1

 

       1                        

                                

       2            MISSOURI GAMING COMMISSION

                                

       3                        

                                 

       4                        

                                     

       5                        

                                

       6                        

                                

       7                         

                          PUBLIC MEETING

       8                        

                                

       9           Wednesday, November 28, 2001

                                

      10                 City Council Room

                                 

      11                 525 Spring Street

                                

      12                Boonville, Missouri

                                

      13                        

                                

      14                         

                                     

      15                        

                                

      16                        

              IN RE:  ISLE OF CAPRI-BOONVILLE, INC. 

      17 

         

      18 

          

      19 

                                                                   

      20 

           Reported by:

      21                        

                           Stacy Brandes

      22             BALLEW REPORTING SERVICES

             2213 State Route W * 7430 Highway 40 West

      23      Fayette, MO 65248 * Columbia, MO 65203

                   660-248-3014 * 573-446-6455

      24                                                           

 

      25

 


                                                          2

 

       1               A P P E A R A N C E S

 

       2 

          Missouri Gaming Commission:

       3     

              Commissioners:

       4          ROBERT SMITH,  Vice Chairman

                  DR. MURIEL W. BATTLE

       5          LYNNE R. NIKOLAISEN, via telephone

         

       6      KEVIN MULLALLY, Executive Director

              ANGIE FRANKS, Secretary

       7      SERGEANT RICH MASON, Highway Patrol Team

              STEVE JOHNSON, Deputy Director

       8      PATRICIA CHURCHILL, Deputy Director for Legal and

                                  Legislative Affairs

       9     

         

      10  ISLE OF CAPRI-BOONVILLE, INC.:

         

      11      TOM CAMPBELL, MO Regulatory Counsel for Isle of Capri

              TOM CARR, Regional Vice President for Operations

      12      JEFF KING, Vice President/General Manager

              JACK GALLAWAY, President and Chief Operating Officer

      13 

         

      14  CITY OF BOONVILLE: 

         

      15      BUD KEMPF, Mayor

              TRACY WALKUP, City Manager

      16 

             

      17         

             

      18

                                          

      19

             

      20

 

      21

 

      22

 

      23

 

      24

 

      25

 


                                                          3

 

       1                     I N D E X

 

       2                                                    Page

 

       3      Public Hearing called to order . . . . . . . .  4

 

       4      Roll Call of Commissioners . . . . . . . . . .  4

 

       5      Consideration of Suitability for Licensure . .  5

 

       6      Presentation from Isle of Capri-Boonville, Inc. 6

 

       7      Presentation from City of Boonville. . . . . . 21

 

       8      Presentation of Highway Patrol Background

              Investigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

       9 

              Presentation of Operational Issues . . . . . . 44

      10 

              Presentation from Legal Representative . . . . 53

      11 

              Taking up Resolution No. 01-073. . . . . . . . 54

      12 

              Motion to adopt Resolution No. 01-073,

      13      made by Commissioner Nikolaisen, seconded by

              Commissioner Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

      14 

              Roll call of Commissioners on

      15      Resolution No. 01-073. . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

         

      16      Taking up Resolution No. 01-074. . . . . . . . 55

         

      17      Motion to adopt Resolution No. 01-074,

              made by Commissioner Battle, seconded by

      18      Commissioner Nikolaisen. . . . . . . . . . . . 55

         

      19      Roll call of Commissioners on

              Resolution No. 01-074. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

      20 

              Public meeting adjourned . . . . . . . . . . . 57

      21 

                                     

      22     

         

      23     

             

      24

 

      25

 


                                                          4

 

       1               P R O C E E D I N G S

 

       2               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I guess we need to

 

       3  call the meeting to order, so if everybody would have a

 

       4  seat.  If you want to join us, there are some extra seats

 

       5  over here. 

 

       6               I'm Bob Smith and I'm the vice chairman of

 

       7  the commission.  I'm acting because the chairman has

 

       8  retired and the Governor hasn't appointed a new one yet. 

 

       9  So I'm here and Muriel Battle is here with us and on the

 

      10  telephone is Lynne Nikolaisen, three members of the

 

      11  Commission.  The fourth member of the Commission is

 

      12  somewhere in the Himalayan Mountains, so we can't reach

 

      13  him, but we do have a quorum and are prepared to go ahead. 

 

      14               I apologize, first, for having the meeting

 

      15  start late, but we did take an extensive tour of the

 

      16  facility and went through it in detail this morning before

 

      17  we came here.  I apologize for keeping you all waiting. 

 

      18               I do want to say, first, that I'm happy to

 

      19  be here in Boonville, and it's the first time I've been in

 

      20  your new City Hall, which I understand Mr. Kempf was

 

      21  responsible for and always -- since I live in Columbia, we

 

      22  get over here quite a bit, but we are very pleased to be

 

      23  here and glad you made this available to us.  With that

 

      24  opening, I guess we need to call the roll. 

 

      25               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Smith. 

 

 


                                                          5

 

       1               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Present.

 

       2               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Nikolaisen.

 

       3               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Present.

 

       4               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Battle.

 

       5               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  Present.

 

       6               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Adorjan.

 

       7               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  All right.  The roll

 

       8  has been called.  I guess we'll reconvene this open

 

       9  session at this time, and I guess the primary

 

      10  consideration is the suitability for the issuance of a

 

      11  license to Isle of Capri. 

 

      12               I'll first call on our executive director,

 

      13  Mr. Mullally, to give us the preliminary report. 

 

      14               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

 

      15  I'd also like to thank the City of Boonville, Mayor Kempf,

 

      16  Tracy, for hosting us today, and I appreciate the

 

      17  accommodations. 

 

      18               As we mentioned, the only item on the

 

      19  agenda today is the consideration of suitability for

 

      20  licensure for the Class A Licensee the Isle of Capri-

 

      21  Boonville.  I want to clarify that this is not the actual

 

      22  licensing.  This is the culmination of a lengthy

 

      23  background investigation into the parent company's

 

      24  activities in developing this site, all the principals

 

      25  involved, and their financial suitability.  And this will

 

 


                                                          6

 

       1  simply be a finding that the company is suitable to hold

 

       2  license.  There are still some operational hurdles that we

 

       3  need to get through before making a final determination on

 

       4  licensure. 

 

       5               The order of the presentation this

 

       6  morning:  First, we will hear from the company, and then

 

       7  we will hear from the City of Boonville.  We will then

 

       8  have the opportunity for any member of the public that

 

       9  would like to offer any comments on this project or the

 

      10  applicant.  Then, finally, we will have a presentation

 

      11  from the background investigation team regarding the

 

      12  results of the background investigation. 

 

      13               So without objection, Mr. Chairman, I'll

 

      14  call on Tom Campbell, representative for Isle of Capri-

 

      15  Boonville, to make his company's presentation. 

 

      16               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Lynne, first, can you

 

      17  hear us all right so far?

 

      18               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Yeah.  I heard

 

      19  Kevin just fine, so if Mr. Campbell gets in the same place

 

      20  as Kevin, I should be able to hear him.

 

      21               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Why don't you try

 

      22  speaking there first and see if she can hear you, if not,

 

      23  then you can move.

 

      24               TOM CAMPBELL:  Okay.  Thank you,

 

      25  Commissioners.  Good morning, Director Mullally.  My name

 

 


                                                          7

 

       1  is Tom Campbell.  I'm a partner with the St. Louis law

 

       2  firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, which serves as Missouri

 

       3  regulatory counsel for the Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. and

 

       4  it's subsidiaries in Missouri, specifically,

 

       5  IOC-Boonville. 

 

       6               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Before you go further,

 

       7  Lynne, can you hear him all right? 

 

       8               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  I can hear him

 

       9  just fine, thank you. 

 

      10               TOM CAMPBELL:  Jack Gallaway, who is the

 

      11  president and chief operating officer over the Isle of

 

      12  Capri, flew in for the meeting and he's en route, so he

 

      13  will be arriving later, and he will probably like to say a

 

      14  few words.  Along with him are a number of key executive

 

      15  management officers of the corporation who wanted to be in

 

      16  Boonville because of the interest they have in making sure

 

      17  that this project, as they have with their other projects,

 

      18  opens efficiently and without a problem and continues over

 

      19  the years to be a good operation. 

 

      20               On my right is Tom Carr, who is regional

 

      21  vice president for operations, and on my left is Jeff

 

      22  King, who is vice president/general manager for the

 

      23  IOC-Boonville development.  They will each respectively

 

      24  make a presentation.  Tom will make his first on the

 

      25  project as it is now evolving.

 

 


                                                          8

 

       1               TOM CARR:  I think I'm going to go over to

 

       2  the podium.  It would be easier.  Good morning, again.  

 

       3  You have my welcome to Boonville.  I'll suspect you'll 

 

       4  get welcomed to Boonville several times today because we

 

       5  really are --

 

       6               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I should mention that

 

       7  Mr. Carr was our guide in going through the casino

 

       8  facilities, so we appreciate you taking us through there.

 

       9               TOM CARR:  It's always a pleasure to show

 

      10  off your new baby, so we were very pleased to be able to

 

      11  do that this morning.  Can she hear me all right? 

 

      12               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Yes.

 

      13               TOM CARR:  Okay.  Good.  Thank you.  We

 

      14  have a relatively brief slide presentation that Jeff and I

 

      15  are going to go through, but we wanted to reacquaint you

 

      16  with a couple of things and talk about a few facts that I

 

      17  hope will be useful to you this morning.  Jeff, go ahead.

