Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. says he still has mixed feelings about having a casino in town. He talked about those feelings during an interview with VermilionCountyFirst.com News….
”Well, excited about all the economic opportunities that the casino will provide. I still have concerns for people who struggle with gambling addiction, and how that might impact children and families,” said Williams. ”But I think that, hopefully the good will certainly outweigh the bad. I believe that it will,” he added.
Mayor Williams will be making a presentation on the casino at Tuesday night’s city council meeting….
”We’re going to be sharing kind of what’s required by the law. As you know it’s a 120 day timeline. So that starts Monday,” said the Mayor. ”So the clock is literally ticking,” he added. ”So, yes, just telling the process about the selection of the actual developer, the site selection (and) all those types of things.”
Mayor Williams has been working with the Vermilion Advantage President and CEO of Vermilion Development to prepare for Tuesday’s presentation. Many people have wondered who decides where the casino will be located, and Mayor Williams told us…
”It will be a combination of the city and the developer, and that’s something that we plan to talk about on Tuesday,” said Williams.
Also during the interview Mayor Williams talked about a timeline for the casino…
”You know we only have 120 days to choose the developer, to choose the location, to choose if there’s going to be a temporary casino – we have to have that within that 120 days” said the Mayor, ”because that’s the time frame that an application has to be submitted to the state. And so, then from there forward – who knows? So, I’m thinking that we’re looking at a year-and-a-half or so — eighteen months to two years before we see an actual casino that’s open and ready for business.”
The Mayor added a temporary casino could be opened earlier – but that will be up to the developer.
Tuesday’s (July 2, 2019) city council meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. at the Robert E. Jones Municipal Building at 17 West Main Street.
