two complaints with the commission challenging the Connecticut Airport Authority's use of executive sessions in February and April to discuss potential casino development and negotiating strategy."

The authority was among those that submitted proposals last fall for a casino in the Hartford area being pursued by MMCT, a joint venture of the tribal operators of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, aimed at diluting the competitive effect of MGM Springfield on the Connecticut economy.

Lisa Fein Siegel, the commission's hearing officer, wrote in her July 26 recommendation that the authority's board of directors discussed "financial provisions of the lease they would enter into with MMCT, how the lease would be structured, and concerns about the new or restructured leases with third-party planners in the gaming facility operation."

Siegel's analysis found "that having such information in the public domain during the competitive process would reveal [the authority's] negotiating strategy and would harm [the authority's] ability to maintain optimal rental terms and conditions."

At Wednesday's meeting, MGM continued to press its argument that the potential for a casino at Bradley and its effect on the region was so significant that negotiations should not take place in "secret meetings" behind closed doors.

"Commonsense says more than the terms of the lease were discussed in the executive session," said James K. Robertson, Jr., an attorney for MGM.

Although lease discussions may be exempt under the state's right-to-know laws, the authority was trying to "squeeze too much public information into one narrow exemption," Robertson said. "That's a terrible, terrible precedent.'

Paul K. Pernerewski, Jr., general counsel for the airport authority, said the factors discussed in the executive session would have all affected the leases involved in any potential deal with MMCT.

After the meeting, Pernerewski said the authority would use the word "lease" on its agenda to justify why it was going into executive session.

"We thought of it that way," Perenewski said. "It might have been better to put it that way."

Robertson said after the meeting that he would recommend that MGM appeal the commission's decision. An appeal would be taken up in Superior Court.

MGM did score a victory Wednesday in another freedom-of-information complaint against the authority, which sought records about the Bradley casino proposal submitted to MMCT. The commission backed Siegel's recommendation that the documents were not exempt from disclosure.

The discussions about a potential casino at Bradley are likely to continue. In June, the airport authority withdrew the option of a casino at a new transportation center, and two weeks ago, the authority's executive director, Kevin Dillon, confirmed that a casino in a new planned terminal also was no longer on the table.

The authority is still open to a casino at the airport and has other options it can explore. One is along Route 75 and another is on property adjacent to an off-track betting parlor. Sportech Venues, which operates the betting parlor in the same building as Bobby V's Restaurant and Sports Bar, also submitted a proposal for the casino, but conceded its site was too small and would have to be combined with another property.

For a casino to go forward at the airport, the town of Windsor Locks has said it first must pass a referendum. The legislature also needs to approve the location selected by the tribes. East Hartford and Hartford are also being considered.