 

      18               As an overview of the property, and clearly

 

      19  you just walked it so you've seen most of this, but there

 

      20  is a 28,000-square foot casino there contained on the

 

      21  barge with 900 slot machines and 28 tables.  Are we

 

      22  actually opening with exactly 28, Jeff? 

 

      23               JEFF KING:  Yes.

 

      24               TOM CARR:  Exactly 28, because at one time

 

      25  I think we talked in the low thirties, but we are going to

 

 


                                                          9

 

       1  have 28 tables, which you saw this morning. 

 

       2               Off the barge, there's 25,000 square feet

 

       3  of public space.  We have our Calypsos Buffet.  These are

 

       4  signature restaurants within the Isle of Capri, so if you

 

       5  go to an Isle of Capri, you will see similarly named

 

       6  restaurants.  The buffet has 275 seats.  We have a

 

       7  Farraddays' Restaurant, which has 75 seats, which is our

 

       8  fine dining restaurant that is used by our best customers. 

 

       9  We have a Tradewinds Marketplace, which is a fast food. 

 

      10  It's certainly more than a snack bar, but it offers a

 

      11  variety on the menu.  It offers people a quick and

 

      12  relatively inexpensive place to get a meal.  Then we have

 

      13  a retail area, a gift shop, if you will.  And we have an

 

      14  upstairs area that is kind of a multipurpose room that we

 

      15  will be able to have parties and break-out rooms.  The

 

      16  kind of thing that has a lot of flexibility to offer

 

      17  events for the property as well as for the community. 

 

      18               And there will be a historic display area

 

      19  on the property.  I don't know whether it was pointed out

 

      20  when you walked in the front door as to where it's going

 

      21  to be, but as you enter the property, there's going to be

 

      22  an area that will display historical items from the

 

      23  Boonville community.  That is being put together by a lady

 

      24  named Judy Shields, if I've got her name right, who is

 

      25  involved with the local historical society.  She's putting

 

 


                                                          10

 

       1  together a collage, montage if you will, of artifacts for

 

       2  the area that will be displayed there.  In addition to

 

       3  that display, there is going to be a mural that is going

 

       4  to be hung in the entrance to the left as you go in.  That

 

       5  is being done and it is done specifically for Boonville

 

       6  and is about Boonville.  And I think we're going to have a

 

       7  lot of fun in showing it off in the area. 

 

       8               The other thing that is historic on the

 

       9  property is the Katy Trail.  We've had our issues in

 

      10  getting the Katy Trail accomplished here, and I'll show

 

      11  you how it moves through the property, but running on the

 

      12  east side of the property, south and kind of east of the

 

      13  property, is the Katy Trail.  And I'll show you in a

 

      14  minute where that goes. 

 

      15               The other thing I wanted to mention is we

 

      16  have designed this project to put a hotel in, and I'm

 

      17  looking forward to -- when it opens as successfully as I

 

      18  know it will, I'm looking forward to going into our board

 

      19  and getting the money to put a hotel here.  And if Jack

 

      20  was here, and he is here. 

 

      21               JACK GALLAWAY:  I think I came in a few

 

      22  minutes early.

 

      23               TOM CARR:  I will put the arm on Jack

 

      24  fairly soon.  We've designed it in the project so we can

 

      25  do it in a way that really doesn't disrupt the business,

 

 


                                                          11

 

       1  but we think it will be a good addition. 

 

       2               Go ahead, Jeff.  That's the site plan. 

 

       3  You've obviously just walked it.  That site plan is early

 

       4  in April of -- March of 2001, I believe.  You'll see the

 

       5  Katy Trail, if you look at that site plan, in the upper

 

       6  right-hand corner.  You can see how the Katy Trail enters

 

       7  near Main Street and proceeds through the site.  That is

 

       8  an old -- that was where it was initially going to be

 

       9  placed, and I'll show you on the next slide where it is

 

      10  today.  But other than that, the placement of the Katy

 

      11  Trail, everything on there is as we had contemplated, and

 

      12  you will see marked as -- is it "C" Jeff?

 

      13               JEFF KING:  Yes, "C."

 

      14               TOM CARR:  That's the site of the future

 

      15  hotel.  It's back -- it will actually be out where the

 

      16  loading dock area is, and we've planned it in such a way

 

      17  that we can build that as soon as it makes sense for us to

 

      18  do that. 

 

      19               Go ahead to the next one, Jeff.  This shows

 

      20  where the Katy Trail is actually located today.  On the

 

      21  far right of that it enters near Main Street, comes along

 

      22  the south side of the project, and then moves east back

 

      23  towards -- ultimately ends up, I guess, at Water Street. 

 

      24  So the Katy Trail moves through that site, and we expect

 

      25  that that will have quite a bit of use.  So that's the

 

 


                                                          12

 

       1  site as it lays out. 

 

       2               Go ahead, Jeff.  Now, we wanted to give you

 

       3  a little bit of a historical perspective in the sense of

 

       4  showing you kind of what was there.  Most of you saw that,

 

       5  I didn't.  I didn't join the project until late 2000.  Go

 

       6  ahead, Jeff, and kind of flip through that.  It's a little

 

       7  bit dark and a little bit hard to see, but that's the site

 

       8  as it was as development was contemplated.  That was a

 

       9  road that was there.  Go ahead, Jeff.  This is the

 

      10  railroad track looking back towards the bridge, and this

 

      11  is looking up Second Street, all of which has been

 

      12  substantially improved today. 

 

      13               Go ahead, Jeff.  Then, as you can see, the

 

      14  superstructure begins to come out of the ground.  Mother

 

      15  Nature was not completely our friend last year as we went

 

      16  through a tough winter here, but in spite of all of that,

 

      17  we really have all been pretty well on time.  There is the

 

      18  superstructure, more of the superstructure. 

 

      19               Go ahead, Jeff.  Obviously, it begins to

 

      20  take shape.  And then the first look at kind of the

 

      21  interior, which you saw in a pretty well-finished way

 

      22  today, use of the neon color, the openness.  Go ahead,

 

      23  Jeff.  The exterior shot.  That's now -- we were pleased

 

      24  to see today that we got the logo up on the side of the

 

      25  paddle wheel.  At night, I haven't been here yet to see it

 

 


                                                          13

 

       1  at night, looking forward to doing that this weekend, but

 

       2  I understand at night with the light, it really is a

 

       3  pretty impressive view.  Tom Campbell told me that as he

 

       4  was flying over from wherever you were flying, from

 

       5  Phoenix, I guess, that he was able to look down and see it

 

       6  from the air.  So it's really taking shape.

 

       7               Go ahead, Jeff.  That was taken a little

 

       8  bit earlier in the construction phase.  Inside, that's the

 

       9  entrance as you come to it down Second Street.  That is

 

      10  the bridge crossing over from the parking lot up to the

 

      11  site.  As you can see, it all begins to come together. 

 

      12               So the physical aspect of it coming out of

 

      13  the ground, it really looks great today, but birthing

 

      14  these things in terms of particularly dealing with the

 

      15  river and all the other issues that you have, it's a

 

      16  tribute to the construction guys.  They've done a great

 

      17  job here in making this happen. 

 

      18               In terms of the impact of the project, we

 

      19  had budgeted and are spending $75 million in the project

 

      20  as we'll open it.  We're going to have permanent employees

 

      21  and we expect to have between 700 and 725.  We've got a

 

      22  bit more than that now because we know there is turnover

 

      23  in certain areas when you open a casino, the cage area and

 

      24  some others, so we got a few more than that now.  But we

 

      25  would expect that as this settles down after 90 days,

 

 


                                                          14

 

       1  that's about the level of employees we're going to have. 

 

       2  An annual payroll of about $21 million. 

 

       3               We expect the project to do about $70

 

       4  million a year in annual gross gaming revenue.  That would

 

       5  throw off $12.6 million in state gaming tax annually, and

 

       6  $1.4 million to the city.  And we expect $3 million in 

 

       7  admissions a year, and a dollar for each admission goes to 

 

       8  the state and a dollar goes to the city.  When you add it 

 

       9  all together, it generates about $20 million dollars in gaming

 

      10  taxes of one form or another, $15.6 million goes to the state 

 

      11  and $4.4 million goes to the city.  And, obviously, those are

 

      12  projections.  I mean, as we get closer to it, we learn a

 

      13  little bit more.  I'm hoping that we will certainly do

 

      14  better than that, but I think that is a very reasonable

 

      15  number. 

 

      16               In terms of our development agreement with

 

      17  the City of Boonville, we've leased the land that the

 

      18  project sits on from the city.  We paid the city

 

      19  $1,500,000 in advance, prepaid, for the term of the lease,

 

      20  which is for 99 years.  In addition to that payment, we

 

      21  will escrow three and a half percent of our revenue as we

 

      22  open the project until it accumulates to a million dollars

 

      23  to do an additional community project related development

 

      24  with the city that needs to happen within three years. 

 

      25  Based upon our performance, we would expect to reach that

 

 


                                                          15

 

       1  level within the first year. 

 

       2               We've also given $850,000 as a one-time

 

       3  payment to the city for historical projects that have been

 

       4  managed by the city. 

 

       5               I'm going to, actually, turn it over at

 

       6  this point to Jeff, because he's the person on the ground

 

       7  here, to talk about the community stuff that happens here

 

       8  in Boonville.

