 Good morning all We are conducting a Massachusetts gaming commission meeting and we're doing so virtually so we'll take a roll call vote. I mean not vote I'm sorry roll call. Good morning commissioner of Ryan Good morning. I'm here Great. Good morning commissioner Hill. Good morning. I am here Good morning commissioner Skinner. Good morning. I'm here. Good morning commissioner mayor morning. I am here Great, thank you, everyone We'll get started of the call to order today is November 29th, and we have Number eight. Good morning, commissioner Hill Good morning, madam chair. I moved at the commission approved the minutes from the September 8th 2022 agenda-setting meeting that are included in the commissioners packet subject any necessary corrections for typographical errors or non-material matters Could I ask for just a tad of discussion, please? Okay the advantage of these really complete minutes is that they do remind us of some of our topics and this is a the meeting where treasurer Goldberg appeared and Todd I just wanted to Check in because I've lost track of a few of the items that he requested. So in those minutes She did of course Indicated desire for us to Replicate the commitment that 23k has to preserving the lottery and we did that in the application I we address that in the application. I believe that's right, right Karen But I'm wondering next about I don't believe we have it in a regulation So that's something for the commissioners to think about and for legal to think about But she also remind this these reminded me of the issue around the unclaimed property and commissioner O'Brien I think you agreed and it's noted here that we should think about the advanced deposit lasering accounts being treated That's abandoned property and I know that Mark William Bracken did say that he might be getting back to us That may not have happened, but I'm wondering if we should follow up with that and would that be a regulation? I see commissioner O'Brien shaking her head Not again. Yeah, definitely. So I raised that question about the The adw's gosh a couple of years ago I think we had a conversation about whether they should be treated as abandoned property or a kid to the lost tickets And I wasn't really satisfied with the answer on that So I do think we would circle back to the regs on that side To make sure that it's treated consistently in 23k and 23m and it looks like there are a couple of states that we could Rely on I remember we were all in agreement at this meeting and I just want to make sure we follow through Todd can we perhaps add that to our regulatory framework and then I Did note that I know that mark is reaching out to the Treasury on the studies So I think we're all covered there at the end of item two and then I just had one Edit and forgive me. I didn't get a chance to go back to the The meeting and I may not have been as articulate as I should have been but on page five It's a lengthy narrative and the minutes are excellent. Thank you at the Next the last paragraph that starts with chair Judd Stein. So it'd be section three three a near the end I Did indicate that there was a public safety issue and I thought I elaborated a little bit more on what that was but just was is that because With waiting have been legalized, but our framework wasn't in place Folks might think that they could place bats and the various companies might take advantage of them during this time and that was So I I wanted to emphasize that there was a public safety and a public health issue through that land I don't know if it could be noted that it that that's what the public safety and welfare issue from my perspective was Madam chair, can you Repeat for me the page and the paragraph you're talking to so I can have that noted. So page five This actually packet page seven page five of the minutes and then it's so that's the end of paragraph 3a And it's just the next the last paragraph. So it says there was a public safety and welfare issue as a result As a result and I think I wrote, you know last night because individuals continue to bet illegally without the benefit of consumer protections in That nefarious companies could attempt to take advantage of those betters during this interim period Got it. Okay. Excellent. Thanks. If folks don't object to that. I'd appreciate that in it. Thank you So I think that you had moved but I I asked for discussion my apologies. I Just have a typographical Correction to a legal citation. It's page four of the minutes page six of the meeting packet The end of the second paragraph it says 30 little a in parentheses. I believe that should be 30 Capital a I'll set with that Commissioner Hill. Yeah So we have a motion with a couple of suggested edits. Is there any further discussion? Oh, I need a second though I guess it was out of order second Okay, I think I've got it from Commissioner O'Brien. So the discussion any further discussion? All right Commissioner Hill The Commissioner O'Brien my apologies, Commissioner O'Brien. Hi Commissioner Hill. Hi Commissioner Skinner. Hi Commissioner Maynard. I Vote yes. Thanks everyone Well done Expensive and very very helpful Well, now we're going to move to our next item on the agenda Ministry of Update. Good morning. Second Director Wells Morning, I am going to turn it right over to assistant director Dan to give you an update on what's going on Morning Madam Chair commissioners. I'm going to start out with my first update on PPC and from November 21st the 23rd MGM To the MGM successfully hosted the Mayflower Marathon It's not a running marathon but a radio marathon for both non-perishable foods and money Donations towards the food bank of western Massachusetts Although the totals are still being calculated It's close to a hundred and seventy five thousand cash and food donations The largest in its 30-year history Then on Friday They hosted an official holiday tree lighting event in the Armory Plaza Along with opening their ice rink for the winter season over 700 people attended with appearances from Patriots Pat Patriots cheerleaders Wally from the Red Sox and Boomer from the Thunderbird hockey team They also began their toys For Tox toy drive for employees and guests to donate towards the 11 9 11 9 when The Marines to get their toys for their new homes At you muted yourself we got most of it. Yeah, all right The at PPC they concluded their horse racing event at Last Friday They are including their last Sweepstakes promotion, which is the 50 plus sweepstakes. We have to be 50 and older to join at Encore They opened up pit 36 in front of the future sports wagering cage, which is six table games and Next week that they will be receiving 50 sports betting kiosks in the casino any questions any questions from Band Could you just repeat the number of kiosks? They'll be receiving 50. It'd be the first 50. I think they'll be receiving. I think it's a hundred and twenty four all together But that will be the first shift Okay commissioners all set Excellent report. