There is a very good possibility that Washington County, Florida could get slot machines in the near future. At the request of the Ebro Greyhound Park, the Washington County Board of County Commissioneers have agreed to place a countywide voter referendum concerning slot machines on the January 31st Republican presidential primary ballot. All registered voters, regardless of party, will have the chance to decide if the Ebro Greyhound Park will be allowed to add slot machines to it's facility.
Addition of the slot machines would allow the greyhound park to move forward with it's plans for a full-scale family resort and entertainment facility. The facility would include, but not be limited to, hotel and spa and entertainment facilities.
Owners of the Ebro dog track estimate that this will create approximately 1200 jobs and an additional 2 million dollars in additional income.
Washington County Kennel Club, doing business as Ebro Greyhound Park, has been in existence since 1955 and currently features greyhound racing and a very popular poker room. Ebro Greyhound Park currently employs 225 people with an annual payroll of $1.2 million and more than $5 million in local spending.
Located at HWY 79 and HWY 20, Ebro is only about a 15 minute drive to the beaches at Panama City Beach and to the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. HWY 79 is a heavily traveled road by tourists heading to the beaches and is currently being 4 laned through Washington County.
In my role as President of the Washington County Firefighters Association, I met with two of the owners of the Greyhound Park yesterday to discuss the ramifications to our Fire Services here in Washington County. The owners seem to be very committed to making sure that the Fire Services and EMS services benefit from the additional monies that should be generated. They verbally said that they are willing to make sure that income is designated and utilized by Fire and EMS to improve our services Countywide and in the immediate area around Ebro.
Regardless of where a person may stand on the issue of gambling, I feel that this is an opportunity that the citizens of Washington County cannot afford to let slip through our fingers.
If you are a resident of Washington County, Florida, I would urge you to support this effort, and stop losing money to other areas that offer this type of entertainment.
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