 We'll get started them with a roll call. Again, a good morning. We convened earlier for an agenda setting meeting. Nice to see everyone again at 10. Here we are. Commissioner Cameron. Good morning. I'm here. Excellent. Commissioner O'Brien. I am here. Good morning. And commissioners in a gun. Good morning. I'm here. Great. Thank you. We'll get started. And again, as we've already noted to some, we are convening today using our virtual. Connectivity. Platform that's allowed us to meet this way since the government issued a declaration of emergency. Well over a year ago. Due to the pandemic. We've been able to really. Use this virtual platform successfully during this period. We are convening today on May 26th, just after 10 a.m. It is public meeting number 345. It's a somewhat of a special meeting. We don't have. We don't have a, excuse me, minutes to address at this time. I did want to just start with just a short remarks. But it's been 15 months. Since the gaming commission convened with all three. Casino licensees in a virtual setting. Much like today's to discuss. The rapid reach of the coronavirus pandemic. And the need to protect patrons and employees. read with the commission's recommendation, the unimaginable really for the casino industry to temporarily suspend all operations. With that suspension came additional meetings, including two days of public round table discussions to develop guidelines that we all felt would support a sustainable reopening in July of last year. The three licensees we all have acknowledged have cooperated fully throughout this process, working always to serve the public's interests and protect their patrons and employees. The gaming commission, or IEB, reported regularly on that compliance and we thank Playmage Park Casino, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor today for its compliance and dedication to health and safety during this difficult period. We have consistently said that our regulatory oversight would follow the public health trends. Today, we reconvene as the CDC's guidance and that of the Baker Polito administration shifts to reflect the encouraging data on the risks associated with COVID-19 here in the Commonwealth. So I just wanna set the stage for today's meeting and a similar round table discussion. As the governor lifts all COVID-19 related restrictions effective May 29th, individual industries and employers are encouraged to formulate their own plans for transitioning into a full open operating environment. Today, we will hear first from representatives from the casino, racing and simulcasting industries as to their desires and expectations given the governor's new order. Second, the gaming commission adopted and imposed industry standards that in turn we must discuss and address today. After each individual presentation, I will invite open discussion among the commissioners and the licensees and I encourage commissioners to ask every question that you have and invite that open discussion that we enjoyed back on June of 2020 when we thought about a sustained reopening. And then finally, the IEB and horse racing division will be asked to update the commission on how it will implement and operationalize the changes that we expect to adopt today. And if need be, we can get an updated report from IEB at a later meeting. So before I turn the meeting over though to IEB director Lillios, I feel confident I can say this on behalf of my fellow commissioners that I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to the entire MGC team for its consistent commitment over the last 15 months. We have recognized your efforts along the way. In fact, the entire team was awarded the MGC's McHugh Award at the end of 2020 in light of its commitment and dedication well beyond its regular operating obligations. But the 29th of May will mark an important milestone that we accept with hope and excitement and with a prayer in our fingers crossed. So to executive director Wells, IEB director Lillios, Captain Connors of our GEU, thank you for your leadership and thank you to your teams. You really have been extraordinary and we can't express our gratitude really in any fulsome way, perhaps because we were working virtually. But if we were there personally, I think there would be hugs. So with that, we'll get started and I'm going to call on the meeting fully to order with beginning with director Lillios. Thank you chair and good morning chair and commissioners and thank you for setting the stage so nicely for this discussion this morning. I wanted to bring your attention to three documents that are in your packet. The three documents reflect the universe of COVID related measures that have been adopted by the commission that remain in place today. The first one which is dated June 23rd of 2020 is a seven page document that was adopted by the commission with very comprehensive standards, preparing for the reopening after the temporary closure. The second document which is dated October 8th of 2020 reflects the commission's determination to allow the two category one properties to reintroduce the game of roulette with a significant restrictions on player numbers, plexiglass and other restrictions. And then the final document dated March 11th, 2021, a year and one day after the declaration of the state of emergency reflects the commission's measures that were adopted to allow an additional fourth seat at blackjack tables and to allow the category one casinos to reintroduce the game of craps again with significant restrictions. As you know from the routine reporting that's been done, I don't know routine is nothing's routine been routine about this but the regular reporting that's been done to you there has been broad compliance and such a high degree of cooperation from the licensees and from the public. So chair, in light of the where we are today as you described so well, the IEP has been in touch with the licensees over the course of the past approximately one week about their possible plans moving forward because of course any movement forward we maintain our responsibility to do anything in a safe and orderly fashion and maintain public safety and maintain integrity in gaming. So at this point, I think it's appropriate to turn the conversation over to the licensees. I'd ask Encore to have a conversation with you about its thoughts about moving forward to this next stage. And I'd invite, I know that Jackie Crum is available to do so. So I would invite her to jump right in and address you with their intended plans for moving forward. Thank you very much and good morning to everyone. Good morning. Today is a good day. So a lot of excitement here at Encore. I wanna echo for opening remarks now and chair if I can because we've come a long way. It's been really, really difficult for our employees for our guests. And I wanna thank the commission and the commission staff and the GU for helping us develop and enforce these restrictions. I know it has been easy for anyone and we very much appreciate the support and the guidance. So jumping right in, if I could, we would respectfully request that we can return to prepend and cooperation based on business demands in all areas of the facility. So this would mean opening up every slot machine, every gaming table, restoring our restaurants to previous occupancy, restoring the occupancy frame before. Subject to continue to follow the guidance and protocols issued by the CDC, the Department of Public Health, Everett's local Department of Public Health and continued state guidance. Specifically as it pertains to face coverings, we would continue to adhere to CDC guidance and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's advisory regarding face coverings and cloth masks. We would allow fully vaccinated guests to not wear a mask and we will continue to make complimentary masks available for guest use. Upon entering the gaming area, guests are masked, whether they're vaccinated or unvaccinated, we'll continue to ask them to briefly remove their mask to briefly lower their mask for security purposes. On with respect to our employees, as you are aware, we've launched a back of house campaign encouraging our employees to get vaccinated. To further encourage vaccination, fully vaccinated employees who produce evidence of vaccination or receive a gift card from us. In addition, we've partnered with Cambridge Health Alliance to host a vaccination site at Uncle Boston Harbor with the hope that this makes it convenient for our team members and their families to be vaccinated. While we strongly encourage vaccinations, we do believe that it should be strictly followed. We will require employees who do not produce evidence of full vaccination to continue wearing a mask and fully vaccinated employees will not be required to wear a mask but may choose to do so. On health and sanitation, and do you want me to stop for questions or just go through the whole presentation first? I could jump in with a question if that's okay. When you talk about your employee program, how will you discern and monitor the masking amongst your employees? I understand they may have to produce something at one point but how will you monitor that on a shift basis? We have a very discreet change to badging that will allow us to distinguish. So we're trying not to necessarily make people have a big V on their forehead but it's a very subtle change to the badging that will be noticed, that managers can then enforce it also. Thank you. Jackie, I have a couple of questions from that. One about employees as a follow-up and one for patrons. Just devil's advocate for a little bit. You mentioned the discreteness of the badging. Couldn't somebody, couldn't I argue that having some kind of a button or not a big D on your forehead but some kind of indicator that you have been fully vaccinated as an employee, couldn't that bring some comfort to the patrons in some ways? I think the comfort that we'll provide to the patrons is that our employees who are not fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask and they will know that. That'll be our policy that we'll put out on our website. Okay. And then the same question that Loretta asked for employees about patrons, how would you identify patrons who are vaccinated and in order to make that call? Sure. Given the volume of patrons that come into our facility, it's just there's no way to do it other than go on the honor system for the state guidance, for the CDC and state guidance. I think it would be impossible for us to require every patron coming in to show us a vaccination card, have our security verified the vaccination and make sure that two weeks have passed. We would post signage visible at every single entrance that reiterates the CDC policy so that we are informing the public. We'd also put that information on our website as well. Okay. Should we have Jackie continue commissioners through the whole report? I see Aileen because I think they'll be overlapping among the three licensees. So perhaps it might be good to have as I just at the beginning the discussion will follow after each of the individual licensees make their plans because I think we'll have some overlapping points to discuss. So Jackie, thank you. We don't want Jackie to take all the heat in other words. That's okay. On our health and sanitation programs, we're gonna continue to promote hygiene for guests and employees. All of our employees have now received mandatory training for disinfection and safety protocols and we'll continue to implement these protocols as necessary. So we're going to continue to provide and maintain hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipe dispensers throughout the entire resort and the gaming area. In terms of transportation, these for the CDC and state guidance, we will continue to require face coverings for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals on all of our employee and guest shuttles, our car services and on our water, on our boats. We'll post appropriate signage at all these shuttle stops, the dock, the rideshare areas, notifying passengers of the continued requirement of the face covering. And we're also going to make sure that our bus drivers and boat operators have extra masks because we do anticipate that some people will show up. Not knowing that and continue to make masks available really throughout the entire resort. On cleaning procedures, as I said, we're gonna continue with our enhanced cleaning procedures including an increased frequency of cleaning and disinfecting all public areas with an emphasis on our high contact services, both front of and back of house. If we have a presumptive case of COVID-19 in a guest room, we will remove that guest room from service until the room can be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Our air filter replacement system will remain as we have had throughout the entire pandemic and will continue our HVAC cleaning system at the enhanced level that we've been doing. In terms of signage, we intend to post signage advising guests of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Advisory regarding face coverings and block masks. We will define what full vaccination is. That is after a second dose, sorry, two weeks after a second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or two weeks after the single Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We will continue to advise guests, including fully vaccinated individuals. If they're showing any symptoms, they should be tested. Wear a mask and not enter the facility. On guest communication, all of our protocols and procedures will continue to be, I should say, on our website. We'll also post a copy of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Advisory regarding face coverings and block masks. In terms of case notification, we will continue to notify the every Department of Public Health of any positive cases of COVID-19 that we are aware of, and we can continue to notify the IED as well. In addition, we'll continue our internal contact tracing protocols and employee quarantine policy, including paying employees who test positive for COVID to encourage them to let us know and to continue to stay. As I mentioned, we would like to return occupancy limits for all sections of the building and restore all gaming positions, both gaming tables and slot machines. We would like to remove all plexiglass subject to business demand. If we see that some guests prefer the plexi, we would do that in a, we would see based on that and keep plexi potentially in some locations. In other amenities, we would like to also resume full operation subject to business demand in our hotel, retail salon, spa, events and meeting areas. I'm pleased to say that we're seeing great interest in our bookings have really picked up. Food and beverage operations. In particular, we would like beverage service to be fully restored on the casino floor and to allow guests to circulate with food or beverage. At the current time, we intend to continue operating the hotel from Thursday through Sunday night and we'll look at how we can address that to meet demand. On security, we will return security to our pre-pandemic levels based on the increased occupancy and we'll continue to work with the gaming enforcement unit to utilize additional details during high volume periods, high occupancy periods. All of our tenants, we're gonna require them to comply with the same procedures that we are doing as well. And on nightclub operations, Big Night Entertainment runs our nightclub memoir and they will continue to be responsible for the operation of memoir. They have unfolded us that they would like to reopen in two phases. One would be a soft, what they call a soft reopening, scheduled for June 4th and 5th, which would be a relaxed lounge atmosphere designed to appeal to a less vibrant crowd, perhaps. They'd be a DJ cocktails and dancing but with minimal tables. They wouldn't do a major promotional advertising of that event. Phase two would be their grand reopening which they'd like scheduled for July 11th through 13th and this would be a star-studded talent and the nightclub would be operated in accordance with pre-pandemic standards. Big Night Entertainment operates a lot of nightclubs throughout Boston as well as in Connecticut. They feel very confident that they can do this in a safe manner. They have advised us that they will get professionally trained security staff at pre-pandemic levels and they will also have additional police details, also consistent with pre-pandemic levels. I think that, oh, you had asked a question about poker. We're continuing to assess whether to bring back live poker operations and we anticipate that we'll communicate a decision on or before December 31st. On that point, Jackie, could I ask you to address the bad beat jackpot with the intention with that? So we will work with Bruce's group to make sure that we are providing that to poker players that we're advertising it that way and we can do an event to return that to poker players specifically. Did you have an idea of the effective time in mind that you would like to suggest in doing this transition? Was it on the 29th? We would certainly be ready to go at 12.01 a.m. on the 29th if permitted to do so. Would you be able to work with the game sense staff regarding any modifications to their space? Absolutely, we'd help them transition in the manner that they choose to do so. And what are your thoughts about your conference space? What can you tell the commission about that, the convention space? Sure, so we're already operating the convention space in accordance with the guidance, the state guidance. Obviously we'd increase occupancy limits in those spaces and adhere to any guidance that the state issues. I don't believe there's any further restriction on those areas at this time. And are you able to speak at all to any plans for any outdoor, anything you're planning for outdoor space? We will be programming the event on for the summer. We intend to have beer gardens and live performances out on that lawn. I didn't have anything else, Chair. So Loretta is making sure that each licensee covers the certain categories that really are outlined in our guidelines. So that's why she's drilling down on specifics because of course the guidelines cover provision by provision, these categories. Jackie, do you have anything else you want to add at this time? Before we shift to MGM Springfield, are you all set? I'm good, thank you. Okay, and then we'll just hold our comments and questions and see where we have intersections and commonalities. Loretta? I think Seth Stratton from MGM Springfield along with Daniel Miller are prepared to address the commission with their thoughts. Good morning, Seth and Daniel. Good morning. Thank you for having us virtually. First commissioners, let me start with stating that we at MGM Springfield are excited. We're excited about the progress the Commonwealth has made under the good stewardship of our state and city officials to deal with the COVID pandemic. It's a, I think many