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you All right, then we'll move right along Good morning, Dr. Like on to item number four on the agenda Thank you. I'm joined with the Steve O'Toole director of racing for Plain Ridge Park casino today to update the Commission on the rescheduling and cancellations that we had this summer Thursday, July 21st was rescheduled to Friday the 22nd due to extreme heat And I believe there is also a storm coming in later that day Sunday, July 24th, which was the spirit of mass day was rescheduled to the Monday And then the Monday program was moved to Tuesday July 26th again because of extreme heat or casted for the Sunday and then Thursday August 4th was canceled due to extreme heat and then races were added to other race cards the That Friday card we ran 12 races instead of the usual, you know, approximately 10 races and all So what this means is that for this year instead of racing a hundred and ten days of racing That was approved by the Commission the year before for for this year. They raced a hundred and nine days this still is, you know, well above the 100 days of live racing that they need to have in order to simulcast and The In 2013 the Commission delegated some of different items to the director of racing and one of them was approving cancellations and rescheduling of days But that delegation does say that it will come before the Commission Especially considered for a canceled day. So that's why we've got it in front of you today Thank you, Dr. Light down director. Oh, good morning. Would you like to add it? Thank you for your memo Here's another just, you know We tried to take the statute Seriously when it comes to a safe race meet and one of the issues of course is Usually the one thing that is a stumbling block for us is extreme heat Horses Historically have raced in inclement weather Rain even snow sometimes at some of the tracks that raced during the winter months and they you know, that's where the term mutter comes in when it rains but You know, the heat it could be exhausting for some for some animals and we don't like to stress them out. So that's the one stumbling block that usually gets in our way and that we take very seriously and try to protect Not only the the horses, but of course the the drivers who are athletes and the trainers that they are working It can get, you know, it can get kind of oppressive. So we take that very seriously and we always have our eye on the weather At all times of the year, but especially during the summer when the heat index gets up there Thank you. And Dr. Light down you are seeking a vote on this You did provide a recommendation at the end of your memorandum Yes, Todd may wish to expand on that whether we need a vote or not We I did ask for one But I don't know if if Todd would like to Join in here good morning, everybody the The specific language in the delegation says that any permanent change in the length of the racing schedule or amendment to the license granted to A licensee will come before the commission for approval So I think you you could certainly could take a vote Or we could if you're comfortable with the adjustments that were made since they already happened You could just coalesce around that. So I think a vote would be appropriate though It's a long-winded way of saying Right, it's not on the document per se, but you've been advice I've been advised in the past. It's okay vote is not on the agenda per se yes So, uh, you do reference the delegate the delegation document I think that's something that probably all the commissioners need to at some point review because I don't think any of us were actually um part of that Delegation that's right. Dr. Lightman. Yes, and and that's something that we've had on our list of our to-do list There's some things on that The list that I I personally would not Want delegated to me or or I wouldn't act on on them. I would go to the commission instead so It certainly this was something that was done in 2013. So It certainly could be updated. It needs to be updated I remember you mentioning that to me. Dr. Lightman that well, there's a delegation But you knew there are a few items there that you wouldn't want to assume responsibility for so we do need to look at that We have a very busy calendar these next couple of months, but on dr. Lightman I'm going to ask that you hold us accountable and and with commissioner hill If we could bring that forward Perhaps some time before the racing season starts up, which will be a tomorrow Even I were just commenting on how how quickly it'll come around and we'll be getting our steps back on and all that What's the anticipated start date? It's april 10th. Yeah. Yeah So in other words, we don't have a luxury of a lot of time But let's if we can we can get it into a A regular public meeting over the course of the new year And and and look at that delegation to put us in a good position and make sure the commissioners are Does that make sense commissioners? Now do you want to do you want I'm going to take a lead if there's a motion to To vote on this matter and formally Move on start to like bounce recommendation. I'll take that motion. Otherwise We can record that we have some kind of a consensus. Would you like to move? I'm chair I move the commission approved the request of plain-range park casino to amend their 2022 Racing schedule as requested in their november 21st letter and discussed here today Mr. Thank you. Okay. Um, any discussion? All right, uh commissioner bryne Hi Mr. Hill Hi Mr. Skinner. Hi Commissioner Maynard. Hi, and I vote yes. Okay. Five zero. Thank you And thank you, doctor. Um, and uh, congratulations on your your season Thank you Well done. Thank you for the vote. Appreciate it. Thank you All right, so now we're