RUMFORD – From Rumford to Bethel, reaction on Wednesday afternoon to Rep. John Patrick’s bill to allow a casino in Oxford County was mostly neutral.

People contacted by phone weren’t aware of the bill, but were familiar with its contents, because the casino was proposed by Rumford resident Seth Carey of Evergreen Mountain Enterprises LLC.

Patrick, a Rumford Democrat, said he filed the bill at Carey’s request.

Rumford interim Town Manager Stacy Carter said he was neither for or against it.

“I won’t say that I’m against casinos, because they certainly draw large crowds and would boost economic conditions around here, but gambling is an addiction,” he said. “When you talk about addictions – whether it be gambling or drugs – there is a certain amount of people who will do criminal acts to feed that addiction, so, there may be a rise in crime.”

But Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant said he hasn’t seen any research or statistics pertaining to increased criminal activity regarding casinos.

“It will bring more volumes of people into an area, increasing calls for emergency services, but I don’t foresee major crime following a casino here,” Gallant said. “But anything related to gambling, it’s scary, because some people spend what they don’t have, hoping to win the big one, which doesn’t happen.”

He also believed that alcoholic sales in a casino could endanger Maine’s highways.

Bethel Town Manager Scott Cole and Bethel Selectman Don Bennett said they reviewed Patrick’s bill, LD 1828, but had no opinion.

“There’s no free lunch in life, and no value, in terms of permanent wealth, is created by a casino, unlike housing related to ski areas, which spin off permanent services required to support it. With casinos, the money just moves around,” Cole said.

“At first brush, it already seems like a pot of gold, but there are issues for a lot of people, like gangster-related things that get mixed in,” Bennett said.

Rumford’s acting police chief, Mark Cayer, said he’s never been to a casino, but believes it would bring new challenges to the law enforcement community. “Clearly, the area is in need of higher-paying jobs. Would the pros outweigh the cons? This decision would have to be made by the community,” Cayer said. “When a community is faced with a larger population, regardless if they are coming to this area or passing through, more people would result in more calls.”

Such calls would range from car accidents, thefts and assaults to other crimes associated with a casino.

No one wanted to guess where a casino would go in Oxford County. “If it’s at the other end of Oxford County, it would have an impact on our taxes, but not services. But if it’s in Rumford, Bethel or Newry, it would have a greater impact on us,” Cayer said.

“We’re a big place. We border five counties, one state and Canada. There’s not a whole lot of big chunks of real estate for the needed parking ,and there’s only two roads in and out – Route 26 and Route 2,” Gallant said.

But if a casino were to go into Rumford, Bethel or Newry, or someplace in between, it would quickly gain the attention of Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, spokesman Alex Kaufman said.

“We haven’t had a chance to look at the bill yet, but we would be interested observers. I presume, if it went through, we’d be looking to attract some of his visitors,” Kaufman said.