NL City Council clears way for OTB in proposed downtown restaurant

New London - In one of its first decisions as an elected body, the City Council on Tuesday gave Autotote Enterprises permission to open a horse- and dog-betting facility inside a proposed downtown sports bar and restaurant.

With the council's approval, local property manager and former City Councilor William Cornish hopes to have the new restaurant open by July. Autotote is banking on state approval to get its off-track betting facility up and running by August.

The vote was 5-2, with Deputy Mayor Adam Sprecace and Councilor Michael Buscetto voting against the motion.

"The new OTB model may succeed, but I'm concerned for New London, at least this location, (it) may not be right," Sprecace said.

Buscetto agreed that downtown may not be the best place for an OTB facility and suggested the recently closed Gridlock Grille on Colman Street might be better-suited.

Mayor Rob Pero and Councilors Wade A. Hyslop Jr., John Russell, Martin T. Olson and Michael Passero voted in favor.

"There's nothing illegal about it and it's not going to stop people from gambling,'' said Hyslop. "We have to remember, we already sell lottery tickets."

In November, Autotote, the state's only off-track betting franchise, proposed offering betting on horse and dog racing at a restaurant Cornish intends to build at the corner of Eugene O'Neill Drive and Golden Street.

Under state statutes, the hosting community, which receives 1.6 percent of the gambling proceeds, must approve the betting facility. Autotote estimates the New London facility will take in about $4 million a year in bets and the city would receive around $65,000. The state gets a 1.9 percent cut.

The council unanimously agreed to send a letter to the state's legislative delegation asking that the law be amended so municipalities receive a higher percentage.

The proposed 5,000-square-foot restaurant, which Cornish said he would operate as a sports bar tentatively named Copperwood, would include 260 square feet for a teller window and office for betting on thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races and jai alai games.

Cornish said he will begin cleaning out the building today. "I want to be open by Sailfest,'' he said after the meeting.

Don Barberino, Autotote's marketing director, said the next step is to ask the state legislature to allow simulcasting at the site. He said the goal is to be in operation by August.

Autotote, which bought OTB from the state in 1993, has 12 locations, including Race Book at Mohegan Sun and its newest facility, JD Coopers sports bar in Putnam. It is regulated by the state Department of Special Revenue and the Gaming Policy Board. The proposed New London facility would be similar to one in Putnam, which opened in September.

At a hearing in November, residents of the city and business owners came down on both sides of the issue. Some welcomed the proposed $65,000 in annual revenue the city would receive from the venture, but others said the facility is not the type of business the city should be attracting downtown.

In other business Tuesday, the council agreed to review its policy on when seized dogs should be euthanized.

It has been the police department's policy, based on recommendations made more than 10 years ago by the City Council, not to send pit bulls or Rottweilers recovered by the animal control officer out for adoption. At the time, a woman died after being attacked by a pit bull and another person suffered serious injuries from an attack, Police Chief Margaret Ackley said.

Ackley said Tuesday that the 10 pit bulls seized in a drug raid in October are still being evaluated and this week the animal control officer will determine if any of them can be "adopted out."

Ackley said the dogs were kept in a basement in a house on Alger Street, where police found drugs and firearms in an October raid. The owner of the pit bulls is in federal custody, she said, but has signed over the dogs to the city. The dogs are not vaccinated, some are sick and some are aggressive, she said. But a few may be able to be rehabilitated.

The city's policy is to return all dogs to their owners and try to find homes for any that are unclaimed. Under state statutes, the city's animal control officer determines whether a dog is safe to be adopted.

If a dog can be saved, it is generally transferred to a third-party agency that handles the adoption, Ackley said.