moving on to item number five A topic near and dear to us. We are looking for ways to create efficiencies for you on public records Director wells and and team. Thank you. Exactly. So, um, we have been working diligently And I'd like to give a lot of credit to kary and katelyn for working on this Obviously public records are a really important function of any kind of state agency. It's part of our obligations To be transparent. So we have been looking at solutions to as you said, create some efficiencies and also On integrity because we want to make sure that any Responses to give for public records requests are complete and accurate So i'm going to turn it over to kary just sort of give you an overview where we are Then katelyn will talk about a little bit about where the solution is and i'll wrap up with You know what the recommendation is going forward. I don't think this is something needs a vote for say But we're looking for commission by and this is this is the way to go and just sort of give me the thumbs up to go ahead and Take this approach and move forward with this process So why don't I turn it over to kary first just to give you an overview of where we are Thank you karyn and good morning, madam chair and commissioners Uh, so you'll recall that last spring we had started this conversation about possible it solutions for our public records requests and responses And at the time we had discussed the possibility of using a vendor to essentially serve as our E discovery expert in sort of the same way that eos used to where they would run the searches for us and deliver results to us Since then we look in some into some other options that could Really better serve the legal department's needs and we've found some e discovery tools that would allow us to More efficiently segregate and review potentially responsive documents while also sort of providing us With some of that assistance on narrowing and tailoring searches These would essentially be platforms that that would provide us with What we'd call sort of an over the shoulder assistance to fine-tune searches where we would be performing them ourselves As well as more efficient sorting reviewing and production of those actual results So i'm actually going to turn it over to katelyn to talk in a little bit more detail about these options that we've found Good morning So as kary said, we have been looking into various e discovery tools And so what i'd like to do is just give you a little bit of information about The the types of requests that we get and then the just the tools that we're looking at So as the commission knows the legal department reviews in response to all public records requests that are received by the commission Currently that's about 60 to 70 requests a year Although we do expect that number to increase with the addition of sports wagering and the many sports wagering licensees that we are about to have Um, and these requests are often very very broad And so they require a time consuming review of literally thousands of pages for potentially responsive materials And so what the e discovery tools are designed to do is to allow attorneys to efficiently process very large volumes of material like this And specifically what they let you do is first you can use search terms to identify potentially responsive materials So you're using search terms and search functions to narrow down to just the set that you think is potentially responsive Once you have that set it allows you to Deplicate the potentially responsive materials so that you're not reviewing the same document multiple times So currently if a meeting invite is potentially responsive and a hundred people at the commission got it It shows up a hundred times in search results So things like that create a lot of efficiency with this tool Um, it also allows you to review the documents in an order that makes sense So that's often chronologically so you can sort of see the conversation chain see what's happening Um, for some cases it might be by title by custodian, but right now It's just a mishmash documents just get pulled down You're sort of looking by custodian the time frames are all over the place And that just again doesn't lead to efficiency doesn't help you to sort of understand the chronology of what's going on in any particular case um This tool will also allow you to apply Tags to documents. So every time you look at a document you can just apply tags that say is this responsive? Yes, or no is this privileged? Yes, or no. Um, are there public records? Exemption issues yes or no doesn't need redactions and you apply those tags and it sticks to the document So you have that you can go back you can search by them You're not sort of putting them in different files and trying to keep organized that way Um, it also allows you to redact the materials right in the tool So you just go in you have the set that you need redactions for you apply them in the tool And then when you produce them out of the database they have their redactions on them Um, and then finally it allows you to create a set of documents for production So once you're done everything is reviewed you're comfortable with the set reductions are applied You're able to sort of produce it right out of the tool to give to the requester um So as we've been uh sort of reviewing the different tools out there We've learned that the executive office of technology services and security and the attorney general's office Both use these type of e-discovery tools We also think it's very likely that there are other agencies. We're just not aware of but you know, the long and short of it is that Agencies are adopting these tools given that the the volume of data that we're all dealing with these days And they're also, you know commonly used by law firms, which is um how I have my experience with them from my my prior job Um, so currently what the legal department has access to is the microsoft e-discovery tool It's a great tool But it has limited functionality for attorneys basically limited functionality for searching for and reviewing documents And so what that means is that our current reviews are very very manual You know, we're we're downloading things to different places. We're clicking a lot of times. It's just we're not really able to tag that efficiently it's just It's meant more for the it back ends than for sort of a attorney use