Track wants racino vote Scarborough Downs looks toward Saco

SCARBOROUGH – Scarborough Downs, which is considering leaving its home of 53 years, wants residents of neighboring Saco to vote on allowing slot machines at the commercial harness racing track.

The Saco City Council may convene a special meeting on whether to hold a referendum on slot machines after meeting with Scarborough Downs officials Wednesday night, said Mayor William Johnson.

“I want to put it on as a referendum,” he said. “It should be up to the people. … I totally support it going to voters.”

Scarborough Downs owner Sharon Terry said she would consider relocating to another community after Scarborough residents rejected slots last week. Slot machines at existing racetracks were made legal by a statewide vote.

Terry said slot machines are necessary for Scarborough Downs to compete with the state’s other harness racing track in Bangor, where residents already approved a “racino.”

Saco Mayor-elect Mark Johnston said Terry called him the day after the election. She met with Johnston and Saco officials on Friday.

Scarborough Downs is requesting the following wording for the Saco vote: “Do you approve of the operation of slot machines at a commercial harness racing track to be located in Saco, Maine?”

“If I was Scarborough, I’d be weeping,” Johnston said Monday.

He said it would be foolish not to send the issue to Saco voters. “It’s a great opportunity for the city of Saco,” he said. “You don’t get a $25 million to $30 million capital improvement project every day.”

Both the mayor and mayor-elect said the track has an option on land in the city, but neither of them would identify the property.

Under the racino legislation, a slot-machine parlor could be operated separately within a 5-mile radius of the existing Scarborough Downs. Areas of Saco and Old Orchard Beach are well within that radius.

But in its proposal to Saco, Scarborough Downs is proposing moving the entire business.

In a letter to the mayor’s office, Martin J. Gersten, a Newtown, Conn., lawyer for the track, said his client is prepared to sign a revenue-sharing agreement with the city. According to Gersten, Saco could see monthly income of $125,000 or 3 percent of gross slot revenues, whichever is greater.

The track is also prepared to pay costs incurred by a referendum, including producing new ballots.

Gersten also serves as legal counsel to Shawn Scott, a Bangor Historic Raceway stakeholder and owner of Nevada-based Capital Seven LLC. Scott is largely responsible for forging a deal to legalize slot machines in Bangor.