 

       9               JEFF KING:  Good morning, Commissioners. 

 

      10  My name is Jeff King.  I'm the vice president/general

 

      11  manager of Isle of Capri-Boonville.  Certainly happy to be

 

      12  here. 

 

      13               I want to talk to you a little bit about

 

      14  community involvement.  The first piece of our community

 

      15  involvement, we have an inclusive employment purchasing

 

      16  program.  We have filed our strategic plan with our

 

      17  licensing application.  It's an outreach program for both

 

      18  minority and women employment, as well as purchasing from

 

      19  our vendors.  We will diligently work with this document

 

      20  as we go forward in making sure that we reach those goals. 

 

      21               We also have responsible gaming programs. 

 

      22  Our company is committed to responsible gaming.  Our

 

      23  president, Mr. Jack Gallaway, actually serves on the board

 

      24  of the National Center for Responsible Gaming.  We provide

 

      25  all of our employees with training on how to recognize

 

 


                                                          16

 

       1  compulsive gamblers and how to direct them to the

 

       2  appropriate counselors.  In addition to our company-

 

       3  sponsored training, the commission staff has actually

 

       4  helped us during this pre-opening phase by providing

 

       5  additional training, which is an hour and a half course, as

 

       6  we go through the opening process. 

 

       7               Underage gaming.  We will diligently deter

 

       8  underage gaming and are training our staff to be cognizant

 

       9  of that.  We have a heightened sense of awareness due to

 

      10  our location and our proximity to the colleges.  And as a

 

      11  result, we have scheduled experts with the commission

 

      12  staff to train our employees how to identify fraudulent

 

      13  IDs, in addition to the training that we provide on

 

      14  underage gaming. 

 

      15               In terms of disassociated person

 

      16  compliance, we have built the systems and are training our

 

      17  staff as well on how to operate and identify the DAPS that

 

      18  enter through the door, and we will make every effort

 

      19  possible to ensure that they do not enter our facility. 

 

      20  Additionally, our company will make every effort not to

 

      21  market, for all properties, not to market to a

 

      22  disassociated person. 

 

      23               We certainly encourage community service. 

 

      24  Many of our fellow employees, my fellow employees, have

 

      25  become very active in the Boonville area.  I myself am a

 

 


                                                          17

 

       1  member of the Kiwanis Club.  I've got Mr. Roy Evans and

 

       2  Mr. Mike Tamburelli and Mr. Michael Lynch back here who

 

       3  are participating in Rotary and various other community

 

       4  service programs.  And we are certainly proud citizens and

 

       5  glad to be a member of the Boonville community.

 

       6               TOM CARR:  Jack, would you like to say

 

       7  something? 

 

       8               JACK GALLAWAY:  I never pass up an

 

       9  opportunity to talk to the Commission.  First of all,

 

      10  forgive me for the way we are dressed.  As I mentioned to

 

      11  you, we are on the road.

 

      12               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I just thought you

 

      13  were a working president.

 

      14               JACK GALLAWAY:  That works, too.  It

 

      15  certainly is more fun to be here this time than last

 

      16  time. 

 

      17               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Yes, it is.

 

      18               JACK GALLAWAY:  I want to tell you how

 

      19  excited we are.  We weren't really going to stop here, but

 

      20  we want -- because what happens is when all of us, you

 

      21  know, the vice president and everyone arrive a week before

 

      22  opening, you know, on the theory we're here to help you,

 

      23  it just messes everything up.  You've got a great staff

 

      24  out there opening this place and the worse thing we can do

 

      25  is come in and try to help them.  Our goal here is to let

 

 


                                                          18

 

       1  them do their job, get this place open.  It's a terrific

 

       2  facility, and we can't tell you how pleased we are to be

 

       3  here. 

 

       4               The cooperation that has come from the

 

       5  mayor and the rest of the city has been great.  There is

 

       6  always going to be some problems along the way and we've

 

       7  gotten through them and we've worked with the commission

 

       8  on various little things.  Just checking with the guys, I

 

       9  think we are in good shape and it seems to be going well,

 

      10  and it's exciting.  And I guess I came here just to say

 

      11  hello, stop by, and thank everybody for their cooperation

 

      12  and answer any questions.  And then grab Mr. Carr and get

 

      13  out before the snow storm hits.  Can I answer anybody's

 

      14  questions?  Yeah, Mr. Mayor.

 

      15               BUD KEMPF:  Yeah, Jack.  I just heard Tom

 

      16  say they are going to build a new hotel. 

 

      17               JACK GALLAWAY:  I heard him say that too. 

 

      18               TOM CARR:  I said I would ask for a hotel.

 

      19               JACK GALLAWAY:  The guys in Kansas City

 

      20  said the same thing.  I'll be very honest with you about a

 

      21  hotel.  We love hotels and hotel rooms.  We have a hurdle

 

      22  rate, a certain return on investment that we need.  And,

 

      23  basically, the way we evaluate it is we take, and I don't

 

      24  want to belabor the point, but I want you all to know our

 

      25  thinking process.  We look at it from every room occupied,

 

 


                                                          19

 

       1  we look at the cash gaming and room revenue of that room. 

 

       2  We go through and know a certain amount of it is going to

 

       3  flow down to that famous EBITDA line, and on that we

 

       4  use as a basis to determine the reinvestment on a hotel. 

 

       5  Typically, hotels do very well for a casino.  That's why

 

       6  Las Vegas has 120,000 hotel rooms.  You know, to be a

 

       7  success in the gaming business, you should always say I

 

       8  want more hotel rooms, and then you become a hero. 

 

       9               The dilemma, and this is not a shot at the

 

      10  state, a cheap shot, and I don't mean it that way in any

 

      11  way.  Because of the comparably high tax rate of this

 

      12  state, it makes it more difficult for those numbers to

 

      13  work.  That tied in with the fact that our capital program

 

      14  this year, you know, as we are kind of scaling down and

 

      15  getting through a lot of the construction we've finished

 

      16  as a corporation and looking to repay some debts. 

 

      17               I certainly do not believe we would commit

 

      18  to a hotel this year.  In my heart of hearts, and I speak

 

      19  with hotel companies, we like hotel rooms, we want to do

 

      20  hotel rooms, we think it will work here, but it's tougher

 

      21  to make it work here to be honest with you.  Having said

 

      22  that, I look for something to be built a few years down

 

      23  the road, but it's not going to be next year, Mr. Mayor. 

 

      24  I would love it to be.  And I think we will get a better

 

      25  reading on the market.  You know, there's a lot of

 

 


                                                          20

 

       1  business potential, business down south that we can bring

 

       2  people up where it's a hour and a half, two-hour drive,

 

       3  maybe, where a hotel room makes a lot more sense to have

 

       4  them come up and game.  And we think that's where the

 

       5  opportunity is.  Does that answer your question? 

 

       6               BUD KEMPF:  Thank you. 

 

       7               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I would like to make a

 

       8  further comment.  From the Gaming Commission's point of

 

       9  view, we have considered this project with no hotel being

 

      10  guaranteed.  There have been some where the economics

 

      11  justify it.  Mr. Gallaway has indicated earlier that he

 

      12  wants to have one sometime, but I think our decision is

 

      13  going to be based upon the fact that there is no hotel

 

      14  guarantee.  I think you should understand that.  We have

 

      15  to decide whether it's good or bad at that point. 

 

      16               JACK GALLAWAY:  Thank you.  Anything else? 

 

      17  Okay.  Thank you, everyone. 

 

      18               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Thank you for coming. 

 

      19  Does that complete your presentation?

 

      20               TOM CARR:  Yes.  Any questions? 

 

      21               BOB SMITH:  Does anyone have any questions

 

      22  for the presenters?

 

      23               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  I would like to make

 

      24  a comment, Mr. Chairman.  I enjoyed the tour very much

 

      25  today.  The initial response was how large the place is,

 

 


                                                          21

 

       1  and I hope it does very well for the state.

 

       2               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I guess the only

 

       3  question I have is one of the things we look at, we have

 

       4  an original presentation from your company about what

 

       5  you're proposing to do, and it looks like you've done most

 

       6  of it.  I notice that there is some change in design over

 

       7  the original pictures that we saw, and I wondered, from

 

       8  the city's point of view, are you comfortable with the

 

       9  final design, Mr. Mayor, or the city manager or whoever

 

      10  wants to answer?

 

      11               BUD KEMPF:  Yes, we are.

 

      12               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  It's attractive to me,

 

      13  but this is a community and if there's any problems, we

 

      14  need to know about them now, and if you are comfortable

 

      15  with it. 

 

      16               Are there any other questions from anybody

 

      17  in the audience?  If not, then we will proceed with the

 

      18  rest of the presentation.  Thank you very much. 

 

      19               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Mr. Chairman, at this time

 

      20  we are prepared to hear from the City of Boonville. 

 

      21               TRACY WALKUP:  Good morning.  It's actually

 

      22  kind of nice to get to go second because they covered most

 

      23  of what I have to cover.  First of all, as far as Isle of

 

      24  Capri complying with our agreement, the lease agreement,

 

      25  they have done so.  They have covered every aspect that we

 

 


                                                          22

 

       1  have expected them to cover, and we have been very pleased

 

       2  with the outcome.  There's a section that I need to

 

       3  address on the licensing of the corporate system that's

 

       4  very difficult to address at this point in time when they

 

       5  are not opened yet.  But I will say that although they are

 

       6  not even in business and making money here that they have

 

       7  been donating to some of our local causes.  They have

 

       8  supported the Chamber, Heritage Days, Thespian Hall,

 

       9  YMCA.  And we do expect that when they get open and

 

      10  actually have cash flow going in this community that we

 

      11  will see greater donations to community projects. 