And so we do believe that utilizing an enhanced e-discovery tool with a technical partner Who would assist with running searches exporting documents and any other technical matters that come up would Allow the legal department to review and produce documents much more efficiently accurately and quickly So with that I can turn that turn it back over to Karen and obviously take any questions about the tools themselves Katrina Beg would go as well the cio who's been in on this process and advising on this Who's on board with this and she's available for any questions as well Um, and I think the ask at this point, you know, just making sure the commission is comfortable with going in this direction I think this is the more modern approach and we expect a lot of public outreach requests we can do sports wagering and uh, I am certainly advocating for Use of a this uh enhanced tool and also the technical partner I think the plan would be to use the technical partner, which I think Katrina Correct me if I'm wrong. This is sort of an over-the-shoulder assistant So we're not giving it to someone else to run our searches. It's it's assistance with With the searches so we could do a limited contract with that see how that goes that might be part of the training module And then go ahead and evaluate after a period of time to see if we really need that going forward Or if we're all set on our own so that's that's the plan just sort of looking for some feedback that This is the direction that the commission should be going in Um, so the last time this came up. I had talked about this. I've used it in the AG's office and the AG's office I think they're a great tool. So I think it's definitely the way to go to deal with it It's probably going to be more requests coming in I have a comment from commissioners I just want to echo that. I also used a similar tool When I was uh working in the executive office of health and human services So I think it is a good move. I have a question About the technical partner. However Do the AG's office or does the AG's office? And eons, do they use a technical partner and is what you're proposing consistent with it? They are the way they utilize the technical partner I know the answer to that question. I don't know. Caitlin. Do you know the answer to that question? If memory serves, I think The AG's office has someone in house for the technical piece of that But I can allow Katrina to speak about sort of in-house versus sort of a partner So I can't speak about the AG's office, but I can for eons. So eons does have a lot of contracted Contractors that work with them in this capacity and they also do utilize like Caitlin said so eloquently earlier The services that we're looking at. So we're looking at similar services. If not exactly the same ones And so it entirely depends on the agency at that time And I think, you know, I think Karen you might have touched on this and maybe I might have missed it But the goal is to really get the tool in our hands so we can start utilizing and working with it and having When when we say the technical partner, it's really the company itself who actually owns the tool that would be over our shoulder Working with us and if and should the need arise later To have a little bit more in-depth capabilities We would be looking at maybe working with someone from those entities if not on a contract basis or you know, if If uh hiring or or funding allows bringing someone internally But that's not something we really wanted to commit to quite yet since it is a newer tool And we really do need to understand its capabilities and and work with it And we really wanted to see what it's going to look like probably, you know, six months or so As we're moving forward with it Yeah, I'm definitely supportive of the use of the e-discovery tool But would be looking for some additional information on the Arrangement with the technical partner just some specifics about how how that would work and exactly what it is that they Be expected to do what role they would play in the public records So it would be so they wouldn't really have a direct role So the the existing e-discovery tool through microsoft would pull the searches like it does now Where this tool steps in is to really finesse or fine-tune those searches to get you more robust and Accurate results as you're working through the public record searches If and I I think I explained this once before If you remember and and if you don't I totally understand because it was a very convoluted statement There's a lot of compounding if then statement sometimes with our public record searches What makes it really difficult to get the exact results you need because there's so many search terms that are in it The particular partner would really be working with katelin or kary or whomever from the legal team That has access to the tool And and over the shoulder basically working with them to fine-tune the searches to help them With the boolean setup of the language in order to secure the best results with the search criteria established So we have the expression there's hands-on keyboard or over the shoulder They will not be hands-on keyboard our legal team would be hands-on keyboard They would be over the shoulder almost in a consultative role of you know You could set the search up like this and it would yield these results Or you could set it up like this and it would yield x results And that's really their involvement working with the legal team So they'd be the expert essentially on the searches because I think I I do actually now that you that you Refresh my recollection. I do remember the discussion and I I think I remember even saying you know, I utilized this tool But I was not an expert at it. So I think that would be an added Measure so that we can ensure that we are going to Most appropriate searches for whatever is being requested Oh, did I did somebody else on Krishna Hill? Were you starting to somebody else start? I'm sorry I was actually it if Karen is looking for consensus I too would be supportive of moving forward with this and I just clarify For me. This is an addition to what we already do now Yep Yep, thank you Would it be more precise to say it will be a replacement Well, it's on it's on top of it. But that that makes sense. So there is the It's a tool for the attorneys as opposed to a tool for it for it searches Yeah, because