of us would echo that it's a source of pride in the Commonwealth of how well the state has done and dealing with this unprecedented situation. So we want to thank our city and state officials for their strong leadership and getting us to this position. We are very excited for our employees to get back to work. Many of them have been and many of them are coming back now because of these restrictions lifting. So that's exciting for us. And we're really excited for our guests. We at heart at MGM are fundamentally a hospitality and entertainment business and we're excited to get back to doing what we do and entertaining folks and giving them an opportunity to visit our property. So it's really an exciting time for everyone. We're very thankful that we're here. And we also want to thank the gaming commission directly and particularly the IEB under Loretta's leadership for their very close collaboration through this period. It's been, there have been challenges for sure but I think it's a model of regulator licensee collaboration through this period to get to where we've gotten and to do it responsibly. And there have been, it's been nothing but strong collaboration from my standpoint. So thank you. I'll also thank Jackie for taking the lead. We're gonna just say me too, generally to what Jackie said, we echo her comments. We are very closely aligned both with operationally, what we plan to do as well as the request to have all COVID related restrictions lifted. But I will turn it over to Daniel to walk through very high level some of the operational issues and really focus on anything that's different from what Encore raised because overall we are very closely aligned with operationally planning and the request. So Daniel, if you could briefly walk through our plan and particularly focus on anything where there might be a difference between our plans and what Jackie outlined for us. Yes, sir. Thank you. And thank you, lady chair and commissioners again for allowing us to speak to you. So going through, as Seth said, we are pretty much aligned with Encore and Jackie's team from a procedural perspective even after May 29th, probably the first difference I would throw out the back of house program that we were handling for our employees as an incentive to become vaccinated is more a drawing. Employees have the opportunity, if they get vaccinated then upload their vaccination card to our HR system to be entered for cash prizes and also complimentary items here at MGM Springfield. So we're really trying to push the idea of getting vaccinated. But again, as Jackie said, it is still voluntary on their part. We really want them to. That would be the only real change there. We do as far as guests coming in. Daniel, before you go, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but just on that employee piece because Jackie did talk about the ability for managers to be able to monitor that on a day-to-day basis. Do you have some mechanism? Jackie talked about the badging. Is there some mechanism that you have planned that will allow for that as well? Very similarly, through us and our corporate partners, we will be applying a small decal to the company badge that would signify those who are vaccinated. That will only be handed out either by HR representatives or myself in the role of the Pandemic Safety Officer. And we'll have a list of those who are indeed vaccinated. Thank you. What I was just also saying is similarly to them regarding guests, it would be on the honor system. There wouldn't be a true manner for us to check every guest that walks through our doors to see if they aren't vaccinated. Continuing down the next real area that there would be any kind of difference, relies on the transportation portion. At this time, MGM Springfield is not looking to reinstate our ballet or limo services yet. We will, but not in the course of this coming week. And so there won't be any additional signage to the point of vaccinated versus unvaccinated still wearing masks at this point. But if that is still required when we introduce those services, we will of course put that signage up and make sure people are following that. Bear with me. So beyond that, really and truthfully, it is more amenities that we are looking to engage as of May 29th in line with Encore. We would look for all games and all gaming positions to be available to our guests. We would be looking to open at this time, just the walk up bar and the casino bar. We would not be looking to open the Commonwealth as a lounge again or the Knox bar area in the High Limit section. They will come later. And then one of the main other areas that we'd be looking at is over the summer. We will start to re-engage our Plaza area for our concert series. And along with that, just during the weekly concerts that would be once on Fridays between 7.30 and 9.00 PM, we would engage our Plaza bar as well. But we would look for guests to be able to move around the floor freely with food and drink again. Apart from that, not really any major differences between us and Encore. Thanks, Daniel. And if I could just add in a few affirmative components, which are aligned, I believe with Encore, but just to emphasize them is, again, we're looking for an ability to return at our discretion and as business demand dictates to pre-COVID environment. But we will continue to largely, one, we will of course follow CDC guidance. But as a customer amenity in addressing customer concerns, we will be keeping sanitizing wipes available. We will have masks available for those who are not vaccinated or more comfortable wearing. One, should they not have one with them? We will look to be phasing out Plexi, but we will do that phased and we will likely keep some gaming amenities with Plexi in place based on our view that certain customers may feel more comfortable in that environment. So we are looking for flexibility to phase out COVID related restrictions as we deem fit consistent with state and federal guidance, but we are not looking to eliminate every COVID related mitigation strategy as of the 29th, that'll be a gradual process. And we will of course, keep the gaming commission apprised of how that's going. And Seth, is there a corporate, like enhanced cleaning protocol that is still in place and that you expect to still apply to the Springfield property? Dan, could you feel that one? Yes, so we have our seven point health and safety plan that was created prior to reopening. That will still be available that we will train using for both employees and sanitization equipment. And could you specifically address your intentions with respect to the communication plan website, any social media and so forth? Yes, we will be updating all of those to reflect similarly again, to as Jackie mentioned, the CDC and Massachusetts Department of Health Information on wearing masks for vaccinated versus unvaccinated and then physical signage at entrances will be updated as well. And with respect to reporting of COVID positives to any that you become aware of on property to the local Board of Health and to the IEB and your internal contact tracing protocol, was that something that you intended to continue? Yes, as the pandemic safety officer, should we continue to get positive cases? Loretta, you will continue to hear from me directly. And what was your intention with respect to beverages and food on the casino floor? We would intend to go back to pre-pandemic where people are allowed to move around freely with those. And in terms of your tenants, what's your expectation with tenants? That we would expect them to continue to follow the correct CDC and Department of Health guidelines as put forward. We wouldn't interrupt their daily operations directly, but we would ask them to continue in the same vein they had previously. And ability to work with game sense on regarding any modifications to their space is... Yes, I've already begun a conversation with the supervisor, Amy Gabrillo there, regarding what they would like to do and not like to do this. I think we covered all the significant points, Chair, that I'm tracking. Thank you, Daniel and Seth, do you have anything else you wish to add? Before shifting to PPC? Nothing else, no, thank you. Okay, great, well thank you. And good morning, North, nice to see you. Nice. I'll let Director Lillio's properly introduce you. Okay, so North Groundsville is representing Plain Ridge Park Casino this morning. He is the GM, as you know, and he would like to speak with you about that property's intentions moving forward. Thank you very much. Good morning, Chair, good morning, Commissioners. As I prepared for our time this morning, I was reminded that I should be thankful that we should express that thanks. First to the MGC for their guidance and partnership over what has been a really long and winding journey we've all been on together. So we very much appreciate your partnership and guidance. We appreciate our guests who've trusted us with their safety. We've been patient as we asked them to comply with a number of different health and safety measures. And for the business that they provide, which supports the Commonwealth, our community and so many of our team members. And lastly, we wanna thank our team members primarily for coming to work during uncertain times, enforcing mandates that have been necessary, like mask wearing, temperature scans, all those types of things. And for doing the noble work of hospitality professionals who are often working when many others are at leisure. So for all of those things, we're thankful as we head into that discussion today. And we do find ourselves coming towards the end of our COVID journey. The governor and consultation with the CDC and other relevant agencies and authorities has made the determination that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to socially distance or wear face coverings in most situations. Consistence with that guidance, TPC seeks approval to resume normal operations at the property on May 29th at 9 a.m. Although we describe this as normal operations, there'll be a few differences as compared to early 2020. And over the next few minutes, I wanna highlight some of those major differences. So firstly, both team members and guests are gonna be asked to comply with the relevant advisories regarding face coverings, mainly that fully vaccinated individuals as defined by the CDC are not required to wear masks or face coverings. We do have incentives in place for both team members and guests to get vaccinated and we will not be asking team members or guests to provide proof of vaccination through a vaccine card. So through the casino, again, guests will be required to comply with all relevant advisories regarding face coverings. Masks will remain available at all three entrances for guests who need one or are requesting one. Guests who are wearing masks or hats upon entry will be asked to required to lower their mask and or remove their hat for identity purposes. Temperature or health checks will remain available at all three entrances for guests who wish to be checked. COVID-19 cleaning and disinfection protocols will continue to occur throughout the property. Hand sanitizer will continue to be available in various areas of the gaming floor, racing areas and casino entrances. We'll continue to maintain current air quality measures in place. We will begin placing out-of-service machines back online in accordance with our slot move requirements as we can. And as with the other licensees, the removal of plexiglass will be a phased in item. We, our designated pandemic safety officer will continue to notify the local board of health and MGC when we become aware of positive case on premises to assist with data sharing and identification of individuals. And we will continue to maintain a log of all material communications with health agencies related to COVID-19. With regards to alcohol sales, cocktail service would resume as normal. Standing guests would be served as guests and not be required to be seated. Food and beverage amenities would return to normal operations, which includes the revolution bar, our outdoor racing apron, which has a food serve outdoor food service area, our food court, and then also our fine dining restaurant slacks. Racing operations will return to normal operations with the phased in removal of plexiglass and out-of-service self-automated wagering machines will be placed back online. With regards to how we plan to communicate to our guests, guests, we will be communicating with them using digital social media, website, and phone calls to notify our customers of what to expect when they visit the casinos. Our guests will be emailed a newsletter of the revised requirements. Our website will include communication to the public on hours of operation and helpful links and resources. Signage will be placed outside and inside the casino, ensuring guests are aware of the CDC DPH Plainville Board of Health guidelines. And we will have signs that will include directing guests not to enter if they're experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and forming guests of the mask guidelines and indicating that mask covering the nose and mouth are required for it. Are not required for unvaccinated individuals but are required for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals at all times when private transportation services, including ride-chairs, taxis, livery, vehicles, shuttle buses, et cetera. With regards to team members, the communication part will begin some live pre-shift trainings that commence on the owner before May 28th. We'll email our team members. We will text our team members. We will use our internal HR dashboard. We will send carrier pigeons if necessary. We'll make sure that they know everything that they need to know to serve guests when we reopen the door. And then back of house department and signage. So I think that that pretty much wraps up. The final piece would just be, of course, all of this is subject to us maybe we need to follow the public health guidance. We will continue to monitor and comply with all guidance and protocols issued by the CDC, the DPH, the local board of health and the host community and the Baker-Polito administration for dealing with COVID-19. Guest and team members not following COVID-19 related health and safety protocols may be warned and or asked to leave if they refuse to comply. So as we close out our presentation, we'll be guided as we have been since the beginning of the pandemic by three principals with us, which are that we want to be able to conduct any activity that is permissible by law and regulation for which the business demand is present and that we have the team members available to meet those first two requirements. So with that, I'll pause and take any questions. And North, I had a couple areas to ask you to address. The continued reporting of the COVID positives and your internal contact tracing, is that something you intend to continue? Yes, it is Loretta, as well as continuing to work with game sense management to determine if modifications to additional COVID-19 measures implemented need to be made. Thank you. With respect to communication with your tenants and expectations of those vendors, what's your intention there? So we will can communicate with the tenants. We have one tenant at this time and we remain in close coordination with them through our food and beverage team. And also the effective time would be 1201 a.m. That's what you would be looking at. So we are looking to go in place at 9 a.m. on the 29th. I believe those are all of the areas that I had noted for Plain Ridge. I did miss one area with MGM that I need to go back to. Loretta. Okay. Poker. If you could address your intentions about poker, including the Badby jackpot. Yes, Loretta. So we are in the same position as Jackie and Angkor where we're continuing to monitor needs for poker and whether we will bring that back. We too have decided to make a decision by or around December 31st. Regarding the Badby jackpot, we do have it safely in an account that I've monthly reported on to the IAB keeping it there. And we have discussed some methods of hosting a way of returning that to the players in the event that poker was not to return. But obviously we will get with IAB to figure out what is the best and fairest option to return that to the players. Thank you. Could you just clarify the date that sounded as though you just said you were going to be evaluating until a certain date? Did I miss you that? December 31st. December. Of this year, yes. Okay, got it. Thank you. And the chair and commissioners, those cover the areas that I was tracking. I hope those presentations were helpful to you and very helpful to you as to how to proceed now. So this is why I thought it was important to hear from all three licensees. You see so much overlap. But now I want each commissioner to feel very comfortable asking questions. And maybe what we'll do is kind of have everyone do a round of questions so that, as opposed to one commissioner asking all their questions, it might be just enough for a little bit more inclusion that way. So I'll start with commissioner Zuniga. You're at my left today. So I'm normally when we meet in person. That's right. It feels very, very related. So thank you. And thank you everybody for those presentations. If I may, I have a question that applies to I believe everybody. And it's relative to the partitions, to the plexiglass. And I understand the request seems reasonable to offer flexibility and see how the business needs how the customer's preference plays out. But if you could, and I know you're very good at determining those and ascertaining those customer preferences for business. But if you could, what would generally be your approach early on? Leave some open and see who congregates where, conduct some kind of informal or formal survey, do that prior or after the opening. What can you say in terms of removing those partitions? And more specifically for table games, would you change the occupancy with partitions or leave them with the same number that we have per table? I believe currently it's four on Blackjack tables. And yeah, four. And whatever else there is for crabs, for example. Would you want to change the configuration of those partitions with them in place? And again, how would you ascertain that business need, especially in the early days? Start with Jackie. Okay. I think what we, we have constant feedback from our customers. They're very, they feel very comfortable telling us what they like and what they don't like. I think one of the things we have received a ton of feedback on is in particular, are much more difficult. They don't enjoy it as much with the current configuration of Plexi. So that's definitely something we would probably take off all of those on the dice games. On the other tables we've thought through this. One idea was whether we could remove the partitions between seats and leave up the between the dealer and the guests. That's something that some of our customers have asked us