Selectmen have sent a letter to Governor Deval Patrick, complaining of a lack of public input into the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s discussions on a Taunton casino. Specifically, the selectmen cited traffic impacts to the area, as well as increased water withdrawal from the Assawompsett Pond Complex in Lakeville. Officials also wrote to the acting assistant secretary of Indian affairs, Donald Laverdure, and the director of Indian gaming Paula Hart this month to make certain all land in Middleborough has been “formally and irrevocably withdrawn” from the land-in-trust application filed by the Mashpee Wampanoag. The tribe owns, or has under agreement, 500 acres in Middleborough, which it had targeted for a casino, but the plan was abandoned two years ago. Local officials have been working on a lawsuit that alleges the tribe reneged on its side of the 2007 casino agreement with Middleborough.