what I'm just saying is I'm hoping that whatever we have now doesn't Whatever tool we get isn't complicated by what we have. That's all I'm saying Yeah, I'm sorry just a quick comment Madam chair, they work in they work in tandem with each other So one is the the base if you think of like a house one's the foundation, which is the Microsoft e-discovery tool and the The tool that Caitlin and Karen is referring to That sits on top of it. So they work together. One can't really work without the other one Okay, excellent. So it is going to complement commissioner Maynard. Did you have any thoughts? No, I I agree with commissioner Hill that they're looking for consensus. I I would and I hear the director saying that we need it. Um, I will say that, um I'm assuming the run or my question would be I'm assuming the run of the mill Records requests that could be kind of produced quickly Would still just go through the normal quick process that we wouldn't be bringing To commissioner Skinner's point any kind of outside health except on these larger matters I'm assuming that and in that consensus I think that's I think that's fair enough. I think, you know a small request for a one-off document or a couple of documents That's easy enough for us to go find and reproduce Um, but I think you'd be surprised commissioner. How quickly things get complicated. Um, So you very you know, what can seem like a very small request can actually yield hundreds if not thousands of documents For searching. So, um, we'll use it, you know as needed, but like you said not all the time the smaller requests won't need it I'm going to jump in on commissioner Maynard and defend him because I suspect he's had a lot of experience with very very very extensive fair enough So I just I'm going to just jump in And I want to bring this to a discussion to a close, but I um carry I promised you that we would not leave you alone On good records and I have been an advocate for carry Um, because I have and I've mentioned it to Karen I didn't feel that we needed to send our records out of shop. I did feel we needed to improve our tools And it sounds like with a lot of good concerted research, which I applaud you all on and looking at all the options You've found really what is out there for e-discovery tools Piazz's was transformational right Katrina in terms of state government Came in it's a now a full secretariat and one of their first and I can attest to it One of their first jobs was to make sure e-discovery tools were put throughout the system And um and and uh with mark nunley at the at the helm and and for that He and his team were just terribly transformational in achieving efficiencies in state government The attorney general's office also benefited from e-outs being a secretary as did I think all entities across state government So now, you know, we're we're going to get that benefit for carry And as I said always carry you're never alone on public records And I you know, Caitlyn has been now, you know As she saw From her experience of Wilmer hail what you needed the tools are there and I'm all in And I also just appreciate who the technical expert is I I liken it to When I was doing lexus nexus searches as a young lawyer That phone number I could call um at the lexus nexus to say I need help on the searches. So it really would be I'm assuming that's the kind of technical help we'd be using and it's not as how they look at the productions or even the class so Um, I'm all in so that's excellent caring. Can you have the contract assigned? Not yet, but I will uh, I will work with the team and we will get on it because I'm sure Mary is very excited that this yeah from my perspective it can't happen soon enough. So this is all excellent news Congratulations. So thank you. Uh, Caitlyn and Kerry for your reports. Anything else commissioners on this? Alrighty, um, then they're going to move Right on to sports wagering updates here So, uh, the first item on the agenda is just, um, something before the commission regarding, uh, mgms application there was, uh, I believe a little miscommunication between, uh, mgms springfield and corporate Which resulted in their application. They submitted their fee on the due date of the 21st the monday, but the application did not come in until wednesday. So there is a provision in our regs which allows um, the commission to authorize the The application to still go forward, but i'm just going to turn it over to gust kim just to uh, specifically Ask for that on behalf of them Thank you, karen. Uh, good morning commissioners. Good morning chair. It's always a pleasure to appear before you and uh, and Also again our compliments Executive director wells and director lilios and the entire mgc team on the great Collaboration that we have As an executive director wells mentioned there was a miscommunication That is completely my fault. I apologize. I I am so sorry that it happened Uh, but as soon as we were we we we realized that there was an issue. We quickly corrected the problem Uh, all of the paperwork is in everything is done and all is all of the all of our filings including our redactions have before um the commission uh today so Uh, our executive director wells. We asked that the commissioners approve Uh, the process of our applications. Thank you Madam chair, I think that uh, this requires a vote because it is in the regulations and um The application for springfield is in a different posture for this kind of request than uh, if it was a competitive Application process so given that the way uh, 23 and is structured there's there's a almost presumption of License for the three casinos So mgm springfield is not really competing against another entity In order to receive the license so there therefore the you know, the delay of a couple of days does not impact any other party And no other party would be agreed So can I before I turn to the commissioners Todd could you just go over the regulation and then um and and and Perhaps even build on what uh director wells just mentioned in terms of cat ones being slightly different Um, and then also what it would be helpful perhaps just as a preview What will our role be for cat ones when we do hear them and it's slated on our on our own Our schedule for december 6 7th and 8th If you have that, um, there is an approval that we'll be doing at that process. So maybe just go through the legal