about. And we've also had the advantage frankly of reopening in Las Vegas and seeing what the demand is there. And what we've seen is that most people have not expressed a preference for the Plexi. And on the slots, I think it's a little bit easier if people choose to continue social distancing and they can have that opportunity at the slots just the way they're currently configured. We do have options available for people to sit more than six feet apart if that's their preference. I'm happy to jump in for MGM. That's an important point, Jackie, because on the slots, one of the things that I'm sure Encore has done and we've been forced to do to accommodate the social distancing is really reconfigured our slot floor so that as many slot machines are available as possible where they're socially distanced. And I think we received a understandable request from the IAB to not engage in any more moves while we transition. And so I think the setup right now maximizes social distancing as it is. There are certain slots players. You know, slots is, for some folks, a social interaction where they go at their spouse or their friends and wanna sit next to each other and if they're, so we wanna be able to accommodate those requests or the demand for that experience by having Plexi removed so folks can interact when they're playing. I know that we are going to target our highest value, machines are high limits first and then gradually move to the floor and see how what the customer feedback is from an MGM standpoint. And then with respect to tables, we do plan to remove Plexi from most of our tables largely to accommodate additional gaming positions. Of course, the vaccination and mask for non-vaccinated folks will still be in place. We will however, I believe, plan to, for every game have at least one table that is still equipped with Plexi to accommodate those customers who are more comfortable in that environment. But we believe that as progress is made, fewer and fewer people are gonna be looking for that experience, but we wanna have it available. Immediately for those who are more comfortable during this transition state. Any questions for PPC? North, I don't know if you wanna chime in. Obviously, you don't have the games, but in terms of Plexi Glass around the slots. Yeah, so I think I'm gonna, it'll be kind of a little bit of a combination of what Jackie and Seth were saying. You know, first I agree with Seth, our floor is now set up in a way that much more easily promotes social distancing. There are a lot more round bank configurations or configurations that allow for more distance in between games. Like the players at Encore, our players are not shy about telling us about what it is that they want to see on the casino floor. And of course, we always listen to that. And luckily, every day we have a vote at Plain Ridge. Our players vote with their wagers and tell us which games they want and which configurations are most desirable to them. And so that's something that we look at to determine which direction we should be taking. Thank you. Commissioner O'Brien, you're normally to my right. Questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. Starting all of this off, obviously, with the fact that particularly the removing the mask and the Plexi is really based on the honor system in terms of clientele coming in and being truthful about their status. Everyone's been pretty compliant going forward, but even with the stats being where they are, there are going to have to be people coming in who are not fully vaccinated. And so there's going to be a mix of people coming back in, some of whom have to keep their mask on according to the advisories. I was happy to hear some of the commentary about from EBA to an MGM. They're gonna keep at least one. I'm thinking maybe more than one would be appropriate coming out of the gates because the advisories are to continue with the social distancing if you're not fully vaccinated. So under the presumption that given our vaccination rates, you're going to have a mix early on coming in who are gonna need to continue to function in that scenario because you're gonna bring back food and alcohol as well. Those people are gonna be removing their masks. So I guess I'm sort of talking out loud some of the hesitations that I have in terms of taking everything down all at once. And the thing that I'm pleased to hear that there's going to be a ramping up of taking the Plexi down. I'd like to hear a little bit more about the assessment of whether the Plexi divider for the employees, patrons, how that's gonna be managed. An MGM also, if you could speak to that. I don't know if you or Daniel talked about that in terms of whether you're gonna give the employees the options of working at tables that continue to have a divider between them. And the patrons. So Daniel, feel free to chime in if you've had discussions with the team that I haven't but I don't believe that's a discussion we've had as far as we can certainly look at it. And... Seth, what I'll throw out there is although I haven't had a direct conversation about employees choosing to work at a table that does or does not have Plexi added, what did come up in a comment with our VP of Table Operations was that with there being some tables with Plexi still on them, that will be an area that we're providing that extra protection for both sides, employee and guest. So although it sounds to me like that will be an option, I'm not sure if it's a matter of we go pre-shift and say who would like to deal at the table or something like that. But at least talks in that realm are happening. Okay. And then just the other area that maybe this is something where Bruce Bann can jump in or Laura can jump in but rescinding the order potentially altogether and eliminating occupancy caps, the reality on the ground in terms of your process of rehiring and getting yourselves back up to the point where you could do full occupancy is gonna take some period of time. So if you could talk a little bit about how you would be able to message out to patrons, while in theory maybe occupancy limits are gone, the reality on the ground is that's not gonna happen overnight, 12.01 a.m. It's not gonna be everything is open and max occupancy can happen. So if you can talk a little bit about how you're gonna message to people and maybe Bruce or Laura if you wanna chime in in terms of how that's gonna work as you get back up to full capacity. Just to be clear, we're gonna have IED talk about the operational too after everything we discussed but they can certainly chime in now too. Go ahead. For the messaging that I'm curious to hear. That's right, I understand. Jack. So I'm happy to, I think we've actually got a natural limit. I'm not worried about us getting a surge of people. We're going to continue to monitor that to make sure that it's safe, that we have sufficient personnel to make sure that we don't want a situation where the casino is too crowded. That's something that we'd monitor no matter what. We also have a natural limit, which is our parking. As soon as that fills up, we close the garage and that happens long before, frankly, we get to an occupancy point where we're even getting 50% of the total occupancy. Yeah, and similarly for MGM, once we hit the 40 and 50% capacities, that realistically was full capacity for us based on our amenities and slot machine. So we don't anticipate materially more bodies coming in because folks are aware that the casino is currently open. And so that's really customer demand driven. The messaging that we'll be focused on is managing our customer expectations and customer experiences. What amenities will be real, additional amenities will be reopening what may not be so that we don't have people showing up thinking certain amenities available and it's not. And that will also naturally control volume and address that phasing. Right now I think what we'll find is that we'll have similar demand and turn out for gaming customers and they'll simply have more options and availability on the floor and it'll be easier to find a machine in a game position than it is presently with the additional positions available. At this point, I don't see them currently turning away numbers of people where they could have more people come into the building. So I don't see it as being an immediate problem here. Could be 4th of July or something but I think they would be in a comfortable place by then on a holiday weekend. As we continue our discussion, we might wanna circle back to that issue when Captain Connors will be also available to answer questions as well as to the management of crowds. I'll jump to Commissioner Cameron now and Commissioner O'Brien we're gonna circle back to each of you for additional questions. Commissioner Cameron. Thank you. I have a follow-up question on vaccinations. I know Penn National, question from North in particular, you are not going to verify vaccinations with your staff. All three don't have a way of verifying with patrons but I believe I heard, if I heard correctly, you're going to use the honor system with your staff as well. Are there any concerns that other employees or patrons may have concerns about that, not being able to tell and not knowing for sure the other two are using masks if they don't vaccinate? And then a follow-up with vaccinations for all three are most of the staff members so far very, is it a higher percentage that choose to be vaccinated knowing that this is the work they do than say the general public? If you know that answer at this early date about majority of staff members choosing to be vaccinated. So I can answer that. We started collecting vaccination cards not this past Monday but the Monday before and we're at about 50% vaccinated right now, fully vaccinated I should say. We know that there are a lot of people who are partially vaccinated and because I think it was April 19th where it opened to the general public. Oh, I may have the date a few days off but those people wouldn't be fully vaccinated at this point so we were tracking that information as well. So it sounds like you anticipate the great majority of your staff being vaccinated. That's right. You're certainly encouraging it. Do you want to answer the specific question and then? Yeah, so yes, so I'm sure I'm off mute. Director Cameron, Commissioner Cameron, this one is one that's a little bit of a sticky wicket in that there are a lot of different things at play in asking for proof of vaccination and so our corporate HR team has advised us that the system that we've proposed is the best one for us when looking at vaccination status. Now, speaking to just anecdotally what I know to be true or what I very strongly believe to be true, here at Plain Ridge Park, the state is about 75% of adults having received I think at least one dose within that realm and I think that that population carries over pretty much here to Plain Ridge Park. We're fortunate enough to be just down the street from Gillette Stadium. Many of our team members have gone there or to their local health provider or to clinics at CVS or Sturdy Memorial, other locations in order to be vaccinated and the reason I know that is because they tell me. They tell me in the back hallway, hey, I just got my first shot or hey, I got my second shot and I'll tell them, hey, I got my second vaccine and it was the first day afterwards, it was a little rough, but I'm recovering. So they've been very vocal and shared with us their experiences. And so I think that they're taking this serious. I believe that they're following the guidance. I believe that they're listening to the local health authorities on one side and the vast, vast majority of them are ones who are anxious to get the vaccine and are happy to share the status with us. Thank you. Yep. And Seth and Daniel too, commissioner's general question. Yeah, so I will just pick up here that again, it is anecdotal as North said, but it's the conversation of choice amongst most people and it's the positive part of the conversation is people being proud that either they are fully vaccinated partially or going to get the vaccination. I can't think at least off the top of my head for a conversation of someone being very against it or saying, I'm not going to get vaccinated. So, and then we, I believe we only started the tracking process about a week or two ago for uploading the vaccinations into our HR system. And of course that in of itself won't be a true indicator because there will be people that haven't just uploaded their card yet. So there'll be plenty of vaccinated out there that haven't gone in and done that, but it sounds very positive on the ground. Thank you. So I'll turn to a question that I have before I have my question, I have to give props to North for managing to reference carrier pigeons in his opening remarks. So whatever it takes, I love that. So this is for Seth and Daniel. You mentioned that the Commonwealth Bar will be, I think if I understood correctly and forgive me, I might have missed a little bit of the commentary, might be singularly one of the amenities, a prominent amenity in your facility that won't open. I do know right now, or I haven't seen that, I've been out to MGM, but only on the outdoors that there are slot machines set up in that space at this time. Is that correct? Yeah, I'm just gonna jump in on this. So it won't open as a bar. It was formerly a lounge and was our primary nightlife venue on property. We converted it to have slot machines in there to maximize our slot machines. We will continue to have that space open for slot machines and we will have drink service to the customers who are gaming like we do on the rest of the floor, but we don't presently intend to reopen the bar as a bar and create a lounge environment there at this time. We did just finish several weeks ago putting the slot machines in there and it's been popular and we didn't anticipate the timeline being this quick. So we're gonna give it some time. We've had some really positive feedback by customers around that space. It's nice and spread out and folks, it is raised a bit over the floor, so it's been a popular space. So we're gonna continue to use it that way and then reevaluate down the road whether we reactivate it as a more formal lounge environment. I'm gonna just reflect upon on that because I understand that you're suggesting it's still further apart into Commissioner O'Brien's point while we're sort of ramping up the lessening, kind of a funny paradigm of the lessening of the restrictions, what I'm hearing you say is that that's more separate and apart, but I'm not hearing you say that come December 31st that you're anticipating restoring what I suspect might have been a key element to the initial proposal, but I don't know if that's true, commissioners. Yeah, we will, and if I could clarify, because I do anticipate that we will reopen the bar there at some point. What COVID's given us the opportunity to do with a few amenities, frankly, is while they've been closed, think about, is it the best fit, is there, should we pivot? And so I think we will see Commonwealth reactivated at some point with a bar environment. I think it'll be at this stage of conversations are, let's focus on more of a lower key lounge environment versus a nightlife environment potentially in that space. Nightlife environment is popular for sure, but there are also resources, issues that go along with an environment like that. And so we're thinking that we might change the nature of what it looks like when we reopen it and we're using this opportunity to evaluate that and figure out what the best fit for our property and our customer demand is. But I do anticipate that the bar will be reactivated in Commonwealth, just not right away. Okay. Commissioner Zimiga, next question. Thank you. This one is for Jackie. I don't believe you touched on the buffet. When in your remarks, is there anything you can say about that in terms of programming and timing? Sure, the buffet is gone. It's been pulled out. It's currently a construction site. As you can see there is a lounge area. It's going to have LED TVs, walls of LED televisions and additional food and beverage options available there too. And we anticipate that that will open August, September of 21. So can people still get the tomahawk steaks and the king crab that the buffet had? We will make sure that we have those offerings at other locations at the facility. All right. Thank you. Commissioner Zimiga is only imagining. I only imagine what I would get at the buffet, that's all. We studied but then we carefully, right? But never did, because I am not allowed to. That's right. One of the difficulties of our job. Commissioner Zimiga, is that it for right now? While you reflect? Yeah, yeah, right now. That's good. Thank you. Commissioner O'Brien, another question. This really focuses on the poker and the dealers in particular, who I understand have been not only the players but the dealers have been quite curious about what the status is. And since it's been about 14, 15 months, if you guys could speak to what the plan is or what the status is for some of those dealers. I know, I believe, Ankur, you talked about maybe MGM2 about cross training and that some of them were offered other positions. But if you guys could just speak a little bit more to that because that's the other, the six months before you're gonna make a judgment call and potentially not bringing it back, just maybe wonder what the status is gonna be for some of those dealers. Sure, so we have continued to operate a dealer school throughout the pandemic to retrain anyone who is interested in learning another game. So we have had a number of the poker dealers who have gone through that. And we're as well, so we're constantly reaching out to them to, with new positions, we have, I think I mentioned this a couple of days ago, we have 45 different positions that we're hiring for right now and over 400 employees. So we'll continue to reach out to them. But at this point, we've really got to see what our space, what the demand is and what our space allows us to do. And Jackie, did you also, I'm sorry if I missed this, when you presented first, your date is also December? Andy, by December we'll make a definition. I missed that. So both of you are saying something, okay, got it, thank you very much. Sorry, Chris, sure. Daniel had anything on that? Yes, so again, similarly to Jackie, one, we're aligned just to confirm for your chair regarding the date that we set as a deadline. Thank you. You know, consistency among the licensees was a good idea. There has been talk of cross-training for both the dealers in other roles. There was a previous outreach regarding potential positions in the cage for when we had a need for cage cashiers. I don't know at this particular moment what the board plans are for the dealer's school, but there is options to bring them in and potential cross-training if they were to come back in other dealer roles. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Mr. Cameron? Yeah, I had the same exact question about poker. I was interested in that. But just to follow up to MGM, Seth, are you having a similar experience to Encore, meaning your hotel and spa are starting to show an uptick? And also, is there anything with the convention center? Or is it just that'll take a while to rebook a lot of those events? Yeah, sure, happy to address that. So, you know, we're in a different market, for sure, than Encore. And so I think the demand is a little bit different. We have had our, and we have a smaller hotel. We have had our hotel active or we've had one and sometimes two floors open and it's really invited casino guests. We've been monitoring in close conversation with, for instance, our local partner, Paul Picnelli, who's a hotelier in the area and has several hotels, has been gracious in sharing some of his data on hotel demand in this area. It's been remarkably low until the past several weeks. And we're seeing now a pickup, and he shared with us a real pickup in inquiries and demand. So we're in the process of evaluating when reopening the hotel more fully will match that demand. And it's literally been in the past few weeks where we've seen that. And so we're starting to get inquiries again about conventions and meetings in this second half of the year. And so we're in the planning process of getting our team back in place and ready to sell those spaces. We're in close collaboration with the Mass Convention Center Authority and our MGM Springfield team that manages the Mass Mutual Center on behalf of the MCCA in terms of the demand that they're seeing for events. The phone is starting to ring, Sean Dillon reports and we're starting to look to our entertainment team to think about what entertainment programming looks like in the Q3, Q4 of this year as the capacity restrictions will now allow. So I think we don't have any firm answers. We're in the kind of backfinding, but it's very active right now in terms of evaluating, planning and figuring out when the time is right and what the demand is. And I think a few weeks from now we'll have a better answer and have some firmer deadlines and plans on those amendments. Thank you. Okay, I do have a follow-up question so that my apologies on the common law bar. The benefit of the opening is not only for the more patrons coming in but also for more jobs. As I think about the common law bar, there's a lot of complexities around the night club atmosphere that come right up as the light is just starting to shine in the tunnel. So I understand that perhaps it doesn't make sense that this will be open, but I also hear you saying you're evaluating your business, your business model and what the common law bar and lounge would look like. Do you know how many folks you usually, when the past would have employed? In that space, roughly, I'm not gonna hold you, but... Sure, it's not a large number. I don't know the exact number of chair, but on a busy evening, you may have two bartenders and a few cocktail servers, a total of five to six on staff in a peak period. And then that ebbs and flows a little bit based on peak off peak. But so it's on a shift, it's less than 10. But to me, that space won't be immediately reactivated, but we are the higher volume bar from the standpoint of, I think customer number of drinks or activation is really the walk-up bar, which is facing the casino floor behind. Common law, that'll be reopened. We added a bar, the Island Casino Bar, post-opening, which has been popular. That bar will reopen. And we're also looking at activating our Plaza bar for the Plaza concert activations that we have announced outside. And so I know our food and beverage team is actively, it's actually probably beneficial that we're doing it based because we need to get folks back and ready and they're working on that now. And so I think we'll definitely be bringing bartenders and cocktail servers back and having it based actually helps because one of the challenges, as I'm sure you've heard from others, is getting employees back. It's not as easy as we would like it to be, frankly. That's gonna be my question. I haven't heard from any of you today that you're imagining it's been alluded to, but I wondered how bad that challenge is for the 12.01 or the 9.00 AM reopening for staffing purposes. Yeah, I mean, I'll continue for MGM, our key essential staff to ensure that we're complying with staffing minimums, I think we're in good shape, but it's bringing back folks in the food and beverage environment, entertainment environment, where you're having this confluence of events, we're looking to bring people back, but every bar and restaurant is now looking to up their staff. And so the competition for bringing those workers back is out there. There are folks who have decided, I think during COVID that industry is particularly hard hit. There are folks who have anecdotally decided to either relocate, shift into different industries, have been, and there have been incentives for employees who are impacted. And so the market has fundamentally changed in this year. And so the labor market and so we are, part of our phase reopening is driven not just on doing it responsibly, but on hiring and the ability to get folks back quickly. And we've really gone through, I can't say that every list we've exhausted, but in speaking with our department leaders, they have, during our gradual reopening, we have gone through and offered and called back virtually every employee and some are just have moved on or are choosing not to come back. And so now we're going back to the market for new employees. And so I think there is a, there will be some natural staffing challenges. We think a phased ramp up will help with that. Just, and then Jackie, did you want to chime in on the challenge of the labor shortage? Sure, and I think that's, that's when we've been referring to business demand. It's also our ability to service that business demand. And I, when I was talking earlier about sort of a natural limitation in terms of the number of guests, that's something that we're very cognizant of. We don't want people coming here and not being able to dine here or waiting two hours in line to, to have a seat at a restaurant. So we're really trying to manage that and assess, but it's very difficult right now to see, to forecast how many guests are, will suddenly come back on May 29th or May 30th. And so it's going to take a little, little period of adjustment for us. You spoke a little bit, you alluded to the challenge a little bit. If my notes are right, do you want to elaborate? I think that we're seeing some of the same things that Jackie and Seth are seeing, just, you know, it remains a challenging hiring environment. We have positions posted. We're making every effort to make sure that former team members are aware of the opportunities that are available and that we're out actively recruiting. So, you know, we'll, we'll see what that brings. And then with that, of course, with new employees for all three of you, there'll be additional training and you did allude to training north. So thank you. Thank you. An ironic outcome. Commissioner Zuniga, do you have any other questions? Well, I was wondering about this and I know it's a very low probability scenario, but because you deal with a lot of people, can you just speak a little bit about the, in the event that you encounter somebody who is, says it's not vaccinated, but does not want to wear a mask, let's say, because, you know, they're that kind of person. How do you think that might, that eventuality might have to be approached when you know that the honor system is effectively not being adhered to? I'm happy to jump in on that, Commissioner Zuniga, because I think we've, we're gonna handle the same way we've been handling at this past year because there have been, we've been very pleasantly surprised and encouraged by voluntary compliance with a mask, you know, for every patron, but not even the past 12 months, not every patron believes in mask wearing or believes it's appropriate, doesn't like the rule, doesn't like to keep it on all the time. Again, those percentages are very low, but that's one of the skill sets that our security team and our managers have really developed over this time period is to be stern about understanding and enforce our policies and so they're used to it and I think it's just a different, slightly different twist that, you know, you say you have someone who acknowledges that they're not vaccinated but still doesn't believe that they should be wearing a mask. I view that as kind of a very similar to, you know, when all masks were mandatory for everyone and they didn't wanna wear the mask and we enforced the policies and we do it, you know, respectfully, but sternly and we haven't really seen any significant problems over the past 12 plus months in that respect. So we're confident that it'll be handled similarly, moving forward. Noor? I agree with what Seth said. I mean, we're also blessed to have GEU on site. So if things go too far sideways, we've got help there and then local police detail also. Jackie, you're not set up? We'll set, I agree. Okay. Thank you, everyone. Commissioner Varian. No, I had the same thought and the question that commissioner's gonna get just asked but aside from, you know, us deciding to implement a consequence to someone doing that, it's gonna have to be up to the establishments in GEU and the governor, my understanding is, has shifted from an order to an advisory on the masks. So that's something that I think if we see numbers that change going forward in the summer, that we might wanna think about as a commission whether there's consequences to not complying with the establishment's rules. But again, it goes back, I think, to having to rely on the honor system, the people going in. Just a comment that I think, I don't think anyone is disagreeing with but in that vein is why I think it's really important no matter how we move forward from today that the licensees continue to report to IEB about the stats that they're having to see if we need to come back and readjust any of this if the honor system isn't working or numbers go up. But it seems like everyone is cognizant of the challenges of the honor system and how we go forward. So I've had most of my questions answered at this point. Just to confirm with respect to Commissioner Ryan's comment, I heard and can confirm, absolutely, that all three licensees anticipate keeping the pandemic officer in place and this time will confirm that they're going to continue to report any cases that they learn of but also report on their employees. And that's, I'm sorry, Jackie. We do intend to keep our pandemic officer in place. I think he really enjoys the position. And we will continue to make those reports. And that's the case for MGM and... Despite Daniel's request, he will remain the pandemic safety officer. Now he fills the role aptly and as willing to do it, we'll continue. Thank you. And it's true for Plain Ridge as well. Excellent. And so that will be, by consensus, we're hearing until perhaps there's changes as Commissioner O'Brien said. I think we would expect that to continue. Commissioner Cameron, do you have another question? I do not. Thank you. Thanks to everyone. I think one, a cleaning item, and I know I've mentioned it to the rather, but I'll mention it now is that all three, I believe all three properties will continue to require those guests who want to wear a mask, even if they're fully vaccinated or those who, for whatever reason, choose not to be fully vaccinated, will continue to adhere to the mask requirement. Of course, when we say choose, I'm really hoping our patrons are opting to join much of the Commonwealth, as North pointed out. That's such a high rate of vaccination. But perhaps they're, for whatever reason, are not fully vaccinated. They're gonna wear their mask. That the properties will continue to require the mask to be lowered and identification to be knowledge. And I'm seeing nodding heads on that. And I think with that, we'll have to adjust our internal control. And I see Bruce nodding his head because if we alter the guidelines, we would be out of compliance with that pre-pandemic controls. That's exactly right. We've already asked all the casinos to adjust their security submissions to address that mask. Masking, right? Is that, Loretta, is that sufficient? It is. And as Bruce said, he has already circulated some required language if we go in that direction so that all three properties are poised to submit that in a timely way. So there's no lapse in coverage of the appropriate protocol. And then Karen will just sign off on that so we don't need to address that by the commission. Correct. Okay. I think all of my questions really have been answered through my fellow commissioners. But do we have anything else we just want to ask of the licensees? I guess one question I should ask before just a, I think yesterday was the opening of Wahlbergers. How'd that go? Is that true? Yes, it is true. And it went very well. There was a line that formed on Main Street at 6 a.m., which was a little bit surprising, but folks waited for hours outside for the doors to open at 11. Chef Paul Wahlberg was there to open the doors and invite everyone in. And it's my understanding that they were very busy all day. So they were pleased with the first day turnout. So there's definitely pent up demand and excitement. That's exciting. I suspect there'll be some changes in their signage now just after they got it up, but that's all good news for them. Any other questions, comments? I'll just go around one more time just to make sure you haven't thought of something else. Commissioner Zuniga. No, I have no questions. I think at this point, I think we're ready to get into deliberations or discussions. I'm happy to do that. No questions. Okay, I'll circle back to you. Commissioner O'Brien, are you all set right now? I'm all set. Thanks. Commissioner Kim. I am all set. Other than I am fascinated with the Wahlberger story. I thought maybe they had a new offering breakfast when they're there in line at six a.m., but that's not the case. They waited until 11, so that, oh, I guess that's gonna be a big hit there. So thanks for telling us that. I think there may have been one or two fans in that line who were secretly hoping that they might catch a glimpse of Mark Wahlberg or, so that could have driven some of it, which we're hopeful at some point, all the Wahlbergs are able to come visit the property, but yeah, it was a big line and they had a great busy day. So it was fantastic. Excellent. Good for the city. Thank you. I would say meeting Chef Paul is a special treat. So excellent. So in terms of next steps, Commissioner Zunagat, you mentioned deliberations. I think we've acknowledged that right now, the guidelines that we adopted back in, I guess it was in June of 2020, now are still in place in order to allow the licensees to be able to proceed with what they're hoping for. It's really to lift all of our requirements. With that said, we could of course adopt conditions or expectations or we also have a record of today's meeting. So in terms of everything that they agreed to do, do you want to suggest a motion or do you want to speak about how you'd like to proceed? Well, I was gonna speak about what my general thoughts are on the matter and we can get into any details if that happens organically, but I was gonna start at the macro level, something that was touched on. Massachusetts has one of the highest vaccination rates. It also has the lowest in the nation vaccine hesitancy percentage, which converges as was alluded to, to the positive, I believe, in the next couple of weeks as more people get second dosages or two weeks after the second dosage, et cetera, et cetera, which is why I believe, frankly, the governor and the DPH professionals made the announcement that they made recently, even though that was expected much later. I would also note that, and I heard this in one of the, one of the news shows that I watched, a former CDC commissioner saying that the approach is potentially necessary in relaxing restrictions when things get better because it is at least possible that things could turn around and for the worse, sadly, and it would be necessary to reimpose some of those restrictions and for healthcare professionals and people in positions like ours at the state level, of course, they need to be able to have that future ability to reimpose restrictions and I'm being overly strict when things have gotten better, only lessens that probability by losing some credibility. So in that context, I'm generally satisfied with relaxing restrictions at the casinos. I think the plans are very appropriate. I think the continued reporting that we have in place are a good approach in terms of how to continue monitoring this. And I think the last 15 months of history, which was also alluded to, also offer a really good comfort level, in my opinion, relative to the ability to continue offering an experience for people that is in compliance with the realities around us. So I'll stop there at this point and see if anybody thinks differently, I suppose. Mr. O'Brien? Sorry, working on the iPad, it's not co-operating. I would agree with what Commissioner Zuniga said. I think the last 15 months, plus in terms of our staff, this commission and the licensees working together and communicating is what enabled everyone to keep the doors open. And so I think that following the guidance that we're getting from the CDC and from the governor and mindful of the fact that, as Commissioner Zuniga said, if this turns, we know we can also reconvene on a dime and do what needs to be done to limit the exposure and the damage in the respective establishments. But I think I'm satisfied with the thought process that's gone into the reopening, the fact that there is going to be ongoing communication in some ways with IAB, the pandemic officer staying in place. I think maybe the only clarification as I'm going through thinking about wording for emotion is historically we've had orders that obviously we all need to comply to. We've now shifted into the realm of advisories. And so I think in addition to any orders that may be out there, everyone is on the same page that we're also complying with any advisories that have been put forward by the CDC and the governor in terms of the mask wearing and the social distancing, et cetera. This is the one I told you about last time I was here. Okay, so I'm going to take two more in place of that. Remember that discussion? Okay. Keisha, you need to mute. Sorry, thank you. Go ahead, Mr. O'Brien. I think that as long as that language as we're considering lifting what was put into place about a year ago, I think that would cover I think what needs to be done. I think everyone's on the same page and they've done an excellent job and are going to do a great job reopening. But then it gives us the ability to make sure that everyone is moving with any changing advisories that might fall short in order. So Mr. Cameron? Yeah, I