 

      12               The economic impact of the boat being here

 

      13  is very difficult to gauge at this point.  What we have

 

      14  are indirect impacts from the employment that has been

 

      15  created through the construction.  We do expect after the

 

      16  licensing is completed and we do start receiving gaming

 

      17  taxes and their employees are all on board, that there

 

      18  will be a significant direct economic impact to the city,

 

      19  to the entire community. 

 

      20               It's difficult also, at this point with

 

      21  them not being open, to discuss the effect of gaming on

 

      22  crime rates within the city.  We have sent our police

 

      23  chief off to a couple of different communities to address

 

      24  with them what their increases have been.  It seems that a

 

      25  lot of the problems that they've had in other communities

 

 


                                                          23

 

       1  have dealt with speeding and things of that nature.  We

 

       2  are addressing that through bringing on some additional

 

       3  reserve officers to assist us on the weekends when we

 

       4  expect our traffic to be the highest.  We are budgeting to

 

       5  add at least one new officer next year.  We are also

 

       6  budgeting for overtime for the officers for this year so

 

       7  that we can increase the amount of hours that they are all

 

       8  spending out on the road, just to make sure that

 

       9  everyone safely gets to their destination. 

 

      10               The gaming revenues that the city has

 

      11  received thus far have been reported on by Isle of Capri. 

 

      12  There was a $1.5 million advance payment that was to be

 

      13  spent on the streets and $850,000 that was to be spent on

 

      14  preservation.  Thus far, approximately half of the

 

      15  $850,000 has been earmarked for the organizations that are

 

      16  using it to rehab their buildings.  The rest will be

 

      17  earmarked when the council decides where it should go. 

 

      18               Of the $1.5 million that we received for

 

      19  street work, we have spent $200,000 on the Second Street

 

      20  project doing a complete rehab of Second Street.  We have

 

      21  spent approximately half a million dollars on the Spring

 

      22  Street and Santa Fe Trail Route into the boat.  We have

 

      23  recently entered into a contract for $250,000 for new

 

      24  stoplights in the downtown area so that when the trees are

 

      25  foliated next spring, the stoplights that we are all used

 

 


                                                          24

 

       1  to won't be hidden behind those trees.  We will have mast

 

       2  arms so that people who aren't familiar with our streets

 

       3  will be able to see them. 

 

       4               We spent approximately $200,000 three years

 

       5  ago redoing our Main Street in preparation for this

 

       6  project; $150,000 was earmarked for preliminary

 

       7  engineering, and there are some additional funds that are

 

       8  being spent for engineering inspection while the work is

 

       9  going on.  In addition to this, Isle of Capri has assisted

 

      10  us in setting up a transportation development district. 

 

      11  They will be assessing a one percent additional tax on all

 

      12  retail sales on the boat so that we can use that money for

 

      13  further street improvements should they be warranted. 

 

      14               As far as the economic development and the

 

      15  impact on the waterfront area, you saw some of the

 

      16  pictures that they have, the before and after shots. 

 

      17               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  We were there

 

      18  personally and we saw it.

 

      19               TRACY WALKUP:  Yes, you have seen it 

 

      20  before.  It is just amazing.  Those photographs don't do

 

      21  it justice as to what was down on that waterfront when we

 

      22  first started this project before all the demolition went

 

      23  through.  We have effectively cleaned up our waterfront,

 

      24  not only to the eye, but the contaminated soil.  This is a

 

      25  wonderful thing for the city, irregardless of whether it

 

 


                                                          25

 

       1  was for a casino or another development.  This is

 

       2  something that we really needed to get accomplished, and

 

       3  we are very pleased with the progress that's been made. 

 

       4               They have also relocated a rail spur that

 

       5  was in the project area,  and the rail spur that they have

 

       6  built is much more user friendly than the one that was

 

       7  down there.  I think it's a good addition to our

 

       8  community. 

 

       9               And I don't think I can say enough about

 

      10  the Katy Trail.  We have an absolute beautiful section of

 

      11  the Katy Trail going through our community now.  And it

 

      12  sees use, not only from people in our community and in our

 

      13  state, but national and international visitors will be

 

      14  using that trail.  That has been a wonderful addition to

 

      15  our waterfront. 

 

      16               As far as the affirmative action of Isle of

 

      17  Capri, they have briefly touched on this.  I've been

 

      18  reviewing some of their hiring numbers based upon women

 

      19  and minorities.  They have not only mirrored our women and

 

      20  minority population, but they have hired more than what

 

      21  our demographics show would be the norm for this area.  I

 

      22  was very impressed to see that.  This is something that we

 

      23  will continue to monitor to make sure that they are in

 

      24  compliance with that and that they are hiring women and

 

      25  minorities as much as they possibly can.

 

 


                                                          26

 

       1               And on the revenue-sharing agreement, that

 

       2  is something that I have provided to the Commission

 

       3  before, but we do have a revenue-sharing agreement where

 

       4  we do share the funds of this with neighboring counties'

 

       5  prosecutor's office, sheriff's office.  As a matter of

 

       6  fact, I had a call from one today.  He was doing his

 

       7  budget and needed to know when I was going to start

 

       8  sending the checks.  We hope that this works out not only

 

       9  for the City of Boonville, but for the surrounding area. 

 

      10               I want to thank you.  I would be happy to

 

      11  answer any questions you have. 

 

      12               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Do you have any

 

      13  questions, Muriel?

 

      14               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  No, I don't.  This

 

      15  really is a very pleasant day because I've talked to so

 

      16  many people, accidentally, from Boonville and everybody

 

      17  seems to be very pleased, especially with the new economy

 

      18  and all the new jobs they will provide.  So this is very

 

      19  pleasant to be here.

 

      20               TRACY WALKUP:  That's nice to hear. 

 

      21               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  To pursue that a

 

      22  little further, one of the things that the Commission

 

      23  looks at is the public response to gaming facilities of

 

      24  this sort.  I know initially there was some reservation on

 

      25  the part of some of the people in Boonville.  Do you

 

 


                                                          27

 

       1  detect any change in the attitude towards the Isle of

 

       2  Capri project?

 

       3               TRACY WALKUP:  I do.  I don't know if it is

 

       4  necessarily that those people who weren't for it are

 

       5  suddenly for it or if they've decided that it's going to

 

       6  happen and that it doesn't do any good now at this point

 

       7  to come in to public forums and complain.  But, you know,

 

       8  I would also point out that we had gaming issues on the

 

       9  ballot a number of times, not only just for Boonville but

 

      10  statewide, and every time there was a gaming issue on the

 

      11  ballot it did pass in Boonville.  So there is always going

 

      12  to be a section of population that just doesn't want

 

      13  gaming, not only in their community, but just doesn't want

 

      14  it.  The majority of our population when they went to the

 

      15  ballot said, yes, they did.

 

      16               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Sometimes people have

 

      17  a fear before something comes in and they see it.  Has the

 

      18  general response to the facility itself been favorable

 

      19  around here?

 

      20               TRACY WALKUP:  Yes, it has.  I don't know

 

      21  if you remember back -- you were on the Commission at the

 

      22  time that I was where Capri first came in and made their

 

      23  presentation, and when they first presented the graphics

 

      24  of what they intended to build, we were horrified.  I

 

      25  think you probably remember that.  It looked nothing like

 

 


                                                          28

 

       1  what we had in mind, and we simply told them that that

 

       2  just wasn't it.  And they came back two weeks later and

 

       3  had a historic-looking structure that does fit within our

 

       4  community.  And everyone was very pleased with that.

 

       5               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Well, I guess the only

 

       6  other concern I have is the question of traffic flow.  I

 

       7  know you are looking ahead, I just wonder if you are

 

       8  prepared for what might be an onslaught of traffic early

 

       9  until you can do some of these improvements that you have

 

      10  talked about.

 

      11               TRACY WALKUP:  Well, a lot of these

 

      12  improvements are already done.  And I'm not going to stand

 

      13  here and tell you that for the first 30 to 60 days it's

 

      14  not going to be a mess, because we're going to have during

 

      15  that first period the people that just want to come in and

 

      16  have a look at the new casino.  What we have done to

 

      17  address this is we have completely redone the back route

 

      18  coming into the casino, and all of our signage will direct

 

      19  people that way.  That street can hold a significant

 

      20  amount of traffic, and that does help route them off of

 

      21  Main Street.  We also, as I alluded to earlier, have

 

      22  additional officers that will be on duty.  If we have

 

      23  difficulty, we will have officers out helping to direct

 

      24  traffic. 

 

      25               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I might also comment

 

 


                                                          29

 

       1  that I am pleased with the revenue-sharing.  I think some

 

       2  other facilities in the state should appreciate and

 

       3  observe what you have done with the adjoining counties

 

       4  which are affected, and I think it's a neat arrangement. 

 

       5               TRACY WALKUP:  Well, we hope that it works

 

       6  out well for everyone. 

 

       7               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Does anyone else have

 

       8  any questions?  If not, thank you very much.

 

       9               TRACY WALKUP:  You are welcome.  If I may,

 

      10  the Mayor would like to make just a few comments.

 

      11               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  As a former mayor, I'm

 

      12  going to always let a mayor speak if he wants to.

