Middleborough Leaders Say Town Is Owed Casino Money

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has abandoned plans to build a casino in Middleborough, but town leaders are demanding the tribe continue agreed-upon payments.

Selectwoman Murial Duphily says the town has informed the tribe its next $250,000 payment is overdue.

"A contract does not just end because you say the contract is done," Duphily said. "There has to be some kind of settlement payment. So until that is done, the contract is in force. So they owe the yearly payment."

Though the tribe has backed-out of the casino deal, the town should be compensated for the work it did to ready itself for the casino's eventual arrival, Duphily said.

"Everything in this town has stopped for the last three years," Duphily said. "We have only been concentrating on doing the work that needed to be done in order to be shovel ready when they were ready."

To pressure the tribe to negotiate a settlement, Middleborough town leaders have also informed the U.S. Department of the Interior that the tribe has violated its contract.

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has yet to comment on the charge.