would agree with everything said. You know, I am very comfortable with what we heard here today, in particular with all three licensees, constant monitoring of the needs of their staff as well as the patrons, as well as the communication with the MGC. I just think it's been excellent and their plans moving forward are telling us that this is how they intend to operate. So I have no concerns after listening to the presentations. Absolutely makes sense before and I'm rethinking my roadmap that I outlined for us to hear from IEB, to hear from Lorena, to hear from Bruce and Captain Connors, just so that they've heard this if we were to proceed given what you've heard from the commissioners and lift our guidelines. Do you see any operational challenges that we need to think about before we actually act on that formally? I must say that like my fellow commissioners, I'm very comfortable with the plans that were outlined there, what I expected and not because of just obvious business needs but because of how you, the three licensees have operated over the course of the last 15 months. It's always been with the health and safety of the patrons, the public, and the employees in mind. But you've also noted today and of course all along that you do it in partnership with the GEU and also with our gaming agents who are there and with the extra eyes of game sense. So I think it might make sense before we move. If we, you know, to hear, does that make sense commissioners to hear from Lorena and Bruce and Captain Connors at this juncture? Okay. Then Lorena, why don't we start and if you wanna sort of chime in informally or sequentially that's fine, however you want. Just to give you a general sense of the past 10 plus days in the IEP, we have been working to identify operational, I wouldn't call them challenges, just operational matters that would need to be addressed at any eventual loosening of restrictions. And we've been doing that with Bruce and his whole team, senior supervisors as well. And we've been doing that with Captain Connors as well in many direct communications with the licensees amongst that group. Last week, we also were able to loop in our IT team and our knock because of course bringing more slot machines online is not just flipping a switch. We have to ensure the communication with our CMS and we're well into steps to ensure that that would happen on the 29th. So I really think that the experts now are Bruce and Captain Connors and I know they're prepared to talk to you this morning about what they've been doing over the past 10 days and how they would view loosening of, removing of restrictions with respect to the 29th. So Captain Connors, if you wanna go first, that'd be great. Yeah, good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair, commissioners. To look at his point, I mean, we've anticipated this major step towards reopening for quite some time now. So we've had a gradual build back up. So from my standpoint, from the GU standpoint, we're in a very good position. I don't have any major concerns. As the commission knows, the GU was on site 24-7 at each of the locations. So we're able to report out in pretty significant quick timeframe. If there are any issues we can either address them with the licensees and their staff in real time or we can also notify and converse with Director Lilios and her staff as well. So, and also if necessary, we could come before the commission and report out issue. So we have that ability to be sort of an eyes and ears out there is this reopening to this extent rolls out. And the adjustments have been made on our end. I don't anticipate any significant needs or from our end. So I think we're in a good position to return towards that pre-pandemic phase. And again, we will address issues as we see fit as they come up. We'll continue to work with the licensee staff on any of these issues that we've talked about briefly today, the masking issues. And I think I'm confident that between their staff and our staff, we'll handle them accordingly as we have all along. So from my perspective, I think we're ready to go where we've been in good shape for quite a while and I don't expect any of that to change. Madam Chair, commissioners, I kind of feel the same way. I think our staff is ready. We'll be at full staffing starting tomorrow. I've got nothing but cooperation from the licensees through this whole pandemic and I don't see that stopping going forward. I think it's a group with GU and the casino licensees. If we hit any problem at all, we'll work it out quickly and everybody's satisfaction. We're ready to report back to you is what we're seeing on site. I think we're all ready to move forward and actually get out of this pandemic and kept moving with regular business. So I think from our standpoint, we're all ready to move forward and ready to do this. And just looping back, I have confidence in our internal team and confidence in the licensees. What we've been doing for the past 14, 15 months is all the stuff that we were not trained on and had to figure out along the way. And some of that will continue for sure where not completely out of this understood. But I think the territory ahead is more familiar than what people have been trained to do. Great questions, Commissioner Bryan. I do, I just had one question for the gaming ages and GEU. We've had two different timing requests in terms of if we're gonna be rescinding the COVID restrictions, one being 12 o' one a.m., one being nine a.m. Is there a problem one time versus the other or having an inconsistent time? Like North, I don't know if lifting at 12 o' one a.m. is gonna create issues for you, messaging wise or vice versa. So if there's ideally one time that's being lifted as to everyone, or does it matter? Yeah, I don't think it affects us one way or the other. Yeah, I feel the same way. We'll adjust to whatever the timeframe the commission agrees on, accordingly. So that's the start of the year. Commissioner Bryan, our reason for going kind of earlier in that on Saturday morning, rather than at 12 o' one, was just to kind of set an expectation for our guests. We didn't have to create the expectation that bars are fully open, 12 o one come in. We wanted time to be able to adjust to that and get our team ready and all those types of things. So we felt like that was an appropriate timeframe for us here at Plain Ridge. Right, and so I guess I would put that out on corn MGM because I know when we were talking about shutting down initially, there was talk about it being easier to do at the end of the gaming day rather than the middle of what might be peak time and whether it makes more sense to do it four or five o'clock in the morning or something as opposed to at 12 o one on a Friday night. I don't believe we feel strongly either way but we on balance would like the flexibility of the 12 o one, I think we may, I think like North and we likely would not reopen the bars until the following evening, but we may look to activate slot machines, which are open 24 hours throughout that evening, assuming we go through all the necessary steps with IAB and Bruce and his team. So we would prefer 12 a.m. but I don't anticipate that that means operationally we will, or 12 o one a.m. I should say, I don't think that means operationally that we would pull the switch on every amenity at that time other than perhaps slot machines that have been fully vetted. And I think we're in the same position. What we plan to do is sort of start the work at 12 o one a.m. There's a lot of preparation that goes into doing everything. We were thinking of potentially walking around the champagne, so yeah, I think there's a great deal of excitement. And so maybe it's certainly not a full, every restaurant's open and the bars are a go but some little bit of celebration around 12 o one. Okay, Commissioner Cameron, do you have questions? I don't think it is, thank you. Commissioner Zuniga? Great. Well, thank you, Loretta and Bruce and Captain Connors for that. Not surprisingly, they are prepared and not overwhelmed. So we know that things should proceed smoothly and Captain Connors, we welcome continuing reporting directly here and of course through IEB, so thank you. So with that said, we've heard from the three licensees, I think all of you have the opportunity to detail your plans. Perhaps Commissioner O'Brien, you have noted that we would want to be thoughtful about how our motion, a motion to effectuate these plans needs to be carefully worded. I don't know if we're prepared to think about a motion now. Commissioners, yes. Perhaps Commissioner O'Brien, do you want to take a lead there or are you prepared? I don't want to put you on the spot either. I believe so. I'm open to anyone else who if they want to make the motion or if we need to amend it as we go, there's a number of them that would have to be included and then some of the conditions that I think we've all agreed would still be present in the short term. Right, and I guess my question is this, we have three orders that are, they're orders that we have imposed that are outlined in the agenda. In order to effectuate the change that each licensee has requested, it's my understanding, LaVetta, that we would have to lift those three orders. And I suppose we could do them individually or I suppose we could do them as a whole. Maybe it makes sense to do them individually. Then we would have a clean slate and we would be restriction, COVID restriction free for our three licensees. Is that correct, LaVetta? That's correct, that's right. Those three documents are the universe of your restrictions. So lifting them, they would have no restrictions from the commission. Well, except that we would be lifting them subject to the hands of sort of conditions that have been agreed to. Yeah, exactly, we haven't got a subject to the discussions presented, the plans presented today. Is that correct? And so then I think commissioners, you'd want to think about subject to, and I suppose we could do it individually for each facility or we could do it. I mean, I think we can do an omnibus. I just think it would be a bit subject to the conditions that we're talking about today and then if anyone wants to. Add another condition. Okay, right, clarifications. Okay, so that's where I'm matching it the same way. So. And if I may, Madam Chair, and for the question relative to the timing, it could be worded in a way, Commissioner O'Brien, that it is no earlier than 12-01 and at the discretion of the commission, correct? That's right, so. So the order rescinded at 12-01 and then it's gonna be up to the individual facilities to message what that means. And I'm hearing from GEU and the gaming agents that they don't, and the licensees, they don't foresee that as an issue, so. So I guess now before we go into the motion stage, commissioners, do either of you imagine adding or discussing a condition that has not been addressed in the plans presented by the licensees because I think we would want to chew on those. Commissioner Cameron, I see a no from you. Commissioner Nuzunaga. I don't imagine an extra condition, perhaps if there's repeating for the record, either prior to the motion or support of the motion, what the current conditions or reporting are. And so in terms of the reporting, is there something in addition to what, because what I'm trying to avoid is the notion that if we're adding onto something that they addressed, doing it for one item versus the others can do. What makes me helpful is reading my understanding of what the conditions would be and that way if the licensees have any objection or confusion or comment they wanna make before we move, we can have that conversation now rather than after the motions has been made. I agree with that. So my understanding based on what's been presented in the conversation is that the potential motion would be to lift the three prior COVID restriction orders but subject to the conditions that the licensees will conduct business in accordance with all COVID-19 related orders or advisories issued by the governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that remain in effect as well as any applicable CDC guidelines that the licensees will ensure that a pandemic safety officer remains in place until further notice that the licensees will continue to report any positive COVID-19 tests related to the gaming establishment to the IEB and their respective local boards of health and that they continue to work cooperatively with the IEB to ensure that the relevant guidance and practices above are being followed. Yeah, that's my understanding as well. And I'm not hearing anything from the licensees so it seems like there's no misunderstanding in terms of what the obligations would be going forward. And I would just note for the record that I'm not sure that all those conditions needed to be articulated because I thought that they had reached that by agreement in their plans, but I might have been missing something. I did think they all agreed to in their plans and my only concern about individualizing any conditions is the idea that one is more important than another. For instance, we don't mention masks than that. Well, because that's incorporated in the CDC and the governor's guidance advisories, that's the language that would then incorporate that. Yes. So I saw it as they agreed to do it but we're also putting it as a condition of lifting their restrictions because at some point we would probably go forward and say, you know what, we're waiving the requirement that you have the pandemic safety officer that you makes, you know, any COVID related disclosures to, you know, IEB, et cetera. In the short term from my comfort level to lift the restrictions, I would want those as a condition going forward until we've gone a little bit further into this. So the emotion would be that it's subject to the plans that's presented, consistent with the plans presented, with the emphasis on those particular conditions which they all agreed to do anyway. Right. Do I have a motion? Commissioner O'Brien. Madam Chair, for the reasons discussed here today and included in the packet, I move that the following three commission orders be rescinded effective 12.01 a.m. on May 29th, 2021. First, the June 23rd, 2020 order entitled minimum requirements for the initial phase through opening of game establishments. Second, the October 8th, 2020 order entitled minimum requirements for the reintroduction of roulette at category one gaming establishments. And third, the March 11th, 2021 order entitled minimum requirements for one, expanding blackjack-style tables to include a fourth player position and two, the reintroduction of craps at the category one gaming establishments. These orders will be rescinded subject to the following conditions that have been agreed to by the gaming licensees. One, they shall conduct business in accordance with all COVID-19 related orders and advisories issued by the governor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that remain in effect as well as any applicable CDC guidelines. Second, that the licensees will ensure that a pandemic safety officer remains in place until further notice. Third, the licensees will continue to report any positive COVID-19 tests related to the gaming establishment, to the IEB and their respective local boards of health. And four, that the licensees continue to work cooperatively with IEB to ensure that the relevant guidance and practices are being followed. Second. All those in favor? Commissioner Cameron. Aye. Commissioner O'Brien. Aye. Commissioner Zunica. Aye. I vote yes. Four is zero. Okay, so I think we're all set on item number two. Loretta, thank you. And thank you to Bruce and Captain Connors. And most of all, thank you to the licensees. I wish you great luck over the course of this big weekend. Most of all, we can all pause and reflect on the losses that occurred the last 15 months. We've been enormous across the country around the world and here in Massachusetts. And for those, you know, that those lives have been forever affected, we think of them. And now, you know, we really are hoping that this is, again, a sustainable reopening for you all. And we wish you the very best and wish all the patrons and employees much health and safety. So thank you. Okay, we'll move on then to item number three. Racing division. Dr. Lightbaum. Just reflecting that it was about 11 months ago that we put these COVID plans into effect, I wanna thank the Racing and Simulcast licensees, the horsemen and our MDC racing staff who are being nimble this past year in cooperative. It was a lot to add on the COVID protocols in addition to our regular regulatory environment. So with that, I'll turn it over to Steve O'Toole to give an update on the PPC COVID plans for Racing and Simulcasting. Thank you, Alex. Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. I would just like to kind of say the same thank you and acknowledge some people that have been acknowledged in the past, but this time kind of on the racing side, Alex's staff and her employees who toiled through the pandemic restrictions and making sure that people were doing what they needed to do. My racing staff, which was very cooperative in enforcing all the restrictions, the horsemen and the horsemen's association, our Simulcast customers and our racing fans as well. They're very cooperative with all the stuff that was going on last year. With that being said, racing, on the Simulcast side, the racing customers flowed through the casinos. So everything that North updated you with earlier will still be in effect, the pandemic officer, the mask wearing with the guidelines set forth by the CDC, our local officials, the Department of Health and any governor's orders that come out. So we'll be following that as well. In the racing area, the cleaning and disinfecting that's been going on will stay in effect. The plexiglass dividers between our paramedical clerks and our customers will remain in place for the time being. And we'll monitor that with our employees, with our paramedical clerks as well as our customers and lift those at the time when we feel that it's probably prudent. But for the time being, they're gonna stay in place. And as well as, as you know, racing, minors are allowed in the racing area. Paramedical wagering is 18 plus. But for the time being, we're going to stick with the 21 plus age requirement in the racing area to stay consistent with the rest of the property and to continue to monitor all entrances into the racing area or the casino in the racing area. Occupancy, of course, in the racing area we'd wanna go to 100%, all self-serve wagering terminals will be made operational. The restrictions regarding consumption of food and alcohol no longer be in effect. And food and beverage outlets located in the racing areas inside would be open at some time in the future, at a future date. As North mentioned, the outside area will be made available for food and beverage. Different than the other two racing licensees, we have live racing and a third element, our horsemen. And so on the backside during live racing, again, all the advisories that come out will be strictly followed. We'll continue to clean and disinfect the way we have been. And as a matter of fact, in that area, because of some of the contagious equine diseases that have been problematic in the past, we will continue to disinfect. So we were actually doing that before the COVID hit. But that was for the safety of the horses, not so much the people. But all that will continue. Our race paddock, the setup will remain. So that'll still be socially distanced. It's been working out well and will let that remain for the rest of the racing season. We would like to take off the restrictions for owners being allowed in the paddock. That was a restriction that was put on in order to keep the occupancy down in the paddock area. But it is expansive and owners would like to let them back into the paddock. We'd like to also take the restrictions off the winter circle and let the owners and friends gather for that celebratory moment in the winter circle. And also the driver's locker room wouldn't be made available to the drivers only. We will be on the honor system as North had mentioned earlier on the backside. And our pandemic officer, as North had mentioned, will also be involved. If there should be any reporting or any issues back there. I think I hit on all the things that come up as far as racing and our concerns in racing here goes. If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them. Questions, I'll start with Commissioner Cameron. Thank you. Mr. Atul, it sounds like a lot of planning and a lot of thought went into this plan. It sounds really prudent. Could you explain a little bit why you decided or your team decided to keep the Plexiglas in place? Sure, we don't have, we did have a couple of tellers that were very outspoken when we first started. Well, you know, hey, this customer isn't wearing their mask, let's go. So they were very sensitive to the exposure level. And while it's difficult for them to take the wages through the Plexiglas, sometimes there's some miscommunication with the customers. But we're gonna kind of wait and see how they feel about lifting that going forward. And, you know, hopefully, you know, at the time when we're really out of the woods, that might be the time for them or they might decide that it's time earlier. But now, because of that concern that our tellers showed early on, you know, it's there. It doesn't hinder them too much. And so we're gonna wait for the tellers to actually give us some feedback and our customers give us some feedback on how they perceive that as far as, you know, as far as they're concerned with their health and their safety. Excellent, so it's a concern for your staff that really drove that decision. Thank you for that. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Justin. Yes, Steve, remind us for the rest of the area in the very mutual bedding and vibration indoors. Remind me, did you install any Plexiglas that you're now removing or did you decrease the number of tables to create a social distancing that you are now adjusting to full occupancy? Or what were we restoring? So we installed Plexiglas at the Teller stations only. Yes. We turned off many terminals. Those terminals will be turned back on. On our Teller line, the terminals, if the Teller is not using them, they can be flipped up for a customer to use itself, sir. We also have an area downstairs in racing where the terminals line up side by side. So I think there's about seven or eight of them side by side. We went with every other one. So we'll be putting back those terminals, those self-serve terminals, back into operation. We removed tables to make the social distancing. We'll be bringing back some of that. And we also removed the bar seating along the windows as well as at the bar. So we didn't remove it all along the windows. We moved everything from the bar but along the windows, we moved about every third seat, about two out of every three seats to give more distance along the bar window seating. So some of that will be coming back. Okay, thank you. Can I show Brian? I do. Steve, the same way that I don't know if you were on the meeting when the other licensees were talking about the overall restrictions and they talked about keeping in place certain tables like maybe one table of each table game so that somebody, if they felt more comfortable that way or the person's not vaccinated fully and so they're masking up and they have to still comply with those COVID restrictions. You just described how you're gonna be taking some things down and going back to normal. Are you going to be keeping at least some socially distance so that if you have someone not fully vaccinated or someone not comfortable, they have the option? Yes. Yeah, that option's always available. We have self-serve terminals that are standalone. It's about six of them that are standalone, downstairs in the grandstand area as well as upstairs in the talent theater. Stand alone, they're 20 feet or more from each other. So those options are available even in non-extracted times. And is there gonna be any, I'm sure that your customers are probably familiar with that but is there any signage or anything that's so that people understand they've got that option if they're looking for it? We could make the signage. There wasn't any signage there but it's kind of obvious that they're out in the open and they're not hidden. They're out in the open where people can see them and they just stand alone. But we could definitely direct people to them. Okay, thank you. So I just wanna thank you, Steve, Mr. O'Toole for your ongoing leadership and commitment these last 15 months. It has been extraordinary. And I know that you have worked in such a cooperative fashion with the gaming commission and particularly Dr. Lightbound for that. We thank you. And we thank the, thank you. And we thank the horse racing community too. It was a very big adjustment and we remember it was, they were leading as the patrons of really the gaming industry because they came back early. And so the drivers and every individual who made horse racing successful at that time, really we applaud their efforts and dedication and their compliance. And to Dr. Lightbound, of course, you know that it wasn't without some effort on your part to ensure the compliance and for that we appreciate it. I just, I don't think you've touched on this and it really is a little bit separate apart from your obligations, Steve, but I thought maybe we address the MGC dedicated space, Dr. Lightbound, because if I understand right now, you can get the license inside and that you were accommodating outside. And now our space is subject to different rules. So I don't know if that's been, those details have been ironed out a little bit more. Dr. Lightbound. I've talked to Steve briefly about it and then I also have been in communication with Troupti, our HR director and with Loretta Lelos, Director Lelos on that issue as well. We do have Plexiglas that Plainridge put up for us in there. Like Steve was saying for his folks, we'll keep our Plexiglas up as well. And what we may do is instead of completely restricting people from coming into the building, which obviously if they need to drop money off, they come in very briefly, but we might do something like have people come one at a time. As you all have seen, our vestibule in there is kind of small and I'm not sure people are comfortable crowding into a small space like that yet. But I'm gonna continue to have talks with our HR department and with Steve O'Toole and because obviously he has staff in that building too. Antidotally, from what I gather people, water cooler talk, all of the staff in that building has at least had their first vaccine. And so they feel very comfortable among each other. If the masks are lifted, but there is some concern about dealing with the public. The one thing that I did notice that's good, all of the New England states are and then if you also add in New York and New Jersey, they're all at or above 70% on people having their first vaccines. And we draw racing horsemen from the New England states and New Jersey and New York every day basically. So I feel a little better knowing that those states that we draw from do seem to be having a high rate of vaccination. So just to clarify and again, maybe Karen, you can also chime in where there's overlap in order to accomplish race horse racing and all of the functionalities. Our HR rules apply and the public would have to comply with them. And so we may just wanna clarify that and I don't know if that also goes into the communication plans besides the building, the white building as I refer to it. There's other space where we have MGC, I'm MGC, I'm sorry, employees. Is that? In the test barn and the test barn office, the barn itself I would assume is considered outdoors. There is a small office which would be indoors. And then the judges when they're judging the races are up in the judges booth. And so those three spaces are designated as MGC spaces for our HR. Karen, I'm gonna have you chime in there. Yeah, yeah, that's correct. So whatever to the commission internal policy for our internal operations would apply to that and it can make specific requirements for that area. For example, the plexiglass in between the judges or whatever operations we can keep those. But as far as the public entering, this is sort of our governance space. So we couldn't have requirements for folks that are doing business with our employees. As of May 29th, the requirements are what? The public would have to keep masks on. If they're not vaccinated, correct. As of May 29th. Right. Assuming that so that's in compliance with the governor's advisory and CDC guidance. But we haven't adopted that yet for our... Right, right. So I think that's something we need to discuss before the 15th and so probably at the next meeting what internally we're looking to do. So we're looking at that internally as far as looking at best practices and other government agencies. What is everybody else doing? What are we doing for our own employees? So we'll be looking at that. And I think that should be something for another commission discussion. Yeah, so I guess that's just for my purposes right now. So on May 29th, the public is going into any of that space. Would we expect them to wear a mask regardless of vaccination until we examine those HR or do we need to address that today? I mean, because we haven't had, we haven't really addressed our own HR policy. I don't know commissioners, I would feel comfortable for right now until we revise that after careful consideration that policy that that just stands and that for right now the short amount of time that when they walk into our space they just be asked to mask. But I'm open. I'm just wondering, I'm wondering, Madam Chair, if that would be difficult if the whole, you know, paddock area has one set of rules but yet our small space up front which is right next to the outdoor space. We have a separate rule. Maybe Dr. Light can speak to that. So for right now, the office of the test barn, we're not having the horsemen come in to sign the evidence cards. They stand right outside of the office so they can observe the sample being sealed and all still and they sign the card outside of the office. So that probably is fine to be without a mask if they've been vaccinated because they are outdoors still and we can just, you know, keep our internal, our staff that's in there, you know, they wouldn't be exposed to the public basically, if you say that. So that can keep going as it is until the commission comes up with further guidance. And then with office space, I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other. We do have plenty of masks that we've purchased that we could, you know, keep a supply right at the door so that if a horseman needed to come in the office and didn't have a mask, we can give him one. It may be helpful to hear from Derek Lennon because he has been in contact with folks in the executive branch on this. I don't know if Kathy if you'd like to hear so that may tie into some of this conversation if it's helpful. And so the narrow issue is really technical because we haven't adopted different rules for our own environment. And so Derek, you know, how do we address this for at least a short term? So if I just want to give a point of reference if we require masks in our space we will be inconsistent with what the executive branch is doing as of the 29th. The executive branch and the governor has been pretty clear about this on his communications as well has been we're going to use the honor system and, you know, we're not going to police on masks. It's up to people. And I understand the casinos are doing differently because they have especially for some of their own employees because as the governor pointed out they are private entities and they can make up their own rules. I'm just saying we would be inconsistent with what the executive branch is doing. And as an employer, we also have the ability being outside of the executive branch to make different rules. I'm just giving you a point of reference and I think it all comes down to comfort level for all the commissioners as well as for our own staff. I know that. Right now in terms of our own policy like if we were to work, go to work on in the office on whatever day it is, June 2nd or June 1st, I guess, maybe Tuesday. What is our policy? As of right now, we have not changed the policy to comport with the governor's order or the governor's change. I think Derek's point is we should note there's a little discrepancy there and we have the authority to do that. It's just to note that it's different and we may want to address that. Does that make sense, Derek? And then a member of the public, a member of the public came to our offices at one of our federal street. They are asked, they would be expected to have a mask on right now. And then until we get further notice. So I just, I'm wondering about the public piece. This is just, it's a little bit, there's been a little bit of different, I think there's some consternation about suddenly having the public come into our MGC space and we haven't had a chance to really discuss that. But my point is that we haven't had a point to discuss and I'm not sure today we're prepared to change that. And so, but I understand the Commissioner Cameron's point too. I need a recommendation, I think, and maybe Commissioner O'Brien or Commissioner Zuniga, you want to chime in, but maybe we get a recommendation from Karen and Derek. I mean, I personally think we leave it as is till we have time to talk about it. You've got different private establishments that are doing different roles and are going to continue to do so. There's a number of businesses near me that are going to continue to require masks. They don't want to get into the honor system. It's a small space, particularly when we're talking about a small space right here. I think we keep going until we have a chance to, if we want to put this on the agenda for the next meeting to really talk about it in the short term, I think the better thing to do is to maintain it until we have time. And Karen, that was the item. Okay, okay, yeah. There you go. All right, Jen, there it is. That was the item I could not remember for our agenda. Okay. On our own internal. And that may be an issue. You know, if that's the approach, an issue of signage and notice, putting, you know, making sure something's on the door or something like that. So there's no confusion. So we don't want our staff to have to do that. Commissioner Cameron. I think we should talk about it. No, I think we should talk about it as soon as possible. And I guess that would be next week. June 3rd. June 3rd. Because I think we need to be consistent. And I think that there will be confusion if state government is doing one thing and we're doing something else. So I think next week's meeting would be the appropriate time to talk about it. Yes. And Commissioner Cameron, my apologies, but that is exactly the item that Karen and I had spoken about. Yes. And I know it would be kind of a stress. I'll coordinate with Marianne to add that to the agenda. I think Marianne's on this message, on this meeting as well. So. For this very short period of time for consistency purposes, it sounds as though it's not going to be a big practical problem because a lot of the operations have occurred outside of the space anyway. Dr. Lightman. Okay. And it'll really, if we get it on the Thursday's agenda, it'll really only affect racing on Monday and Tuesday. Does that make sense to you? Commissioner Zunica. Yeah, it makes total sense. Keep us on until further discussion. So that means that for June 3rd, Derek and Karen will need to be prepared for some recommendations with the troops and the course on the internal guidelines. Workspace. Commissioner Cameron, I know that you've been part of that, that restart group. Thank you. So I didn't mean to derail our questions from Mr. O'Toole and he's still here. Thank goodness. In terms of other questions for Steve, I'm very satisfied with the plan that was presented and the expectations. Any further questions that I need a hand? Commissioner Cameron. I have new questions. I am as well thought that the plan was really well thought out, well articulated and I have no concerns. Commissioner Bryan. No, I don't have any further questions. Thank you. Commissioner Zunica. All set. Thank you. Okay. So would it make the best sense for us to address the horse racing separate and apart, I think from simulcasting? I think understanding simulcasting is completely covered by our action. Is this fair? I'm looking for Loretta and Todd. Is it fair to say that our last action with respect to PPC covers the simulcasting or maybe we'll address that in the next discussion. In terms of horse racing, we approved a plan. The plan wasn't included in the packet but we all remember it and we would move to lift that approval. Do we need to do that? Or how should we best proceed, Todd? Recall that each of the racing licensees had their own reopening plans that the commission approved. This is for horse racing and not simulcasting. Well, it was both. I think each of the three had their own plans. They were obviously different because they have different venues and different surfaces when it comes to PPC. But as a general matter, as opposed to the commission having a uniform plan that applied to them all, they were allowed to submit their own plans and the commission reviewed and approved them ultimately. So those are the three individual plans that need to be addressed. What if we decided to act right now on playing rich? I think that's... Do we need to affirmatively lift our prior approval in order to allow them to proceed? What would you recommend? The plan that I envisioned was that the commission would vote to allow PPC to withdraw its reopening plan that was previously approved and replace it with whatever conditions or agreements were reached between the commission and the licensee. So you've heard that Mr. O'Toole just presented his plan. Do you have any recommendation in terms of additional conditions that we would need to add? No, I thought his plan was very thorough. I think it's actually, in my mind, the conditions to be agreed upon would be very similar to the ones the commission just reviewed with reference to the gaming establishments as a whole. So the pandemic safety officer reporting to the racing division, reporting to the local board of health, all of his considerations you previously discussed, I think equally apply on the racing side. And again, just noted that they did put that in as their plan. So I don't really see it as a condition, but I'm happy if that's necessary, but I just see that they presented it as a plan and I'm prepared to accept the plan as presented. But I think we should probably work on Mr. O'Toole's before we go to the other presenters. We agree. Commissioner Cameron, do you have a bit of a motion? Thank you. For the reasons discussed today, I move that the commission allow the racing licensee Plain Ridge Park Casino to rescind their respective commission approved COVID-19 related reopening plan provided as follows. They shall conduct business in accordance with all COVID-19 related orders issued by the governor and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that remain in effect, as well as any applicable CDC guidance. They will ensure that the pandemic officer remain in place until further notice. They will report any positive COVID-19 tests related to the racing facility, to the director of racing and the respective local board of health. And they will continue to work cooperatively with the racing division to ensure that all the relevant guidance and practices are being followed. Second back. If I could just offer one amendment, which is that after the reference to the common any orders out of the Commonwealth, that it be orders or advisories, just the same language we used in connection with the casinos. Good point. I second as amended. Well, my only concern, I'll just note it, is that I think that the process for both this and the other is that by not also accepting their plan, we may have missed some of their additional items that they were including, that go beyond the guidance from the governor. But I'm understanding today that all three, all of the licensees who are coming forward plan to comply fully with their plans as presented. So I'm fine with the motions as being presented and understand their intent. Do I have any other further edits or discussions? Okay, Commissioner Cameron. Aye. Commissioner O'Brien. Aye. Commissioner Zunico. Aye. And I vote yes. Thank you. And thank you for the very comprehensive plan. I appreciate all the details very much. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair and commissioners. Thank you. And good luck, it's a big weekend. So good luck and stay safe, Steve, and good luck to all the drivers and the horse racing community. Thank you. Okay, and Dr. Leipan, thank you. We'll look forward to helping you out on June 3rd on the space. All right, so now that Dr. Leipan, we're going to move forward with, what's up next? Rainam, to Rodriguez, the assistant general manager is on. I'm not sure if Mr. Carney, the owner and general manager is on as well also, but now I'll turn it over to assistant general manager, Rodriguez, to talk about Rainam's plans. I'm not sure if she's muted. So she's attending by phone. Yes. We might be able to get some help from... Do you know the number, Alex, for the last four digits? Yeah, 4071. With Rainam, sometimes it goes through a different number. They have many numbers, but that's their main number. 508-824-4071. I'm looking here. Alex, if Karen can't find her, she could do, I think it's pound three to unmute herself on the phone. Okay, no longer star six. Star six, it used to be. I don't know if it's changed. Okay, I might be thinking of something else, so you may be right. Star six. I'll try star six so that you can hear us. Austin, I don't know if you're able to search for that number with your phone. There we go. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can. Oh, great, great. Good afternoon. On behalf of Mr. George Carney and myself, I'd like to thank the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for your support for the past nearly 15 months. Long 15 months. Special thanks to Dr. Lightbound for always being very supportive and responsive. And a special thank you, although thank you doesn't seem enough to our employees who have been so dedicated and cooperative throughout the process. Based on the recommendations from Governor Charles Baker, Rainham Park requests the permission of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to return to full operations on May 29th, 2021 with the exception of updated mask wearing guidelines. All our employees and guests will be advised to wear a mask at all times in our facility and to practice social distancing unless they have been fully vaccinated. Information regarding mask guidelines will be communicated through signage throughout the property, flyers available at our entrance, and printed in our program booklets as well as displayed on our Facebook page and website. Employees will receive written notification of all of the information I am sharing with you today. We will keep the pandemic safety officer in place until further notice and continue to report positive COVID-19 cases to the local Board of Health and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Some of the key areas of interest for us for resuming operations in place prior to March 18th, 2020 being requested are to return seating at all bars, allow full bar service, including walk-up service where guests can move out about the facility with beverages and consume while standing. We will return additional self-service wagering machines as needed and there'll still be areas with self-service machines offering social distance. We will reconfigure the seating to allow for additional tables and chairs in accordance with their occupancy limits but we will not need to return all tables and chairs. That's not necessary at this point. So there will be highly visible socially distant seating. Many of the changes that we adopted during the pandemic will remain in place, including but not limited to the use of a privately contracted cleaning company for cleaning and disinfecting all bathrooms in high touch areas before, during and after business hours, as well as daily deep cleaning. We will keep the hand sanitizer dispensers placed throughout the property and we will maintain the plexiglass barriers at the Paramutual Alliance program stand and we did install a glass barrier around our concession stand. Those will remain in place. After conversations with our employees, when we reopened, everyone seemed to appreciate those and felt as if that's something that they wish they had always had. So we will be keeping those. So signage with regard to frequent and proper hand washing, use of hand sanitizer, proper wearing of masks to stay at home when you're feeling sick, to avoid touching your face and how to sneeze to minimize droplet dispersal will continue to be posted throughout the facility. We will continue the use of one designated entrance and exit and continually reinforce the policy of if you are sick, please stay home to all our employees and guests. We look forward to returning to our pre-COVID operations while keeping the health and safety of our employees and guests our foremost priority. We will continue to monitor directives from federal, state and local governments and agencies such as the CDC and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. This is our proposed plan and I'd be happy to field any questions. Thank you, Sue. And thank you for the comprehensive plan. I'm going to ask each commissioners if they have any questions for you. And again, thank you for your compliance over the last 15 months. As you say, they were difficult and thank you for your continued cooperation and coordination with Dr. Lightman. Commissioner O'Brien, you want to go first? I think it's a very thought out way to reopen and go back to normal and keep what was good about the other restrictions. So I don't have any questions at this time. Okay. So just to be clear, this plan like the other plans do include keeping in place restrictions that are being lifted by the governor's order and advisory. Commissioner Zuniga. Sorry, thank you. Just something I may have missed or just to re-emphasize. You're planning on putting back some tables but not the ones you've had prior to the pandemic. Is that correct, Sue? That is correct. We've always, since the loss of live racing, we seem to have an abundance of seating. So this allows guests with what we've removed and allowing the six feet, it has allowed us to give space between the guests and if it's not necessary, there's no need to return it. We will return. There are certain seats as you know, especially gamblers like there's certain seats. We will be returning some of the seating to the window tables. Even though they have nothing to look at out the window, as far as racing anymore, they still love the window seats. So we will be returning some seating there, but in short, we won't need to return all of the seating. Definitely all of the seating at the bars, but not throughout the property. All right, yeah, thank you. You're welcome. Mr. Cameron? Thank you. Ms. Rodriguez, I had a question about, I wasn't clear when you talked about your mask policy, you talked about requiring masks of staff and patrons unless they're fully vaccinated. Is that, did I hear that correct? Correctly? Correct, that's correct. And that will be on the honor system? Correct. Okay, thank you. Well thought out plan, by the way. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, I guess I just have this question, Sue. We asked of it. I asked, I think earlier, are you encountering staffing challenges just because of the new environment or are you all set as things reopen? I'm not sure I understand the question. Well, there's a consideration around labor shortages. Are you able to- Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I think that unfortunately that's a problem facing the whole state right now. Yes, we have been facing some in our food service but we have such dedicated, the mutual clerks. Most of our employees have been here 30 plus years and they've stayed with us and they're continuing to stay with us. So that's why we just can't say how much we appreciate them enough. Getting, acquiring new staff, a little bit tricky but we're able to maintain our operations and we have been able to throughout this. So I'm not anticipating any issues. Especially the paramutuals where it's such a skilled position but we have what we need in place. Excellent, thank you. Thank you and I think what you noted that it really is statewide is just the observation. I was questioning, so thank you. Any other questions with respect to rain on? Dr. Leipan, do you want to add in anything? No, just once again to thank them for their cooperation and being on these plans. Great, thank you. So in terms of moving to allowing the relief that Rainham is looking for at this time and might have the changes that are being ordered on May 29th, do I have a motion? What do we have for the discussion? Okay, we would like to move. Madam Chair, I'm happy to move that the commission allow the racing licensee Rainham Park to rescind their respective commission approved COVID-19 related reopening plan provided that they shall conduct business in accordance with all COVID-19 related orders and advisories issued by the governor and the Commonwealth that remain in effect as well as any applicable CDC guidance. Second, provided that they will ensure that a pandemic safety officer remains in place until further notice. Third, that they will report any positive COVID-19 tests related to the racing facility, to the director of racing and the respective local board of health. And fourth, that they will continue to work cooperatively with the racing division to ensure that all relevant guidance and practices are being followed. Discussion questions. The second. Okay, Commissioner Cameron. Aye. Commissioner O'Brien. Aye. Commissioner Zunica. Aye. That vote, yes, for zero. Okay, Dr. Lightbaum. Okay, so our next licensee is Suffolk Downs and Chip Tuttle, the COO, is here today to speak on Suffolk's behalf. Chip. Thank you, Dr. Lightbaum and members of the commission. We too are very appreciative of the commission's thoughtful cooperation and guidance over the course of the last 15 months. We look forward to lifting most of the COVID-19 restrictions that were part of our reopening plan in July of last year, consistent with the governor's guidance. I'm happy to take you through those briefly. Certainly want to be respectful of everybody's time. We can also send this in a written form, if you'd like, but consistent with the governor's directive. Take all the time you want. Okay, consistent with the governor's directive, we will no longer require customers who are fully vaccinated to wear face coverings, although we will maintain a supply of them at the entrance and a couple of other locations for those who may want to continue to wear them. Through signage and other public communication, we will advise non-vaccinated customers of the need to wear a face covering and to maintain social distancing. And I think we're on the honor system with that as well as it appears everyone is. Similarly, employees will have the option to wear face coverings at their own discretion, provided they are fully vaccinated. Non-vaccinated employees will be required to wear face coverings and to adhere to strict social distancing protocols until such time that they are fully vaccinated. We have begun discussions on employee vaccination policy with internally, with our own management and with IBW Local 103, the union that represents the majority of our workforce. We will update the commission at such time as we have a definitive agreement on this. For at least the next several weeks, we will maintain social distancing in bedding lines and food service lines. And we will keep the transparent plexiglass barriers at the teller operated bedding windows. They are not, as Mr. O'Toole said, they're not really much of an impediment to the process. And for reasons of customer and patron safety, we're just gonna keep them up where they exist. We'll also maintain a six foot distance between mutual windows and self-bed terminals and program kiosks. There's, it's all working very well with them spaced the way they are. So there's not necessarily any reason right now at least to change that policy. We will continue to advise employees who do not feel well, to not report to work. We will monitor any positive cases of COVID-19 among the workforce and notify the relevant public health officials. If we do have any additional cases as part of this, we too will be keeping our pandemic safety officer. As far as sanitation throughout the facility, we will continue most of the enhanced sanitation protocols implemented as part of our plan in July of 2020, including the prominent placement and display of hand sanitizing stations and sanitizing wipes throughout the facility, regular cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces such as self-bed kiosks and other areas where there's a lot of traffic, hand washing stations will be maintained as well. In terms of capacity, we have the luxury of a pretty significant capacity. We will continue to operate the first and second floors of the clubhouse building as our primary operations. The capacity, the licensed capacity for each of those areas is 600 people. So we plan to go back to that fully licensed capacity. However, given the time of year, we do not anticipate that we would exceed that capacity. If we do exceed that capacity or have additional need, we continue to have the use of the outdoor area on the clubhouse apron, both for food service and for overflow and the area on the second floor of the clubhouse outside of the legends bar and grill for overflow as well on the chance we need additional capacity this summer. We will continue social distancing of tables and chairs in at least half of our dining areas for those who are not fully vaccinated, maintaining at least six feet between customers at these tables in these areas. We have the, again, the luxury of some space to do that. Signage and public communication on that front, we'll have prominent signage at entrances and elsewhere reminding people who are not fully vaccinated to maintain social distancing and to wear face coverings. We will communicate with our customers by way of email and social media as well through our database and social channels. So that is our revised plan and we appreciate again, the commission's thoughtfulness and guidance and if we have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. David Lanzilly, who's our pandemic safety officer is also on the line as well. And we look forward to hopefully your approval of this revised plan. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tuttle. And thank you too for your continued cooperation with Dr. Lightbound and with the, all of the MGC's expectations. Commissioner Cameron, do you have a question for Mr. Tuttle? I did. Thank you for the plan, very thoughtful, Mr. Tuttle. You said you were going to keep up with most of the safety protocols which ones did you deem were not necessary any longer? I think we're maintaining almost everything except the capacity restrictions, right? We had originally gone to 50% and then 60% capacity and then obviously the masks for fully vaccinated people will not have to wear masks, but we're really keeping the vast majority of a lot of the other things that we implement. Thank you. Commissioner Bryan. No, I'm all set. Thank you. I'd like that most of the spacing, you have the ability to do it. It's great that you're just going to continue with the spacing in the foreseeable future. I think it's going to be a pretty safe environment. I don't have any questions. Commissioner Suneka. No, same here. Thank you for the summary, Chip. Thank you. Excellent. Commissioner Cameron, do you have a motion? Madam Chair, I'd be happy to move. That the commission allow the racing licensee located at Suffolk Downs to rescind their respective commission of COVID-19 related reopening plans provided the following, that they shall conduct business in accordance with all COVID-19 related orders and advisory plans issued by the governor and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that remain in effect as well as applicable CDC guidance, that they ensure that the pandemic safety officer remains in place until further notice and that they report any positive COVID-19 tests related to the racing facility, to the director of racing and the respective local board of health. And they continue to work cooperatively with the racing division to ensure that all relevant guidance and practices are being followed. Second. Okay. No further questions or comments or edits. Okay, commissioner Cameron. Aye. Commissioner O'Brien. Aye. Commissioner Zunica. Aye. And I vote yes, four zero. And there you are, Chip, you moved on me. Thank you very, very much and we wish you much luck as things open up and stay safe and we wish the same for your employees and your patrons. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So we're moving on now to item number four. Todd and Jill. Good afternoon, Chair commissioners. I had a chance to meet with each of you individually regarding the letter to the legislative leaders, Spilka and Mariano and the chairs of the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight, chairs Pacheco and Cabral. And these letters support changes to the general law 30A section 20D regarding modernizing or an amendment to the law requiring that members of a public body be physically present for quorum purposes. Do you think it might be helpful, we just let have Councillor Grossman just set the stage on the letter because just pause for where you are because I think it would just be helpful. Sure. Okay. Yes. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I'm happy to jump in with an overview of the open meeting law and where we stand relative to its terms. And as Jill just mentioned, the core of the open meeting law is codified in chapter 30A section 20. It sets out the familiar requirements like public notice of meetings, accessibility of meetings to the public, presence of a quorum at public meetings. It's important to note that the open meeting law requires public access to meetings, but not necessarily public participation, which is why public access cable, for example, is an acceptable medium for the broadcast of public meetings. The open meeting law by its very terms allows the Attorney General to authorize remote participation of a member of a public body as long as a quorum of the body, including the chair, are present at the meeting location. The Attorney General, of course, has in fact authorized remote participation via a set of regulations, which are codified at 940 CMR 29.10. And it's important just to remember, of course, that as far as the commission's quorum is concerned, chapter 23K section 3D says that three commissioners shall constitute a quorum and the affirmative vote of three commissioners shall be required for an action of the commission. You're also likely familiar, of course, with those eight Attorney General regs that provide for things like roll call votes for remote participation, the requirement that meeting materials be distributed in advance, the announcement by the chair that someone is participating remotely. And you may also recall that remote participation under the Attorney General regs in the statute is required, is allowed only if physical attendance of that particular member would be unreasonably difficult. So there are certain limitations on remote participation in the body of the law and regulations. Of course, by executive order dated March 12th, 2020, Governor Baker suspended some of the open meeting law requirements and placed other measures in place to ensure the safety of all participants at public meetings given the pandemic, but also designed to ensure the transparency in government decision making that the open meeting laws designed to ensure. So things like notice and public access remained in place the whole time during the course of this pandemic. But what the executive order did was to relax two things essentially, the requirement that a public meeting be conducted in a public place that is open and physically accessible to the public, that was relaxed, of course, meaning that remote holding of meetings was allowed, provided that adequate alternative means of access like remote collaboration technology is done as long as there's no charge or toll or otherwise put in place for members of the public. And secondly, the executive order allowed remote participation by all members of a public body regardless of need and suspended the requirement that the chair and the quorum be physically present in the place of the public meeting. The governor's order by its own terms is effective until the state of emergency is terminated, which of course we now know is June 15th. So on June 15th, that particular executive order will sunset and the regular open meeting law provisions as I've just described them and which you're familiar with will take effect once again, meaning that the chair and a quorum must be physically present at the meeting location and the location has to be accessible to the public. By all indications though, the legislature and the governor are well aware of the fact that employment of that executive order to conduct fully remote meetings has been a successful undertaking. And a popular option of many public bodies and in many cases has actually ensured greater access to the public to the conduct of the public's business. And there are actually numerous legislative efforts underway to allow for continued remote participation in some fashion. There've been public reports that we've maybe seen that the governor will be filing essentially placeholder legislation to keep the principles of his executive order in place until September 1st, which will allow the legislature in his office an opportunity to consider more permanent amendments to the open meeting law, to align with some of the principles that we've been following over the course of the past year plus. And there are actually three other pieces of legislation that are presently pending that will allow similar principles and amendments to the open meeting law moving forward. So the bottom line though is that as of today, on June 15th, if no further action is taken to amend the open meeting law, at least three commissioners, meaning a quorum, will have to be including the chair, would have to be present at the physical meeting location to conduct public meetings. Though there is certainly, as I mentioned, reason to believe that action will be taken prior to that state. So as of today, we just have to stay tuned for further developments, which we are closely monitoring. So that's just a quick overview of where we stand with the open meeting law and attendant orders. One clarification, the chair can designate, right? Under current law, the chair could make a designation. For instance, I was unable to be physically present. I could designate someone in my place. Correct, Don? I think I think I've done it once, and I know it was done in the past. That process is described in the Attorney General Regulations. I don't remember precisely what it is. I think that that's right, as long as the chair, whoever is chairing the meeting, must be currently physically present. Yeah. Now, Jill, with that backdrop. OK, that was a great backdrop. Thank you, Todd. I would just add and remind the commission and the general public how quickly the commission pivoted really seamlessly to 100% remote collaboration technology. And since the executive order was issued, the commission held more than 113 public meetings. The feedback from our guests, general public speakers, licensees, were that it was a real positive. They didn't have to take all the time out of their day to come into Boston. And it allowed people from across the state and the country to participate more easily. So and one more point I'll just mention is that it allowed us to the commission was responsible for convening committees, such as the gaming policy advisory committee, the horse racing committee, the gaming research advisory committees, and various subcommittees. It allowed us to more efficiently schedule those meetings. As you know, we've struggled sometimes due to quorum. So I will leave it at that and ask if there are any questions. So the proposal is that you have a draft that we've been able to meet with you on. And we would be authorizing you to finalize it. And then we would be authorizing our signatures to be placed on it. Is that correct? That's right. Right now it's a draft without your signatures. And we would circulate the letter to you and with your permission, send it out to the commissioners. I'll have that draft. Are there any, first off, maybe we should find out if we have sort of a soft consensus about sending such a letter. And then the second part would be are there any specific edits or changes you'd want to make or additions you'd want to make to the letter or deletions, I suppose, too? We'll start. Mr. Zunica, thoughts? Yeah, I'm in agreement of sending this letter, however formed we end up doing it, in support of the potential changes to maintain some of the ability to go under these meetings using the collaboration of this technology. So I'm in general support of it. And it'll be all up to the legislature, of course, to address it or the governor to do it in a short-term basis until the legislature does. And Todd, did you mention that the governor, I think the governor might have filed yesterday to extend it out, right? So but that would require the legislature to act, but it would give the legislature more time to perhaps think more fulsomely about the overall amendments to the open meeting. OK. Sorry if I missed that. No, I mean, I think the point that both Todd and Jill make perhaps bears repeating a little bit. And that is that in our case, there was increased participation. I know there is accessibility issues that always have to be considered, but people who used to have to drive to downtown Boston for our meetings, even though we streamed them, there's more participation. There's the ability to see who's there, which is also an additional feature. So I hope that in the short post-pandemic world, there are some of these features remain. But of course, that's all up to the legislature. Commissioner Cameron, I see you nodding your head. Yes, that certainly is the habit of mine to nod my head when I'm in agreement, or I'm saying I hear you. But I do agree. This is thoughtful discussion about this, sending this letter. I'm in agreement that we should send it for all the reasons. Already articulated. I'll give one example for me in particular, working as a member of the Worse Racing Committee, which required many changes this year, required us to meet a number of times, which would have been very difficult with a member who lives in Western Mass and another member who lives on Cape Cod to meet as quickly as we did to be nimble and get the work done in a timely fashion, I think was much appreciated by the racing community. And that's just one out of many, many examples I know of how much it did help us complete our work in a timely fashion. So I'm certainly in support that we send this letter. Great example. Commissioner O'Brien. I agree. My experience in this office, but I was in terms of trying to get a quorum, a physically present, particularly where we have jurisdiction that spans the Commonwealth and licensees and different parts of the Commonwealth. It definitely makes executing the meetings reaching the quorum easier, but then also their ability to access and participate because they don't have to drive in, et cetera. I think it's one of the most useful parts of this, as well as the ability to do things quickly. Again, as soon as this was available to us, we literally did it the next day. So I think that it's definitely a value add if we send it to the legislature, giving them our perspective. I think that's a really good observation, Commissioner O'Brien, that literally this topic has just come up. And we're able to meet and have an informed team presentation today because we knew we could act on it. As this past year has taken place, you've all heard me say the word that Commissioner Cameron said, and Jill alluded to it. I know it's in the letters. Our nimbleness has so improved because it allows us to do our business in a timely fashion. And that has to help the interests of the Commonwealth overall. Our licensees are able to hear from us in a faster fashion. And so just today, we were able to convene both our agenda-setting meeting at 9 AM and then have this full meeting at 10. Really, it would have been almost unfair at times to ask of that with all of us having commutes and child care issues and other issues to have to deal with. And that's just the four of us. Never mind, as we mentioned, all of the licensees and the participants. So I know that we're not singular here. I think all of the other public bodies across the Commonwealth, particularly municipalities, are asking for the continued relief. And it's been such a great experiment out of some really difficult times. This has been one of the things that we really have recognized as being helpful to the interests of the public. The only other example that I would offer is, if you recall, we did, I can't remember now. Maybe it was September of 2020, where we were considering the renewal of Cambridge Park Casino's license. And we held a public hearing. And I think we were able to observe that the quality of the public input wasn't compromised whatsoever. In fact, probably enhanced because people could easily come during the workday. They are able to join in a way that they might not otherwise have been able to join if they had to leave. Their offices are commute into to publicly appear. So again, it's just the overall ease and enhancement of participation. So with that said, I guess we have a consensus on submission. Any particular edits, additions, relations. OK. Then I think we need a motion. Madam Chair, I'm happy to move that the Commission issue a letter in support of amending the open meeting law to legislative leadership as discussed today. Second. Commissioner Cameron. Aye. Commissioner O'Brien. Aye. Commissioner Zunica. Aye. I vote yes. And thank you for your overview. And I know this has been a really long meeting and everybody's hanging in there by a thread. We haven't even had a break really. So I appreciate everyone hanging in there. We have one more item on the agenda. And I'm turning now to Dr. Lightbound and Director Griffin again, please. So I'll introduce it and turn it over to Dr. Lightbound. This is a letter again to legislative leadership and the joint chairs of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Licensing. And the Commission is writing in support of HB337, a bill filed by Representative Techie Chan, an act extending SAML casting and live horse racing authorization. So I'm going to actually ask Alex to give you a little bit of background. Thank you, Director Griffin. So the latest authorization extended the authorization until July 31st of this year. So we are coming up on that expiration soon. So this is just a reminder about the jobs that are affected, not just at the race track, but including some of the money that goes into the Racing Division funding. And obviously, at this point, we are racing live. So besides affecting SAML casting and account wagering, it would be affecting the horsemen as well. And they plan their races ahead of time. And so if there's a disruption in the racing, that disrupts their whole schedule. So just a reminder to the legislature that it is expiring and that if we can avoid having it expire, that would be wonderful for the industry. Any questions? This letter looks familiar. We've filed similar letters in the past as a reminder of this deadline. Commissioner Cameron, do you are so familiar with it? You want to comment? Any questions? I think it's a really important letter to send. We just want to make sure that it gets done in a timely fashion. And a little reminder does not hurt at all because it is problematic if the season is disrupted. I'm in full agreement. Excellent. Commissioner Simicard? Yes, same here. In full agreement of support of the extension because of the impending deadline. And something I brought up to Jill and Todd and they're prepared to, at a later time, perhaps communicate this in some other fashion is addressing the uncertainty that one-year extensions create, especially on the thoroughbred industry. This letter is critical for the standard-bred live racing operations and by extension the simulcast facilities. But when it comes to the thoroughbred racing industry, there's, as we all know, money that came from the Racehorse Development Fund that's intended to supplement versus as long as there are five races. And it's perhaps well understood that one-year extensions do not necessarily create the certainty that might be needed to make the best use of those available monies. So long as we can address that at a later time, in whatever other context, frankly, we've also written it in the past in the annual report. But it's incumbent upon us to remind those who are, the legislature, who are more familiar with these matters that that's also appending matter. OK, Commissioner Browne. I agree with what Commissioner Cameron and Commissioner Zinnicka said, both in terms of just getting this letter out in timely fashion on the extension and then once again offering up our availability in terms of the gain-along-return solution for the industry. So I think the letter is good. I absolutely support sending it out. And I do believe that a follow-up letter or communications or meetings contemplated on the wider topic. So for now, we'll follow past practice. And unless there's any edit, I'm not seeing any suggested edit. And we'll just provide authorization for the signatures through a motion. If I could have that, please. Madam Chair, I move that the Commission issue a letter in support of extending the racing-related laws to legislative leadership, as discussed today. Second. Commissioner Cameron. Aye. Commissioner Browne. Aye. Commissioner Zinnicka. Aye. And I vote yes. 4-0. Thank you, Vivian. Quite a meeting. I think that we covered a lot by pivoting quickly to accommodate the governor's order and advisory's CDC guidance a little bit more rapidly than we expected. Anything that we need to discuss further on that front, commissioners, that we haven't addressed in a formal fashion on the agenda. OK. So with that, the weekend is coming. May 29th opens up to Commonwealth. And I know you're joining me in wishing our entire Commonwealth the benefits and the fun of an expansion, but also that we all stay safe. Just to keep on knocking on wood. The trends, the vaccination rates are all really positive. It's just what we hoped for and what science is allowing. And thanks to those folks who figured out this vaccination, right? It's kind of the people making it happen as well. Yeah. That's also needed. Absolutely. The implementation, no easy task. Anything else, Commissioner Cameron, you want to add before we get a motion to adjourn? Nothing to add. Well said. Ready to go. Ready to go. Commissioner Bryan, you're ready to go. Ready to go. Want to move? Move to adjourn. Second that. OK. Thank you, commissioners. I appreciate all the hard work today. Commissioner Cameron. Hi. Commissioner Bryan. Hi. Commissioner Zuniga. Hi. My vote, yes. 4-0. Thank you, team. Appreciate it. Thank you.