 

      13               MAYOR KEMPF:  Good morning and welcome to

 

      14  the City of Boonville.  It's my pleasure to stand before

 

      15  you and welcome the Gaming Commission and the Isle of

 

      16  Capri.  I think this is a day that I dreamed of; that

 

      17  many, many people in the City of Boonville dreamed of.  I

 

      18  know Tracy did.  I know Ted Bleil did.  I used to go out there

 

      19  every two weeks on the radio station and Ted Bleil and I --

 

      20  probably that was the big question.  You think that boat

 

      21  will ever get here?  Well, I tell you what folks, it's

 

      22  here.  Drive down to the waterfront, look at it, and next

 

      23  week I hope that the Gaming Commission will see to open

 

      24  this thing and see these cars flow down. 

 

      25               Now, I'm concerned, too, about the

 

 


                                                          30

 

       1  traffic.  That's a big one.  But, you know, I've been to

 

       2  some of them.  I'm not a big gambler, but I'm going to

 

       3  spend some money at Isle of Capri, because I know the food

 

       4  will be great, I know the atmosphere will be great.  I've

 

       5  been down there and seen the waterfall, and I love water. 

 

       6  I'm a plumber, and I work in water all the time.  Don't

 

       7  like it in the winter now, but I do love water.  And my

 

       8  wife is a fond, pleased lady of water.  She was raised out

 

       9  in Portland, Oregon, and there's water there.  You know,

 

      10  she's always talked about how beautiful the water is.  And

 

      11  you go down there, and I'm sure when you enter these doors

 

      12  and you look at that waterfall, it's going to enhance you

 

      13  and you're going to want to come back.  Jeff, and they're

 

      14  going to come back. 

 

      15               Like Tracy said a while ago, and I think

 

      16  our chief of police is here, but we will help on this

 

      17  traffic problem.  At peak times, we will have extra

 

      18  officers out there that will control and help with this

 

      19  traffic.  And we will see that these people get down to

 

      20  the Gaming Commission -- sorry, not the Gaming Commission. 

 

      21  Well, yeah, the Gaming Commission, the casino, and get

 

      22  there safely and get back safely. 

 

      23               That's the big plus, because already we've

 

      24  heard from somebody, I don't know the people, but somebody

 

      25  on High Street said, "Oh, the lights are too bright." 

 

 


                                                          31

 

       1  Well, let me tell you, Jeff, they're not too bright. 

 

       2  Because if I walk down there with $100 in my pocket and

 

       3  I'm in an area where I can't be seen, you know, where it's

 

       4  dark, I don't want someone to hit me in the head and take

 

       5  my $100.  You know, I want to spend it in the casino,

 

       6  that's what I'm coming for.  And I think that's what we

 

       7  are all coming for down there, is to enjoy the casino and

 

       8  the City of Boonville.

 

       9               Another thing is, and I've always said

 

      10  this, if you would have driven down there two years ago --

 

      11  and I appreciate Bob saying we've seen it, and he did see

 

      12  it in a rough time.  If you would have driven down there

 

      13  two years ago and you drive down there now, which would

 

      14  you pick?  I mean, which would you pick?  Would you pick

 

      15  what you see down on the river front now versus what was

 

      16  there two years ago?  I say you would.  If not, you

 

      17  wouldn't like anything very pretty and anything very nice

 

      18  or anything you could enjoy.  Because that's what it's

 

      19  here for.  It's for enjoyment of the people and it's for

 

      20  everything that we want to help the people do in the City

 

      21  of Boonville plus the surrounding communities.  And I

 

      22  appreciate -- Bob told me he was from Columbia.  I didn't

 

      23  realize that.  You know, but I called Darwin Hindman and

 

      24  Ray Beck and offered them the opportunity to come down

 

      25  next Tuesday from two to four. 

 

 


                                                          32

 

       1               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  They are going to get

 

       2  invitations. 

 

       3               MAYOR KEMPF:  They have an invitation, sir,

 

       4  but they cannot acknowledge it.  They will be in Atlanta,

 

       5  Georgia, at the National League of Cities Convention.  And

 

       6  I was supposed to be there on my birthday, December 4th,

 

       7  and make a speech on December 5th on public safety and

 

       8  crime.  I will not be in Atlanta, Georgia, Jeff, I will be

 

       9  at the boat.  I just want that clear.  And that's my first

 

      10  to miss in 12 years.  I mean, people around here know that

 

      11  I love conventions,  because I think when you go there,

 

      12  you meet people and you bring back ideas. 

 

      13               And even last year, you know, people were

 

      14  talking because I'm handing out this pin, you know, of the

 

      15  boat.  Oh, where's Boonville?  I said, well, you've heard

 

      16  of the Missouri Tigers, you know they play nationally. 

 

      17  You've heard of the University of Missouri, which is a big

 

      18  college and a lot of people, I know, have graduated that

 

      19  have gone to the University of Missouri, and we are only 23

 

      20  miles from there.  We are 150 from St. Louis, we are 100

 

      21  from Kansas City.  Oh, they say, that's great. 

 

      22               I said, yes, they have them in St. Louis

 

      23  and Kansas City, but we want you to come to the casino in

 

      24  the City of Boonville because we're going to have

 

      25  something different.  We are going to make you feel

 

 


                                                          33

 

       1  comfortable.  You are not going to have the traffic except

 

       2  on I-70, but once you leave that -- now, I got to back up

 

       3  a little bit because I don't know how the traffic is going

 

       4  to be, Jeff, going down Main Street.  It may be quite a

 

       5  bit of traffic, and, of course, when I heard you talk

 

       6  about the numbers or Tracy talk about the numbers, we want

 

       7  the numbers to come down on Main Street, any street they

 

       8  can get down to the casino, right, Jeff? 

 

       9               JEFF KING:  That's right.

 

      10               MAYOR KEMPF:  Any street.  And they will

 

      11  finally learn their way.  We all do.  Whenever we travel,

 

      12  which I've traveled a lot in the years since my children

 

      13  have left here.  I have one in Ohio, which is a doctor,

 

      14  and I have one in Texas, which is an engineer.  So I go

 

      15  both ways, I go east and I go west and south.  And, you

 

      16  know, traveling is fun, but traveling isn't fun when you

 

      17  get in traffic and you are just bumper to bumper and can't

 

      18  go very far.  But we will take care of that, won't we,

 

      19  Chief Gholson? 

 

      20               CHIEF GHOLSON:  Yes, sir.

 

      21               MAYOR KEMPF:  Yes, sir.  You heard that, Bob. 

 

      22  Okay.  We're going to take care of that so we're going to

 

      23  be really, really enthused when somebody gives the time

 

      24  and effort and says, hey, you can open the big doors to

 

      25  Isle of Capri Casino in the City of Boonville. 

 

 


                                                          34

 

       1               And I just want to thank everybody.  And I

 

       2  talked a while ago back here to, and I didn't realize

 

       3  they'd be here this morning, but Highway Patrol.  You

 

       4  know, I was a little concerned because I thought Chief

 

       5  Gholson could take care of me if I got out of line.  But

 

       6  we do have Highway Patrolmen here.  I know they are with

 

       7  the Commission, and we're glad to have them on site, Jeff,

 

       8  to take care of things that have to be done.  A lot of them

 

       9  that are going to be down there are local guys that we've

 

      10  known, but we are going to have so many strangers coming

 

      11  in that, you know, they won't know everybody.  And, hey,

 

      12  if I get out of line and I want to run around and drink

 

      13  too much and chase these cocktail girls, I want you guys

 

      14  to put me in jail.  Okay? 

 

      15               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I think I better stop

 

      16  you before you go any further.  Well, thanks so much for

 

      17  coming and we really appreciate your remarks and we are

 

      18  delighted that you are here.

 

      19               MAYOR KEMPF:  Bob, I get long-winded, but

 

      20  when I get excited, I get more long-winded.  So I'll have

 

      21  a little presentation for you --

 

      22               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  I think Bob

 

      23  understands that. 

 

      24               COMMISSION SMITH:  I think I understand

 

      25  that.

 

 


                                                          35

 

       1               MAYOR KEMPF:  Thank you very much.  I

 

       2  appreciate everybody coming, and come back to Boonville

 

       3  and enjoy the casino.

 

       4               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Before you go, let's see

 

       5  if there are any questions.  Lynne, I keep forgetting that

 

       6  you are here and I haven't given you a chance to ask

 

       7  questions. 

 

       8               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  No questions so

 

       9  far, Bob.  Thank you. 

 

      10               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  If you have a

 

      11  question, please don't hesitate to jump in.  Muriel, do

 

      12  you have any questions for the Mayor?

 

      13               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  I have no questions. 

 

      14               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Thank you very much.

 

      15               MAYOR KEMPF:  I love to see her here.  And

 

      16  I'll tell you why.  Because I've been asked by two lovely

 

      17  ladies that will be here that have received invitations,

 

      18  and they wanted to know if African Americans will be, you

 

      19  know -- and I said you two ladies are going to be here

 

      20  because I've got an invitation for you.  And one is coming

 

      21  from Indianapolis, Indiana, and one is coming from

 

      22  Minneapolis, Minnesota.  So, you know, we are going to

 

      23  have people coming from all over.  Thank you very much and

 

      24  have a good day.  Don't forget to come back to Boonville

 

      25  and help us support this casino.

 

 


                                                          36

 

       1               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Is there anybody else

 

       2  from Boonville that needs to speak at this point?  If not,

 

       3  Kevin, we can go ahead and make your presentation on

 

       4  behalf of the Commission reporting your investigation.

