The Monroe Township supervisors are making it clear they don't want a mini-casino operation in their jurisdiction, but their neighbors in the borough of Selinsgrove aren't as resistant.

In late November, the township board unanimously adopted a resolution prohibiting a company from setting up a mini-casino featuring between 300 and 700 slot machines and 50 table games.

A few days later, the Selinsgrove Borough Council declined to adopt the ordinance in a split 3-4 vote. Casting votes opposing the resolution were council president Marvin Rudnitsky and council members Brian Farrell, Shane Hendricks and Grant Neff. Voting for the resolution were Pete Carroll, Tim Charles and Richard Mease.

State lawmakers approved expanding gambling operations to balance the $32 billion budget, giving local governments until Dec. 31 to pass resolutions prohibiting mini-casinos. As of Dec. 22, 45 municipalities in Northumberland, Snyder, Union and Montour counties had adopted the resolution.

Municipalities that adopt the resolution may change their mind, but not vice-versa, according to the law. 

"There's too much ambiguity on that point," said Rudnitsky of one of the reasons he voted against barring gaming. "I don't want to make a moral judgment on that issue." Casino operators "would be dealt with like any other entity."

Monroe Township Supervisor Dean Davis said he has heard of no support for casinos.

"It's not a good thing to have," Davis said, citing increased crime and other social problems that he said are associated with gambling. "That's not the type of thing that people in Monroe Township want to have."

State Rep. Fred Keller, R-85, of Kreamer, approved the legislation allowing mini-casinos to open due to the state's need for revenue caused in part by what he said are poor spending and borrowing choices by the commonwealth.

His colleague, Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-108, of Sunbury, voted against the legislation on "moral and ethical" grounds.

Bob Garrett, president and CEO of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, recently held a conference call with area government leaders and a state gaming representative to help educate them on the issue.

"The chamber supports our local leaders making informed decisions," said Garrett, who said research shows increased crime does not accompany gaming operations.

"It's very clear that there are places in our four counties where casinos don't make sense," he said. However, there are high-traffic areas, such as in eastern Northumberland County near the Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area trails, where it would be feasible and help bring in hotels and themed-style restaurants.

"Every day 3 and a half dozen buses leave the Greater Susquehanna Valley and go to Hollywood Casino in Grantville and Steel Stacks in Bethlehem. They are exporting money," said Garrett.

While a mini-casino won't have the same large draw, he said it could help keep some of those dollars in the Valley and improve the region as a travel destination.

Still, for many small, rural Pennsylvania towns and boroughs like Selinsgrove, Rudnitsky said, the discussion may be moot.

Davis agrees.

"There will only be 10" mini-casinos allowed to open in the state, he said. "We won't get it."

"It's not even conceivable" that a mini-casino with hundreds of slot machines and table games would be profitable in a community like Selinsgrove, added Rudnitsky.

"It's like discussing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin," he said.

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