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A lot has been said in the local community forums since the Sleeping Giant Group first announced its proposal to build a casino near Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden.

Some of the comments have been positive, others not so much.

But it’s not the chatter one way or the other that has Steve Hofman a little concerned.

Hofman, a Steamboat Springs resident and one of six partners of the Sleeping Giant Group, said Tuesday a thorough community discussion about the proposed casino was one of the partnership’s goals from the beginning.

He had not, however, properly prepared himself for the amount of inaccurate information currently working through the Yampa Valley.

“When the (Steamboat Today) does a story, or when you guys do a story, it gives people an opportunity to comment (online),” Hofman said. “One comment (on steamboattoday.com) mentioned something about an Australian, who I have never heard of, somehow being behind this project.

“This is an opportunity for us to tell people that there is no unnamed, or named, Australian behind the casino proposal.”

Next week the Sleeping Giant Group is scheduled to bring the Hayden casino conversation to Craig when it hosts a community meeting August 30 at the Moffat County Fairgrounds Pavilion.

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. and marks the third installment in a series of community conversations about the proposed Hayden casino.

The partnership group already has hosted meetings in Hayden and Steamboat Springs.

In addition to squashing rumors about secret Australian investors, Hofman said the partnership is looking forward to addressing local concerns and discussing the project with Craig and Moffat County residents.

“This is an opportunity for us to have the kind of good conversation the people in Craig would like to have on a project like this, so everyone knows the impacts, both directly and indirectly, on Craig and the surrounding areas,” Hofman said. “On a project like this there is nothing better than to make ourselves available to the residents who could be affected, both positively and negatively.”

Hofman encourages local residents to examine public documents about the proposed casino prior to next week’s meeting.

Those documents and additional information about the Sleeping Giant Group can be found at www.sleepinggiantgroup.com.

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