LINCOLN — The president of the Lincoln Town Council said yesterday he wants his town to hold a non-binding referendum asking voters if they support letting the Twin River video-slot facility evolve into a full-fledged casino operation.

Council President Jeremiah T. O’Grady said he wants to have the vote because he is worried that the state, intentionally or not, appears to be on a slow but deliberate course to do exactly that at Twin River, the renamed Lincoln Park.

He pointed to the state Lottery Commission’s desire to add video blackjack games at Twin River and Lottery Commission Chairman William San Bento’s statement two weeks ago that Twin River and Newport Grand would have to become casinos “eventually” in order to compete with expected casinos in Massachusetts.

“What we have been seeing unfold since the first of the year is an incremental march toward a full-scale gambling facility at Twin River,” O’Grady said. “It started with the expansion of gaming hours at Lincoln Park in January, and has evolved to a proposal for the likely implementation of video blackjack.

“My concern is that this incremental process will continue unabated, and without local input, until a full-fledged casino becomes a fait accompli,” O’Grady said. “If nothing else, this referendum will allow Lincoln residents — those most directly affected by these proposed changes — an opportunity to make their voices heard on this important subject.”

O’Grady is proposing two questions: “Do you support the expansion of gaming hours at Twin River (formerly known as Lincoln Park) from its current closing hours to 24 hours per day, seven days per week?” And: “Do you support the expansion of gaming operations at Twin River (formerly known as Lincoln Park) to include full-scale casino gambling operations including, but not limited to, table games?”

He said his plan would be to have the questions on the ballot Nov. 6. Because the questions are non-binding and only open to Lincoln voters, O’Grady said his plan doesn’t need state legislative approval.

The state’s incremental approach troubled him, O’Grady said, because the state has a recent history of springing unexpected projects on the town. He mentioned a 2006 plan, since abandoned, to build a new Rhode Island School for the Deaf in town, and the current proposal to build a new courthouse in Lincoln. In both cases, the town felt it was left out of the planning process.

O’Grady said he hadn’t discussed his referendum plan with his four fellow council members, but he appeared to have four votes yesterday, as independents Keith E. Macksoud and Ronald A. McKenna and O’Grady’s fellow Democrat James R. Jahnz said they would support him.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Macksoud, whose district includes Twin River. “The legislature has to know how Lincoln residents feel.”

He added that he was considering bringing up a resolution of his own at the Sept. 18 council meeting, one calling for legal research into whether the addition of the video blackjack machines is actually permitted under state law.

McKenna was more fatalistic, saying he’d support a non-binding referendum, but feared the $250 million or so in video-slot revenues that Twin River and Newport Grand pour into the state budget would talk louder to the General Assembly than Lincoln voters.

“I give him credit for wanting to do something,” McKenna said of O’Grady’s plan. “Is it going to accomplish anything? No. The money is too important to the state of Rhode Island.”

Twin River spokeswoman Cynthia Stern said the company had not seen the referendum questions and so couldn’t responsibly comment on it. But she added it was not Twin River officials who brought up talk of a casino.

Jahnz said he liked the idea of a local ballot question because it would strengthen the town’s hand when it sits down to go over gambling issues with the state.

“We’ve heard the governor say before he’s really interested in hearing what the host community has to say,” Jahnz said.

Democrat John W. Flynn said some people in his Lonsdale district were ambivalent about Twin River expansion. Many sympathize with people living near the facility, he said, but others point out the complex provides money that keeps local taxes lower. He said he still thought that overall, residents probably oppose expansion of Twin River.

Before setting a referendum, Flynn said, he wanted to know how much it would cost, since it isn’t in the budget for 2007-08.

“I think we need to look at the cost of finding out something we already know,” he said.

jhill@projo.com