the reg Cat ones and then what we'll be doing next week Sure, I'd be happy to jump in um start with the application The mgm application itself I believe the regulation That governs this issue is in the packet for you to take a look at at the very end It's uh 205 cm r 211.01, which is the general regulation Discussing the application and the part of the process in 211.01 paragraph 1 it says That the commission shall have no obligation to accept or review an incomplete application or an application submitted after the established deadline And that is the situation here. So you do have discretion as whether you want to Accept or review that application there's a A provision at the end. So it's a paragraph 10 So it's 211.01 10 that talks about the extension of the time for filing And it says that the commission may in its discretion extend the time for filing a complete application And then there are two Kind of scenarios that are discussed and the one we're looking at here is the second one Which says that the commission can provide reasonable additional time For filing in cases or extraordinary circumstances prevented a timely filing So I guess the question before you is whether The situation just described to you is an extraordinary circumstance Prevented a timely filing and if so you can allow it and take in the application The rigs don't really get into the distinction between the different categories In this particular regard, but it is certainly fair to note that This is a category one Application and Karen just described the distinction between that and the category three untethered in particular So that's the first issue before you as to whether you will accept the MGM application for a category one sportsway during license And should we pause there or do omitted keep going any questions so far commissioners I'll set Thanks, Todd. Okay so the I think the next part of the The question madam chair is as to how applications will be reviewed and and this is something That is is coming up. Is that do I have that right? It's not necessarily the process but ultimately that what is the commission the cat one does It is different than a competitive process, but we still Do something affirmative next week, correct? That's right. Yes. Absolutely. So, you know, the the criteria Are all the same across the categories Regardless of whether it's a competitive process or not. So you still need to evaluate the applications and the quality of the submissions and understand the substance of them and whether The submission has satisfied each of the criteria To the point that you are comfortable awarding a license. So, yeah, I would I certainly agree with Karen's characterization as it being a presumptive award in in some ways, but there is still a requirement that the minimum requirements be satisfied and And that's part of what you need to be looking at The regulations of course set out a number of tools that will allow you to to guide that review, but ultimately You will be applying the criteria that we've discussed. They're set out in section 218 you'll recall including things like the experience and expertise in sports wagering economic impact and other benefits the suitability And the use of technology and things along those lines. So those are the considerations That will be applied to the review of the application that's been submitted. So that's that's kind of the The nature of the analysis that will be performed by the commission though Certainly there there's no competition. So it's just a threshold the type inquiry One follow-up question and I'll turn to my fellow commissioners Will we at that time it would be an awarding of a license if if aren't the standards are met Would the commission have the discretion to assign or impose any conditions to that license? Yes, absolutely. And there's a whole section on The imposition of conditions. Some of them Are going to be absolutely required as for example the Need to abide by any affirmative statements made in the application And things along those lines. I don't have that regulation right in front of me But we did articulate each of the conditions that will become Mandatory and then there may be others that emerge during the review that you'll have the discretion to attach to the award As well. So that is a necessary and critical part of the review process Thanks that for me. I just wanted I hadn't thank you talk because I hadn't asked for that. Um, so you did that Without any warning. So I appreciate your your preparation I thought it was important for us to just Even set the stage for ourselves as to our work next week And we do have this category one issue today in front of us which director wells has presented and thank you counsel Kim for your update commissioners, do you have questions for any member of our team or for gus? Madam chair, I um was having an issue Technology wise with my computer and I didn't hear gus. What the reason was why this was um Not put on on time Could you repeat it for me? Oh, yes, commissioner. Oh So we had filed our scoping Survey our interest in these dimensions. We had um, obviously paid our fees And so in terms of discussions about who I'm supposed to do what I um, I Inadequately communicating to our corporate team about what they were or what what courses they were supposed to do And so again, I the fault was completely with me It was it when we were struggling to do both the bed engine application Are because at the same time and there was a mix-up and it was an extraordinary circumstance where people Many people were doing many things at the same time and so um, I I do ask for you the The commissioners indulgence and and ask that you allow our application to go forward on this one. Thank you Thank you yes Attorney Kim good morning Just to clarify. I just was it The case that you were unaware of the deadline or was it that different folks Thought that they had responsibility for submitting the application Thank you commissioners. Can it was a ladder? Um, there was there was a mix-up about who was who was doing portions of the applications And so we we did we were late in getting the application completely put together And so that that's where the issue rose again As I said, there was bed and gyms application that we weren't working on we're working on this application And there was just a lot of confusion about who was doing what which