00001
1 COVER SHEET INFORMATION
2 In
Re:
3 Date Taken: November 28, 2007
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00002
1 Before the Gaming Commission
1 State of
2
3 In
Re:
4 November 28, 2007
5
6 Be It Remembered that the above-entitled matter
7 came on for a public meeting at the Lawrence K. Roos
8
10
11 commencing at the hour of 9:00 in the morning of that
12 day, said meeting having been called by the Chairman of
13 the Missouri Gaming Commission pursuant to the issuance
14 of due notice to all parities in interest, and the
15 following is the transcript of the record made of all
16 proceedings had during the course of that day.
17
18 A P P E A R A N C E S
19
20
21 Chairman Noel J. Shull, Commissioner Darryl T.
22 Jones, Commissioner
23 W. Plunkett, Sr., Commissioner Suzanne Bradley,
24 Executive Director Gene McNary, and
25
00003
1 CHAIRMAN NOEL SHULL: Good morning. Welcome to
2 the Missouri Gaming Commission's second meeting in
3 November of 2007. We would like to thank the County
4 for providing these wonderful facilities to us and
5 sharing them with us this morning.
6 And we will go ahead and proceed with our
7 meeting, if everyone would take their seats. Can
8 everyone hear fine?
9 AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Yes.
10 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Maybe if I scoot up a
11 little closer that might be of some assistance. I
12 think I can do that. Can we call roll, please?
13 MS. ANGIE FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Present.
15 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
16 COMMISSIONER DARRYL JONES: Present.
17 MS. FRANKS: Commission Hais?
18 COMMISSIONER SAM HAIS: Present.
19 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
20 COMMISSIONER LARRY PLUNKETT: Present.
21 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
22 COMMISSIONER SUZANNE BRADLEY: Present.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: First order of business
24 will be to review the minutes for the October 30th
25 meeting. Is there a motion to approve those?
00004
1 COMMISSIONER JONES: Move for acceptance.
2 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Second.
3 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
4 discussion? Call roll.
5 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
8 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
10 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
11 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
12 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
13 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
14 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
15 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
16 the minutes of the October 30th, 2007 meeting.
17 CHAIRMAN SHULL: The next item of business
18 will be to approve the minutes of the October 31st,
19 2007 meeting.
20 COMMISSIONER HAIS: I move to approve the
21 minutes of the October 31st meeting.
22 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Second.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
24 discussion? Call roll, please.
25 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
00005
1 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
2 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
3 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
5 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
7 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
9 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
10 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
11 the minutes of the October 31st, 2007 meeting.
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: The next item is
13 consideration of licensure by Class A licensee, which
14 Mr. McNary will handle.
15 MR. GENE MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners,
16 this is a consideration of a relicensure of a Class A
17 licensee, Isle of Capri-Boonville, which the
18 presentation will be handled by Bari Richter, who's the
19 general manager.
20 MR. TOM CAMPBELL: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
21 Commissioners, Mr. McNary. My name is
22 with the law firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, which
23 serves as the regulatory counsel in the State of
24
25 of the Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc.
00006
1 We're here today to submit for your approval and
2 a renewal of the Class A license for the casino located
3 in
4
Inc. With me today is the general
manager,
5 Richter, and she will introduce some of her staff and
6 some
representatives from the City of
7 will speak later about this relicensing.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you.
9 MS. BARI RICHTER: Good morning. As
10 he said, my name is Bari Richter. I am the general
11 manager of the Isle of Capri in Boonville. I've
12 brought with me today three members from the community
13 and two members of my team on property, and I'd like to
14 take a moment to introduce them.
15 I have Ken Ostempowski. He's my senior director
16 of finance. I have Adam Rentchler. He's my compliance
17 officer and also a graduate of the University of
18
19 police in Boonville. I have Julie Thacher. She's our
20 Mayor Pro Tem. She's also very active with Thespian
21 Hall in historic Boonville. And I also have Irl
22 Tessendorf. He is our city administrator with me
23 today.
24 Briefly, I'd like to go through the
25 presentation. It highlights many of the items from the
00007
1 packet, and then at the end of the presentation, we'll
2 field any questions that you have. The property's
3 ready and the members of the community are also ready.
4 As to the property, we have complied with all the
5
development agreements with the City of
6 our 2005 presentation, we posted a projected fiscal
7 year earnings of adjusted gross receipts of
8 $77.8 million. Our actual results were very, very
9 close to that where we came in at $77.7 million.