 

       5               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Mr. Chairman, at this

 

       6  point, this is the point in our proceedings where we ask

 

       7  anybody from the public, not just the city, but anybody

 

       8  from the public if they would like to offer any commentary

 

       9  regarding the Isle of Capri-Boonville application.  Seeing

 

      10  none, I would ask that Sergeant Rich Mason come forward

 

      11  and present the results of the background investigation. 

 

      12               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I might state at the

 

      13  outset that the Commission has received a written report

 

      14  from the administration, which we have studied ahead of

 

      15  this meeting.  So we appreciate having that ahead of time. 

 

      16  We thank the staff for getting it to us.

 

      17               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  Commissioners, on May

 

      18  16th, 2001, an investigation was done by the Missouri

 

      19  Gaming Commission Background Investigative Teams located

 

      20  in Jefferson City and Kansas City and the Missouri Gaming

 

      21  Commission Financial Investigative Agents to determine the

 

      22  suitability of IOC-Boonville, Inc. to operate a

 

      23  riverboat gaming facility in Boonville, Missouri. 

 

      24  IOC-Boonville, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary

 

      25  of Isle of Capri Casino, Inc., a public

 

 


                                                          37

 

       1  corporation with headquarters in Biloxi, Mississippi.

 

       2               Isle of Capri, Inc. currently

 

       3  operates 13 casinos in six different jurisdictions, to

 

       4  include Black Hawk, Colorado; Marquette, Iowa; Bettendorf,

 

       5  Iowa; Davenport, Iowa; Bossier City, Louisiana; Lake

 

       6  Charles, Louisiana; Biloxi, Mississippi; Natchez,

 

       7  Mississippi; Vicksburg, Mississippi; Lula, Mississippi;

 

       8  Tunica, Mississippi; Kansas City, Missouri; and Las Vegas,

 

       9  Nevada.  IOC also operates a harness racing facility in

 

      10  Pompano Beach, Florida. 

 

      11               In order to complete a thorough and

 

      12  comprehensive investigation of suitability for licensure

 

      13  as a riverboat gaming facility, the Key and Level One

 

      14  applicants for the Isle of Capri-Boonville were

 

      15  scrutinized.  The investigation of the aforementioned

 

      16  applicants consisted of criminal, civil, character,

 

      17  previous employment, and financial inquiries into their

 

      18  backgrounds. 

 

      19               The criminal, civil, character, and

 

      20  previous employment background checks included, but were

 

      21  not limited to, checks with federal, state, county, and

 

      22  municipal law enforcement agencies where the individuals

 

      23  have lived, worked, and frequented, and interviews of the

 

      24  applicant's previous employers.  Gaming jurisdictions in

 

      25  which the applicants are or were licensed were contacted

 

 


                                                          38

 

       1  to ascertain the applicant's licensing history.

 

       2               The financial background investigation of

 

       3  the Key and Level One applicants included, but was not

 

       4  limited to, the examination of individual tax returns, the

 

       5  examination of bank and brokerage statements, the

 

       6  examination of all sources of income including all

 

       7  nontaxable income, the examination of executive employment

 

       8  agreements. 

 

       9               The following individuals were investigated

 

      10  for licensure:  J. Jeffrey King, vice president and

 

      11  general manager; John R. Teats, director of casino

 

      12  operations; Michael J. Tamburelli, senior director of

 

      13  operations; Michael L. Schafersman, director of safety and

 

      14  facilities; Michael K. Young, director of table games; Roy

 

      15  E. Evans, Jr., senior director of finance; Kevin S.

 

      16  Wright, surveillance manager; Treva E. Gage, electronic 

 

      17  data processing manager; Paul R. Brandt, security manager;

 

      18  Michael R. Coca, slot department manager; Debra L. Stubbs,

 

      19  casino manager; Michael J. Lewis, table games manager, and

 

      20  Mary M. Giancola, operations manager.

 

      21               The corporate investigation of Isle of

 

      22  Capri Casino, Inc., consisted of, but was not

 

      23  limited to, disciplines and fines and license status in

 

      24  gaming jurisdictions in which IOC is licensed, examination

 

      25  of civil or criminal litigation, and a financial

 

 


                                                          39

 

       1  investigation. 

 

       2               The financial background investigation of

 

       3  the corporation included, but was not limited to, a review

 

       4  of corporate tax returns, the source and application of

 

       5  funds, cash flow analysis and bad debt write-offs, and the

 

       6  review of all corporate litigation.

 

       7               No discrepancies or concerns were found in

 

       8  the background investigation that would preclude licensing

 

       9  Isle of Capri-Boonville, Inc. as a riverboat

 

      10  gaming operator in the State of Missouri.  There were no

 

      11  discrepancies or concerns disclosed that would preclude

 

      12  permanent licensure of the Key or Level One applicants

 

      13  associated with the Isle of Capri-Boonville Inc.

 

      14               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Lynne, do you have any

 

      15  questions? 

 

      16               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  I have one and

 

      17  it's referring to looking to the various individuals that

 

      18  we were licensing.  There's one individual on page 43 who,

 

      19  I guess, a year ago had a negative net worth, I believe,

 

      20  of around $20,000 and has since got that down to almost

 

      21  zero, but commented that due to the nature of this

 

      22  business and the job, that the commission would continue

 

      23  to monitor that individual's status and financial

 

      24  condition to make sure there weren't any potential

 

      25  problems.  But at the same time, there's another

 

 


                                                          40

 

       1  individual on page 47 who currently has a negative net

 

       2  worth of about $9,000, but no mention of continuing to

 

       3  watch or monitor that individual. 

 

       4               And, again, I hope I'm not coming across as

 

       5  picking on people, but we both know the type of jobs these

 

       6  are in the gaming industry and that we are very aware of

 

       7  people's financial conditions and want to make sure that

 

       8  we do not put them in an awkward situation because of

 

       9  their own situation.  So I'm just wondering why one was

 

      10  being monitored and one was not.

 

      11               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Mr. Chairman, before we

 

      12  get into this, Commissioner Nikolaisen very artfully

 

      13  avoided any details regarding identifying these

 

      14  individuals, and she did a very good job of doing that.  I

 

      15  just want to caution that if we need to talk specifics, we

 

      16  need to go in closed session about financial backgrounds.

 

      17               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I don't think any of

 

      18  us need to mention names.

 

      19               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Okay.  Sure.

 

      20               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Right.  And I

 

      21  tried to keep it that way.  I hope I didn't --

 

      22               KEVIN MULLALLY:  You did.  You did very

 

      23  good.

 

      24               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Okay.

 

      25               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  Ms. Nikolaisen, it

 

 


                                                          41

 

       1  would be hard for me to comment on that right now as I

 

       2  don't know that the same financial investigator worked

 

       3  each individual.  And I don't believe we have those

 

       4  financial investigators in here right now who did the

 

       5  corporate -- or I'm sorry, the Level One and the Key

 

       6  Person.  I think that in the investigative files, if we

 

       7  could get those to you, it would probably clarify that

 

       8  better for you than for me to stand up here and say

 

       9  something that I truly do not know anything about. 

 

      10               I represent the fact that I just did the

 

      11  boat itself.  And we have wonderful investigators and

 

      12  financial agents that did a very thorough examination, and

 

      13  if they determined that's the way it should be, I would

 

      14  probably agree with them that that is the way it should

 

      15  be.  But we can get you those investigative files and have

 

      16  those people talk to you, if you wish.  We don't have them

 

      17  here right now. 

 

      18               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  To be honest with

 

      19  you, I really am not looking for any files, just to make

 

      20  sure that, I guess, we apply the same level of monitoring

 

      21  to individuals in similar situations.  In other words,

 

      22  that we don't favor one or not favor one or the other. 

 

      23               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  Right.  And I

 

      24  understand that.  And I think it was because of their

 

      25  different financial standings at the time that the

 

 


                                                          42

 

       1  investigation was done and their outlook in the future. 

 

       2               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Okay. 

 

       3               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I think what the

 

       4  Commission would be interested in is not seeing the

 

       5  details, but be assured those things are going to be

 

       6  monitored. 

 

       7               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  They are going to be

 

       8  monitored. 

 

       9               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Exactly. 

 

      10               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  They will be.

 

      11               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Anything else, Lynne? 

 

      12               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  No.

 

      13               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Muriel?

 

      14               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  No. 

 

      15               KEVIN MULLALLY:  And, Commissioners, I will

 

      16  say that there is some measuring that goes on here

 

      17  depending on the position of the Level One.  Certainly we

 

      18  hold all Level Ones to a certain very high standard. 

 

      19  However, if somebody's going to be handling a great deal

 

      20  of money, if they are in a position to handle accounting

 

      21  records and money, we are going to hold that person to

 

      22  even a higher standard than you would somebody in an area

 

      23  where they may be dealing with security or something else

 

      24  with regard to finances. 

 

      25               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Sergeant Mason, did

 

 


                                                          43

 

       1  you make the investigation in other states, the

 

       2  relationship with the gaming authorities in other states,

 

       3  or did someone else handle that? 

 

       4               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  I did, sir. 

 

       5               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I notice that the Isle

 

       6  of Capri, I think the reports that you gave us, indicated

 

       7  that they are in very good standing in other states.  The

 

       8  only background situation at one time was in the state of

 

       9  Louisiana.  Has that been cleared up to our satisfaction?

 

      10               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  Yes, sir, it has

 

      11  been. 

