OXFORD – Selectmen unanimously passed a resolution Thursday to support a casino and resort in town if the $150 million project is approved in a statewide referendum Nov. 4.

Members of Olympia Gaming of Las Vegas, developers for the proposed Oxford County casino project, made a presentation to the Board of Selectmen before it voted on the resolution.

The town’s Economic Development Advisory Committee also voted unanimously to support the project.

Daniel O’Neill, a member of the committee, said after the meeting that it was his understanding Olympia had asked to make a presentation to town leaders.

“I believe Olympia has been searching through Oxford County for a site and has come to the point of looking at (the town of Oxford) because of its location, its easy access to a major highway,” O’Neill said.

The town of Rumford and an undisclosed town are also in the running for the proposed casino, he said.

Maine voters will decide Nov. 4 whether to allow Olympia Gaming to operate a casino in Oxford County.

Dean Harrold, vice chairman of Olympia Gaming, said the Las Vegas-based company was drawn to Maine by its hospitality and natural beauty, among other factors.

“(Mainers are) known as hardworking people who take pride in their work and take pride in themselves,” Harrold said. “We think the town of Oxford would be a great host community for us.”

Harrold said the proposed casino and resort, dubbed Oxford Highlands, would create 800 jobs with an average salary of $35,000 per year plus benefits. He said the development would be built with Maine labor and the jobs would be given to local people.

Harrold said the host community would receive about $2.3 million with an additional $1.1 million from taxes.

Chief Development Officer D.C. Graham said the casino and resort would be “patterned after a charming New England village center” and designed to look like it had been built over 100 years ago. It would include 300 hotel rooms, several restaurants and a regional conference center with 10,000 to 20,000 square feet of space.

The project would be completed in two phases and would cost about $150 million.

Graham said a traffic study would immediately be commissioned to measure the effect on local roads, and noted that the casino and resort would be separate entities.

“They’re not totally integrated,” he said. “You can choose to go into one and not the other, or both.”

Casino campaign spokeswoman Pat LaMarche said the casino would draw an estimated 67 percent of Maine residents who currently make 271,000 trips to casinos in Connecticut. She said Hollywood Slots in Bangor has helped the city and has not led to a rise in crime.

O’Neill said the town has considered several investments, all of which have fallen through.

“We’d love to have you here,” he told LaMarche.

Resident Tom Cushman said he did not believe the casino would be good for the town because it would harm people with low incomes.

“All those winnings must come off the sweat of poor Mainers,” he said.

LaMarche said recent statistics show that people would forgo buying lottery tickets if they needed money for essential items. She said the average casino visitor is over 40 with an affluent salary.

“These are people who want to spend their 20 or 40 or 60 dollars of disposable income, and they have to go to Connecticut to do it,” she said.

Rumford selectmen voted 3-2 in August to support the casino, and LaMarche said there may be at least one more town in the county being considered as a host community. Proponents of the casino are scheduled to meet with Oxford County commissioners Tuesday evening.

Graham said Olympia would announce the location of the proposed casino by the end of next week.

“We think the town of Oxford would be a great host community for us.” Dean Harrold, vice chairman of Olympic Gaming in Las Vegas