Milford Chamber to Poll Businesses on Foxwoods Massachusetts Casino

The Milford Area Chamber of Commerce is asking its members to explain how they feel about a proposed resort casino in Milford.

The chamber is not taking a position on the casino development itself — at least not at this point, said Barry Feingold, the Milford Area Chamber president, in a telephone interview.

Instead, the body is still collecting information about the project, and that includes the perspective of individual business owners.

The chamber has more than 500 business members in 10 area towns, including Milford, the proposed site for the nearly $1 billion casino development, and towns such as Holliston and Hopkinton, where government officials and many residents, if not businesses, bitterly oppose it.

As chamber, the Milford Area organization is representing businesses that have said they will benefit from the additional people, and traffic, generated by the resort casino, as well as businesses, including banks and some restaurants, who worry they will lose employees or customers to the development.

"This is a very divisive issue," Feingold said. "We're the voice for the business community. And the business community itself is fairly divided."

The chamber's board of directors has met separately with both the Foxwoods development executives, and with the Casino Free Milford opposition organization, but as yet, has not taken a position on the project.

It is difficult for the chamber to take a position on the casino development without knowing what its member think, he said.

"We're the voice for the business community," Feingold said. "What I'm saying to the members is tell me what you think. It isn't about me, it isn't about the board. It's about the whole chamber membership."

The form, published Tuesday on the MACC website, asks business owners to identify themselves, and share their thoughts, concerns and recommendations on the development proposal.

That information will be shared with both Milford's Board of Selectmen and the Foxwoods Massachusetts development team, he said.

According to the notice, replies are requested by Aug. 10. The timeframe will allow the chamber to forward the responses to the Milford Selectmen, who could be discussing the host community agreement next month, Feingold said.