 

      12               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  You don't have any

 

      13  concerns about what happened there at this point then?

 

      14               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  No, sir, I don't.

 

      15               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Otherwise, the other

 

      16  gaming commissions have given you, I noticed, positive

 

      17  reports on the activities everywhere else.

 

      18               SERGEANT RICH MASON:  Exactly.  Yes, sir. 

 

      19               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Call your next

 

      20  person. 

 

      21               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Mr. Chairman, I would like

 

      22  to thank Sergeant Mason and his team.  This is a very,

 

      23  very lengthy, painstaking background investigation.  I

 

      24  think that many of the individuals with Isle of Capri have

 

      25  been through background investigations in other states,

 

 


                                                          44

 

       1  and I think that they would probably agree that we know

 

       2  more about them than their doctor and maybe their wife or

 

       3  significant others.  It is a lengthy thing.  Rich and his

 

       4  team are very thorough, and we appreciate their efforts. 

 

       5               I would also like to, once again, clarify

 

       6  what we are presenting here today and what we are asking

 

       7  the commission to consider and that is simply that the

 

       8  corporation and the local entity that is developing this

 

       9  property be found suitable for licensure.  This is not

 

      10  licensing.  So I will say to our friends in the media, if

 

      11  it is reported that we licensed Isle of Capri today, that

 

      12  would be erroneous.  There are still a lot of operational

 

      13  issues that we need to get through, some regulatory tests

 

      14  that they have to undergo before we are prepared to

 

      15  consider final licensing.  This is simply the results of

 

      16  the background investigation to say that they have cleared

 

      17  that hurdle. 

 

      18               To identify a few of those operational

 

      19  issues that we still need to get through, I'll ask Deputy

 

      20  Director Steve Johnson, who is overseeing that effort, to

 

      21  make a short statement to you. 

 

      22               STEVE JOHNSON:  Thank you, Mr. Director,

 

      23  Mr. Chairman, and members of the Commission.  I'd also

 

      24  like to extend my appreciation for the thoroughness and

 

      25  professionalism reflected in the investigations by the

 

 


                                                          45

 

       1  Highway Patrol Background Team.  Captain Bloomberg,

 

       2  Lieutenant Wilhoit and his team of investigators have,

 

       3  again, provided an exemplary and comprehensive report, and

 

       4  that's very much appreciated.  

 

       5               There are, in fact, issues remaining that

 

       6  have a potential to delay the opening of the facility. 

 

       7  Now, please listen to me, a potential to delay the opening

 

       8  of the facility.  And this is not an unusual occurrence in

 

       9  what I call the compression zone in the week or so

 

      10  immediately preceding the opening.  And there's a reason

 

      11  why these things occur.  Corrections and modifications to

 

      12  resolve these issues, that I'm going to mention briefly,

 

      13  are being addressed as we speak.  And we are working very

 

      14  closely with the company to point out issues in what we

 

      15  consider to be a timely fashion. 

 

      16               These problems almost always surface, these

 

      17  little small operational concerns, and then, again,

 

      18  potentially delaying concerns, always surface as systems

 

      19  are brought online and final inspections are conducted. 

 

      20  So there is no cause for undo alarm, but in the interest

 

      21  of keeping the Commission very accurately informed as to

 

      22  the progress of this.  Again, echoing on Director

 

      23  Mullally's comments, the business of suitability has been

 

      24  discussed, and we are going to ask that you pass on that

 

      25  business of suitability.  However, operationally there are

 

 


                                                          46

 

       1  still issues that need to be resolved prior to the

 

       2  issuance of a license.

 

       3               Things related to audible alarm, decibel

 

       4  levels, emergency lighting issues, fire stop material

 

       5  applications, rather routine sorts of things, third-party

 

       6  alarm monitoring, adjustments to the surveillance system. 

 

       7  These things must occur prior to our passing in an

 

       8  operational sense on this facility to open.  I'm confident

 

       9  that these things will occur, but it would be very unfair

 

      10  to not suggest to you that we are working through these

 

      11  things in a very tight time frame to get them resolved. 

 

      12               Our enforcement managers, agents, and

 

      13  policy analysts are involved in these inspection

 

      14  processes, and will continue to be.  We've had an

 

      15  excellent working relationship with the Isle of Capri and

 

      16  their staff.  It is not unusual to see these things

 

      17  occur.  I feel confident that we can work through them,

 

      18  but there are issues there in an operational sense, and

 

      19  certainly Mr. King is aware of that, and we are working to

 

      20  resolve them.  I'd be happy to answer any questions you

 

      21  might have. 

 

      22               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Lynne, do you have any

 

      23  questions? 

 

      24               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Not at this

 

      25  time. 

 

 


                                                          47

 

       1               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Muriel?

 

       2               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  I think we had the

 

       3  ones that we were concerned about answered when we did the

 

       4  tour.  We were concerned about the smoking areas and the

 

       5  alarms and sprinklers and those type of things, and they

 

       6  were answered during the tour.

 

       7               STEVE JOHNSON:  Good.  Good.  We're on top

 

       8  of those issues. 

 

       9               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I understand that this

 

      10  is not unusual for these things to be happening in the

 

      11  final wrap-up of the opening of other boats, too.

 

      12               STEVE JOHNSON:  No, sir, it is not unusual

 

      13  for it to occur.  As a matter of fact, if the systems are

 

      14  brought online, this is when you detect problems and

 

      15  notice the variances that need to be repaired.  So, no,

 

      16  it's not at all unusual.  But in the interest of accuracy,

 

      17  we thought that you should know that there are issues that

 

      18  we are addressing. 

 

      19               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  The manager mentioned

 

      20  that in one boat opening that the sprinkler system went

 

      21  off the first night and people were there, so we hope

 

      22  something like that doesn't happen.

 

      23               KEVIN MULLALLY:  We do, too.

 

      24               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Things can occur, but

 

      25  really what we're doing is making kind of a last minute

 

 


                                                          48

 

       1  check and the final decision, if the resolution is

 

       2  adopted, will be made by the director himself.  You've got

 

       3  to pass off on these things you've raised. 

 

       4               STEVE JOHNSON:  Yes, sir.  And, of course,

 

       5  the two-hour practice or the practice excursion will be a

 

       6  very key part of it.

 

       7               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Bob, you just

 

       8  made me think of a question. 

 

       9               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  All right.  I don't

 

      10  know whether that's good or bad.

 

      11               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Well, I know in

 

      12  light of what will go down in history as September 11th,

 

      13  we have asked the boats to kind of relook at many of their

 

      14  emergency plans.  And I just wanted to make sure upon

 

      15  opening that the Boonville casino has, I guess what I

 

      16  would call for lack of a better term, an updated plan that

 

      17  meets with our needs that we have requested of the other

 

      18  boats across the state as well. 

 

      19               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  That's a very good

 

      20  question. 

 

      21               STEVE JOHNSON:  They do.  We have reviewed

 

      22  it.  It's an excellent plan. 

 

      23               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  We have some sort of a

 

      24  state director now on this type of thing.  Is this

 

      25  something that's been cleared with him? 

 

 


                                                          49

 

       1               STEVE JOHNSON:  No, sir, it has not.  We've

 

       2  worked it out internally.  It meets with the general

 

       3  guidelines, the policing and emergency response guidelines

 

       4  that have been established and published, but it's kind of

 

       5  an independent effort with specific compatibility and

 

       6  consistency of requirements, on property to property, on

 

       7  contact lists and those sorts of things.  But in almost

 

       8  all cases, always matters involving evacuation of the

 

       9  boat, foreign substances on the boat, these sorts of

 

      10  issues that we may encounter, we hope that we don't, are

 

      11  handled by the local first responders or the local fire

 

      12  departments and we worked to establish an immediate

 

      13  liaison with those folks who make those decisions. 

 

      14               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  So you do have a plan

 

      15  then?

 

      16               STEVE JOHNSON:  Yes, sir, property by

 

      17  property. 

 

      18               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  One thing that I

 

      19  noticed in going through the boat, it looks like we have a

 

      20  state-of-the-art monitoring equipment here, which is

 

      21  better than some that I've seen earlier.  So it looks like

 

      22  you've gone out of the way to have careful monitoring of

 

      23  every bit of that boat from these control points.

 

      24               STEVE JOHNSON:  We're working with them on

 

      25  the surveillance-related issues now, and it does appear to

 

 


                                                          50

 

       1  be a very good system.

 

       2               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Do you feel

 

       3  comfortable with the equipment that is provided to the

 

       4  Highway Patrol for the monitoring that you do?

 

       5               STEVE JOHNSON:  Yes, sir, we do.  Once it's

 

       6  operational and it's passed our final examination to

 

       7  ascertain lighting issues and those sorts of things

 

       8  relative to the camera placement and those kinds of

 

       9  things, but we feel very comfortable with it at this

 

      10  juncture.

 

      11               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Are there any further

 

      12  questions?  I will thank you very much.  This goes without

 

      13  stating that we appreciate the efforts that all of our

 

      14  staff go through in trying to meet the deadlines that they

 

      15  have to meet opening these boats.  We do appreciate your

 

      16  effort.

 

      17               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Jeff, if your sprinkler

 

      18  system goes off, the public may take the Isle of Capri

 

      19  literally rather than figuratively.

 

      20               Mr. Chairman, before we take up the

 

      21  resolution, I would like to add some additional thanks. 

