WEST WARWICK, R.I. – Local authorities are trying to complete studies analyzing the impact of a proposed casino ahead of a November referendum on casino gambling.

Rhode Islanders will vote this fall on a constitutional amendment allowing the Narragansett Indian Tribe and its business partner, Las Vegas-based Harrah’s Entertainment, to build a casino at a West Warwick industrial park.

Harrah’s has issued studies on how a casino might affect West Warwick’s economy, roadways and emergency services, but town authorities call the analyses inadequate. Town Administrator Wolfgang Bauer said the company is funding new research.

“They’ve got to get started as soon as possible” on the studies, Bauer said. “Everything has to be done before the election. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done.”

Dallas-based Erase Enterprises recently has resumed work analyzing how a casino might affect the town’s fire and police services. Company representatives could tour the industrial park as soon as next week.

Christiansen Capital Advisors in Maine is updating a two-year-old economic impact study and another firm will be asked to revisit an old traffic study, Bauer said.

Town authorities have hired attorney Anthony DeSisto to draft amendments to the zoning ordinance related to the casino project.

Residents can review the studies and other agreements with Harrah’s before the November vote, Town Council President John Flynn said.

But casino critics have questioned why the studies have been delayed for so long. Frank Lombardo, president of West Warwick Citizens Against the Casino, dismissed the sudden activity as too late.

“This information should have been available to us long before,” Lombardo said.

In Maine, state election officials have given the go-ahead for voters to decide two casino-related questions in 2007.

One referendum proposal asks whether Maine’s Passamaquoddy Indian tribe should be allowed to run a harness racing track with slot machines and high-stakes beano games in Washington County.

The second asks whether public use of slot machines should be banned in Maine.