portions of the application As I said, as soon as we realized that there were pieces missing We worked feverishly to put it together and we filed it About about 48 hours after The deadline Just a reminder of that MGM is the what we're referring to as a category through tethered Atticates that MGM Is proposing to work with Questions for for councillor Kim commissary O'Brien I don't have a question so much as just a comment on the posture which is for me. This is Unique in that the statutory Language and connection with the cat ones the shell versus the may And the fact that we have already Treated the cat twos in a rolling basis and so for me Those are pretty powerful reasons in terms of the request in terms of you know my my willingness to say yes to this I just wanted to make that clear on the record. This is a unique procedural posture to the request Other comments Well, I'm in agreement with commissioner O'Brien But I appreciate you guys coming in and in claiming that responsibility All of us have been there so And so we appreciate the candor And I do see it's a different posture than the competitiveness as You know Applicants or applications as commissioner O'Brien articulated Commissioners any other comments Then I I do think and and you know we anticipated this and I remember the conversation We were all extending the idea of empathy when something can go awry And that's why this This provision was put into the regulation so we have to Make it the same um, so We have to we're not obligated, but we could move to receive the application Madam chair, I would be Commissioner Skinner had her Window open before I did. Okay. We'll go with commissioner Skinner That um commission Skinner it was a it was a tie. He yields to you Thank you commissioner hill Madam chair and commissioners. I move that the commission extend MGM springfields time for filing a complete application in accordance with 205 cmr 211 10 and accepted sportsway during operator license application as of the date submitted and as discussed here today Second Thank you. Any further discussion? All right commissioner o'Brien I Commissioner Hills I commissioner Skinner I Commissioner Maynard I And I vote yes five zero um, thank you, uh I've gots for coming in this morning. It's nice to see you Uh, we've taken care of that business and I think probably my fellow commissioners Would like to say that it was nice to hear from director band today that you had You've opened up the skating rink There have been some good festivities and some wonderful Programming going on at MGM And for that, we know we'll hear more details of the quarterly report, but we thank you for that Anything you want to say commissioners to best before he parts I'll set and uh, so the business of the the day has been taken care of us The commissioner. Thank you chairs appreciate there Again, just just to reiterate the main power matter marathon We were very proud to take that on The hall of fame used to do the marathon the main power marathon and they were unable to do so this year and We were asked and we were more than happy to to assume that responsibility It was uh, it was a fantastic turnout The the participation from our team members was amazing And so I believe that That that their stand is right that we've probably broken some records in terms of how much we've collected on that So we're very proud of their effort and of course the tree lighting And the skating rink, you know, it's it's a signature event for us And we were again, we were very happy with the turnout and the mayor was there Signatories were there and we were really wonderful. It was a wonderful review session Well received by the community. So thank you very much for that Thank you Okay, we're all set then Karen, are you excited about the agenda? The next one I'm going to turn over to uh, loretta for the application processing update on the sports advisory application Karen good morning chair. Good morning commissioners So yes, the applications were received last week in the licensing division Did meet their goal? excuse me of Transferring all of the documents associated with each application from our secure site to the office's share point and They were able to make the materials and the submissions available to the appropriate staff internally There is still work to do around making those files with our document filing system our electronic filing system so that they are more user friendly But the week last week was a successful week in uploading all of the documents and making them available to internal staff The division the licensing division has now turned its attention to performing the deficiency reviews of those materials so that as you know is a Very important part of this process And the division is aligning the ordering of their work to align with the commission's timetable So for instance, there is a focus now on the tethered category threes Because that is you know, what the ieb has on its plate First the ieb is not waiting for the deficiency reviews to be completed before it starts its review for preliminary suitability that is happening on an ongoing basis and The licensing division intends to communicate with the applicants on a rolling basis about their deficiencies That team is working on site now So, uh, you know, I urge you to say hello, but please don't interrupt them too much if you do So they're working really hard and there are some new members of the team and some members of the team are doing this review work Which is not part of their ordinary Work, but it's an all hands-on deck process And they are making head work So That is the process update on the applications Questions for dark millios Can we come by with candy? That's always appreciated for sure Well, thank you to that team and we understand it is growing Um, no questions for loretta all set everyone So that update. Thank you for the excellent work And I know it's on it's ongoing, but you know, you've gotten us to a great place right now and we thank you So for commissioners updates, I just want to take I have a question for us that um, I was going to wait till Our agenda signing meeting, but it might be more pertinent to today. But before I go to that I just want to point out that we have Trudy larty. She's she may be listening. She may not be But she has joined our team as the commissioners executive assistant. We'll have a more formal