 

      22  Donna Watson and her processing team have been here for the

 

      23  last several weeks.  They have processed over 636 people

 

      24  that will be employed at the casino.  About 30 of those

 

      25  did not make it through the screening process that, again,

 

 


                                                          51

 

       1  is very thorough.  I can attest for you that the people

 

       2  that are working at this facility have passed the scrutiny

 

       3  of the Gaming Commission and have the appropriate

 

       4  background to work in this industry. 

 

       5               I would also like to thank Larry Buschjost

 

       6  who's been our operations guy on the ground here. I think

 

       7  he knows every one of the Isle of Capri guys by name, and

 

       8  his team.  They've put in many, many, many hours here. 

 

       9               Sergeant Mike Cunningham has some

 

      10  experience in other facilities around the state on the

 

      11  west side.  He will be leading the enforcement team here,

 

      12  and they are prepared and ready and anxious to go. 

 

      13               Also, Todd Nelson, our slot tech who's been

 

      14  working with our consultant, Gaming Laboratories

 

      15  International, to inspect all of the slot products and

 

      16  electronic gaming devices that are on the floor and make

 

      17  sure that they are operational and in compliance with our

 

      18  standards and treat the public fairly. 

 

      19               And finally, Steve Johnson, who's

 

      20  overseeing the entire effort from the management level.  I

 

      21  will second Jack Gallaway, I think he's left, but

 

      22  sometimes the director can get in the way of people doing

 

      23  their jobs.  And our people here have done an outstanding

 

      24  job.  If I've left anybody out, I hope Steve will clear

 

      25  that up before we leave. 

 

 


                                                          52

 

       1               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Well, you've left one

 

       2  person out, and I think we need to also congratulate you

 

       3  for pulling everything together to get this boat opened on

 

       4  time.  I know it's been a tight schedule considering some

 

       5  of the other issues that the commission had pending during

 

       6  this period.  We appreciate the effort you've put in on

 

       7  that.

 

       8               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Agreed.

 

       9               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Thank you very much. 

 

      10               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  One other thing before

 

      11  we get to the resolution that is important to me, and I

 

      12  want to address the question to you and you may want to

 

      13  address it to somebody else. I think it's very important

 

      14  when a Gaming Commission applies for a boat that they make

 

      15  certain representations to us before we adopt a resolution

 

      16  to study the suitability of the company before we make a

 

      17  decision, and I think it's important that presentations

 

      18  are made so we know whether they were followed or not

 

      19  followed.  I assume your staff has made that

 

      20  recommendation.  I would like to have some comment as to

 

      21  whether there has been any deviation from what was

 

      22  originally represented to us.  

 

      23               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Certainly.  Thank you,

 

      24  Mr. Chairman.  Our legal staff has looked at that issue

 

      25  and I'll ask Patricia Churchill, our deputy director for

 

 


                                                          53

 

       1  legal and legislative affairs, to address that for you.

 

       2               PATRICIA CHURCHILL:  Good morning.  I took

 

       3  a look at the transcript from the April 26, 2000, meeting

 

       4  and have gone through everyone that spoke on behalf of

 

       5  Isle of Capri and any representations that they made.  And

 

       6  according to the documentation that I obtained from

 

       7  Sergeant Rich Mason, who shepherded the investigation,

 

       8  each of their representations were accurate and have come

 

       9  to pass today, as well as their predictions have come to

 

      10  pass today. 

 

      11               In particular, they've provided stats about

 

      12  the square footage of the casino and the public space and

 

      13  the number of employees.  There are no unreasonable

 

      14  variances.  The employees are just a little bit less, but

 

      15  that could be just a ramp-up issue.  And also they, in

 

      16  reference to permits that they mentioned they had, in

 

      17  fact, every permit that they had stated they had already

 

      18  acquired, they had received prior to April 26, 2000.

 

      19               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  You don't think we're

 

      20  going to get any surprises on this particular application?

 

      21               PATRICIA CHURCHILL:  Certainly hope not. 

 

      22               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Thank you very much

 

      23  for making that study, and it's something that I think we

 

      24  should always do on any future applications. 

 

      25               Well, I guess if you have nothing else, we

 

 


                                                          54

 

       1  are ready to consider a resolution.  And what we will be

 

       2  considering is a resolution to approve the suitability of

 

       3  this project, but it will be subject to the executive

 

       4  director's final action, because there are all these odds

 

       5  and ends that have to be finally tied together.  And if

 

       6  they are not tied together, then the executive director

 

       7  will have the authority to delay final approval until it's

 

       8  done. 

 

       9               We have the Resolution No. 01-073 before

 

      10  us, which will, in effect, approve what has been done as

 

      11  far as the suitability subject to the final decision of

 

      12  the director when he's satisfied that you've complied with

 

      13  all the terms.  You will be able to operate a gaming boat

 

      14  in accordance with our act. 

 

      15               Is there any -- do we have a motion to

 

      16  approve this resolution adopted?

 

      17               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  So moved.

 

      18               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Lynne Nikolaisen moves

 

      19  the adoption of the resolution.  Is there a second?

 

      20               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  I second. 

 

      21               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Commissioner Battle

 

      22  seconded the motion.  Is there any discussion?  If not,

 

      23  Angie, would you please call the roll?

 

      24               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Smith. 

 

      25               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Yes.

 

 


                                                          55

 

       1               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Nikolaisen.

 

       2               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Favor. 

 

       3               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Battle. 

 

       4               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  Favor. 

 

       5               ANGIE FRANKS:  By your vote, you've adopted

 

       6  Resolution No. 01-073.

 

       7               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  I think there's one

 

       8  other item on the agenda.  Does that still apply in

 

       9  connection with the --

 

      10               KEVIN MULLALLY:  Yes.  Mr. Chairman, that's

 

      11  Resolution No. 01-074 regarding the Level One and Key

 

      12  applicants.  These are all the individuals that have

 

      13  undergone a background investigation.  They are the key

 

      14  people involved in the project.

 

      15               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  And they were the

 

      16  people listed in the written report that you gave to us? 

 

      17               KEVIN MULLALLY:  That's correct. 

 

      18               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  And the ones that

 

      19  Sergeant Mason discussed? 

 

      20               Do we have a motion to adopt Resolution No.

 

      21  01-074? 

 

      22               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  I so move.

 

      23               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Second.

 

      24               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Commissioner Battle

 

      25  moved the adoption of the resolution and Commissioner

 

 


                                                          56

 

       1  Nikolaisen seconded it.  Is there any discussion?  If not,

 

       2  would you call roll on this resolution?

 

       3               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Smith.

 

       4               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  In favor.

 

       5               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Nikolaisen.

 

       6               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  Favor.

 

       7               ANGIE FRANKS:  Commissioner Battle.

 

       8               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  In favor.

 

       9               ANGIE FRANKS:  By your vote, you've adopted

 

      10  Resolution No. 01-074.

 

      11               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Is there anything else

 

      12  that should come before the meeting is adjourned? 

 

      13               KEVIN MULLALLY:  No.  Mr. Chairman, the

 

      14  staff, for the next week or so, will be diligently

 

      15  focusing on the mock cruise that will occur at the

 

      16  facility on December 5th.  We know that a good number

 

      17  of the public will join us for that.  We hope they

 

      18  understand that we are working and that the gaming

 

      19  employees are being tested, so they keep that in mind.  We

 

      20  hope they enjoy themselves, and we look forward to a

 

      21  successful completion of that process. 

 

      22               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Hopefully the opening

 

      23  day will be December 6th?

 

      24               KEVIN MULLALLY:  If everything goes well

 

      25  with the mock cruise, that is what we are prepared to do. 

 

 


                                                          57

 

       1               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Again, we want to

 

       2  thank the City of Boonville for their help in this

 

       3  project, your help was very important too.  And also thank

 

       4  you for letting us use your fine facility here. 

 

       5               Do we have a motion to adjourn?

 

       6               COMMISSIONER NIKOLAISEN:  So moved.

 

       7               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  Is there a second?

 

       8               COMMISSIONER BATTLE:  I second.

 

       9               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  All in favor say aye. 

 

      10               COMMISSIONERS:  Aye.

 

      11               COMMISSIONER SMITH:  The meeting is

 

      12  adjourned.         

 

      13                             

 

      14     

 

      15

 

      16

 

      17

 

      18

 

      19

 

      20

 

      21

 

      22

 

      23

 

      24

 

      25

 


                                                          58

 

       1               C E R T I F I C A T E

                                

       2 

         

       3 

          STATE OF MISSOURI     )

       4                        ) ss.

          COUNTY OF COLE        )

       5 

             

       6

                  I, Stacy C. Brandes, a reporter of the firm of

       7

          Ballew Reporting Services, do hereby certify that I was

       8

          employed by the Missouri Gaming Commission to report

       9

          verbatim, by machine shorthand, the proceedings herein and

      10

          thereby became the official reporter for the Commission in

      11

          this matter; that I was personally present at said hearing

      12

          and reported said proceedings; that the machine shorthand

      13

          notes so made at the time and place mentioned on the title

      14

          page hereof were transcribed by means of computer-aided

      15

          transcription, and the foregoing 57 pages constitute a

      16

          true, complete, and accurate transcript of my said machine

      17

          shorthand notes.

      18

                  Given at my office in the City of Jefferson

      19

          City, County of Cole, State of Missouri, this 12th day of

      20

          December, 2001.

      21

             

      22

             

      23

             

      24

                                                           

      25                      Stacy C. Brandes