On Nov. 1, the Gadsden County, Fla., Board of Commissioners unanimously approved Gretna Racing LLC’s request to authorize a referendum in which that county’s voters will decide whether to allow slot machines at the facility where Gretna Racing is preparing for the state’s first pari-mutuel barrel racing meet.

The question will be placed on the Gadsden County ballot Jan. 31, 2012, and will be open to all voters in that county.

According to a report in the Tallahassee Democrat, at the Nov.1 meeting Gretna Racing and its parent Creek Entertainment Gretna presented plans for a casino with up to 2,000 slot machines and the commissioners voted to authorize the referendum.

The facility in Gretna, Fla., about 25 miles west of Tallahassee, would be the first Florida pari-mutuel to have slot machines outside the southeast Florida counties of Miami-Dade and Broward