welcome for trudy um on on thursday But trudy if you're listening welcome. She's sitting outside Commissioners of ryan's commissioners hills office and we are delighted to have her be a member of the team Thank you Trudy, thank you And they'll be a more formal. Um welcome on thursday. Thank you Okay, um my issue caring It's I think it might make sense to bring this up in this public meeting because of timing But yesterday I had the benefit of speaking briefly with karen and then more with commissioners standard about the idea Including public hearings in advance of our review of each category And I I believe that We we actually came up with some Calendar proposals But that the hearings might be and we had the benefit of derrick joining us in that conversation But I thought this could be a chance for us to you know, think about this and in the pros and cons of perhaps putting on the calendar in advance of Our six set up an eight series for cat ones This we have time That has been given back on december 5th And we I think commissioners gonna we were thinking like 10 to 1 or something like that a three hour period And then um karen. What was the next date perhaps the 12 Before the tethered evaluations Then we were considering maybe starting the january 3rd To 19th period for the untethered evaluation the competitive review starting on the third And so this I thought might be a good opportunity for us to decide and then we would be giving the public notice If we do reach a consensus on this that we plan to post for public hearings And oh commissioners can I I don't know if you want to elaborate, but also the idea of written comments Yeah, just we had um identified, you know, just as sort of the overarching Issue is is is the opportunity for the public to give comment both in person And in in writing if they so choose and so while The chair has identified the Proposed dates for the public hearing We would continue to allow The public to submit written comment throughout The application review process So commissioners thoughts on this song We had not brought up public hearings and I think it it was probably more Once we got the applications and Became clear we might want that Commissioner bryan Yeah, no, I I've been asking for that all along Yeah, because we did it in the earlier processes and we do it in the horse racing setting all the time So I think we absolutely have to have them and so if we've got the dates in the calendar Set to go that's great And okay, so I think that the calendar is working crystal on those dates right now but fifth And sorry, I don't have to say the 12th and the third Yes And those were all place holds yesterday 10 to 10 to 1 and For the for the actual comments commissioner Uh commissioner maynard or commissioner hill you've got thumbs up you like that idea. Are you okay with the timing too? Okay Commissioner maynard it's a good plan Then to go Okay, great. So um again Important for the public we can get that started. It only gives more notice commissioner skinner than what we had anticipated. So Todd And crystal and mills you'll be coordinating that posting And we've added to your Yesterday he sent over a draft of the public area posting. So that's been already completed. So thank you Excellent. Excellent. Well, then it's all underway and and now we've actually reached consensus on it so Rather than waiting till tomorrow's a genocide me Is there anything else commissioners that you'd like to address? As a commissioner update Madam chair, it's not a commissioner update but more of a continuation of of the discussion you and I had Did you want to mention? the applications Availability on the website. Oh, you know, that's a good point because that is what they would need I did want to mention that. Thank you. Go ahead commissioner skinner So I I think I don't know how much has been relayed back to mills and crystal and and others but the request is that those applications be uploaded to the website for access by the general public to review in advance of the public hearing and Advance of the written comment. I believe Carrie was working on this yesterday And they might already be available, but I think it's it's important to state that for the public today Those would be redacted. Oh, here she is. Yeah, my understanding is that there would be the redacted versions, right? Yeah, we are oh, I'm sorry They've come in to the secure file transfer site. So just we'll take a bit of time to Pull them out combine them into whatever pdf They need to be combined and share them with mills and dave and get them posted But that is the plan and they'll be the redacted versions that were sent in by the applicant Carrie could we prioritize the three cap ones in light of the fact that the public hearing would be December 5th, I'm sure you're thinking that anyway, and the reactions Um It's what the applicants have redacted Karen subject possible change at some point All right, I think that's important for the public to understand obviously Given the volume that we're dealing with uh in our limited resources There was no way we could have gone through that the entire all of these applications and done The specific redactions that we would normally do ourselves So the process which the commission approved is that we instructed the applicants to do What they believe with the appropriate redactions under the public records law and under 23 n And so that's what's going to be posted if there are issues with their redactions We can deal with that over time, but there would not be a way for us to To do those redactions in this quick turnaround time. We wanted to get the information out to the public if possible Right and in part because it would take a give and take because Our legal team might not know what is in fact Secret or something protected any Yeah, so those might be subject to change. They might not be changed, but The public will see the redacted versions. Okay Anything else? Thanks commissioner skinner for that anything else All right It is 11 06 But um, and we know we covered a lot of material and and uh And it's a pleasure that it's was just about an hour. So thank you commissioners for your your Attention and we'll just need now motion to adjourn Move to adjourn I can Any discussion Commissioner bryne Hi, mr. Skinner. Hi Commissioner maynard. Hi And I vote yes five zero. Thanks everyone Thanks to the whole team