SANFORD — Councilors rescinded a January vote that would have sought a non-binding referendum on the use of video poker machines and will instead bring forward a draft ordinance in early September.
The vote, which came at Tuesday evening’s council meeting, was 5 to 2, with councilors Kevin Chabot and Bradford Littlefield opposed.
The proposed ordinance will likely contain a clause which mandates that officers of private clubs where the games are situated sign a sworn affidavit that shows they have no knowledge of any illegal activity with the games and that if they become aware of any activity, they’ll report it to the gaming division of Maine State Police.
There was one club officer at the meeting. Norman Hutchins, the president of the Wolves Club, didn’t speak during the session but later said he doesn’t believe an affidavit is an issue, nor does it add any more “teeth” than existing state laws already imposed on club officers.
“We’re already responsible to the state,” he said, referring to laws that govern how the machines are used.
Applications are first approved at the municipal level and then by the state.
Hutchins, however, did take note of the council’s remarks about possibly raising the fees associated with municipal applications. Currently, clubs pay a $50 application fee per machine, Town Clerk Claire Morrison said this morning.
Councilors said increased fees could fund more local police enforcement patrols, which are currently conducted by MSP’s gaming division.
The plan for a non-binding referendum came last January when councilors were deadlocked over whether to approve applications for video poker machines for a number of private clubs.
Video poker machines are legal in Maine for entertainment purposes. Any gambling activity associated with the machines is illegal.
While there has been a swirl of innuendo, rumor and anecdotal information that suggests clubs “pay out” for video poker game winners, there’s been no hard evidence that points to illegal activity and when asked, officers of various clubs have always said the clubs don’t pay off on the machines, Council Chairman Joseph Hanslip said.
Hanslip said he floated the idea of an ordinance “with some teeth,” to fellow councilors in the months following the January compromise vote.
Maine State Police conducted raids on some private clubs early in the decade, and several clubs found themselves in legal trouble including some in Biddeford, Arundel and Waterboro.
The rumors, however, and in some cases an aversion to raising money for club charities in such a fashion, led councilors to loggerheads over the machines last winter.
That led to the compromise plan that would ask voters in a non-binding referendum this November how they felt about having the machines in town. A part of the compromise included development of an ordinance.
Chabot said he would prefer to rescind the non-binding referendum vote after an ordinance is in hand.
“I worked with councilor (Alan) Walsh on the compromise and I’m not sure I want to rescind it. What’s changed?” Littlefield asked. He, too, said he preferred to vote on rescinding the non-binding referendum vote after an ordinance was in hand.
Walsh said an ordinance would strengthen the town’s hand if information surfaced that pointed to illegal use of the machines.
Littlefield moved that the decision be tabled until an ordinance was on the table, which was seconded by Walsh. When it came to the vote however, Littlefield was the only councilor to vote in the affirmative on that motion.
Hanslip said he voted for the compromise in January because he believed if he didn’t, some club’s applications for machines wouldn’t be approved. He pledged to have a draft ordinance ready for the council to peruse at their Sept. 2 meeting.
— Contact Tammy Wells by calling 324-4444, or via e-mail at twells@gwi.net.