10 In fiscal year 2007, we opened our 140-room
11 hotel, and our fiscal results were $84.8 million. And
12 we're projecting a fiscal year in 2008 to have slightly
13 lower numbers at $83.5 million.
14 Our admission numbers for the fiscal year 2006
15 were projected when we presented in 2005 at 2,783,000.
16 The actual numbers were 2,653,000. In 2007, we came in
17 at approximately the same number at 2.6. And at fiscal
18 year 2008, we're projecting it will be coming in at
19 2,315,000.
20 Capital investment in the community, we -- when
21 the property opened, the initial investment was
22 $68.9 million. With the addition of the hotel and the
23 event center, we added another $17.5 million. And
24 since the property's been open in late 2001, our
25 maintenance spending was at 6.2, which brings us into
00008
1 almost a $93 million investment within our community.
2 Our new hotel, which some of you haven't had a
3 chance to see, is 140 rooms. It's seven stories tall.
4 It is the nicest facility that I believe we have in
5 Boonville. I might be speaking out of turn there.
6 This is a shot of a two-bay hospitality suite. Our
7 standard room, which when we built the hotel, we
8 offered the flat screen TVs and the pillow top
9 mattresses, which isn't anything that we offer in any
10 other hotels in Boonville. And, actually, the facility
11 even compares quite nicely to any of the hotels located
12 within
13 Our ballroom is by far the largest facility
14 within Boonville. Again, this facility also compares
15 quite nicely with anything offered in
16 do 400 people in sit-down dinner style seating, and we
17 can do 750 to 800 people in a theater style seating.
18 Our employment numbers in 2006 were projected
19 that we come in between 610 and 685. Our 2006 actual
20 numbers were 622. Our 2007 numbers were 632. And
21 we're projecting in 2008 that we'll come between 620
22 and 640.
23 Our demographics, actually we have some good
24 trends that have happened here since we presented last
25 to you in 2005. Our minority team members are at
00009
1 8.9 percent, which is almost a 2-point gain over 2005.
2 And our Boonville representative of minorities within
3 the community is 13 percent. Our female team members
4 are a great story with the actual female team members
5 at 55 percent. In 2005 it was 51, and for the
6 community, it is 53, so we're ahead of the community
7 and we're 4 points ahead of 2005.
8 The other thing I do want to let you know is as
9 far as representative of females and management, we're
10 at 46 percent, so those numbers have grown. I do not
11 have readily available with me minorities in
12 management, however, if that question comes up later, I
13 can provide it to the Commission.
14 Residency. It's no surprise 100 percent of our
15 team members do live in mid
16 rate again is a good story. In 2005 we were almost
17 60 percent, and in 2007, that number has come closer to
18 46 percent.
19 And unemployment statistics. You can see in
20 2001 when the property opened, we were slightly ahead
21 of -- or slightly higher than the
22 the following years, we averaged around a half percent
23 lower. And in 2007, we're running at 4.5 percent
24 compared to the statewide average of 5 percent.
25 Purchasing. Again, the numbers are going in the
00010
1 right direction. In 2005, our minority businesses,
2 we purchased only .81 percent of our products. We've
3 improved that to 2.18 percent. As far as our
4 women-owned businesses, the percentage has moved almost
5 a full point from 2.09 to 3.08.
6 Economy. The business license issued in 2005
7 and 2006 is 47 with only 23 businesses closing.
8 Crime rate. Again, we're doing very well here
9 as crime per hundred persons, that number is turning in
10 the right direction. From 2005 to 2006 we're down
11 two-tenths; however, it's the -- I do want to point out
12 in 2007, it was at 2.9 per hundred people, so the year
13 is not completed on that. For
14 and through ten months of the year, it's at 3.4.
15 Problem gambling, which is a concern for all of
16 us. The Isle of Capri-Boonville is very committed to
17 helping people with this situation. We're active
18 members of the Missouri Alliance Against Problem
19 Gambling. Twice a year we do training with all our team
20 members on responsible gaming on what we need to help
21 people. We participate in the annual AGA responsible
22 gaming week, and we also attend AGA's responsible
23 gaming seminars. As required -- and we do -- we have
24 the 1-888-BETSOFF number in all advertisement
25 materials, and we ensure that the BETSOFF information
00011
1 is prominently displayed through our property.
2 Not only does Boonville participate in the
3 statewide DAP program at our property, as a person, a DAP
4 is
not only at our
5 through all of our sister properties located in
6
7 In addition, the customer can say they'd just
8 like to be disassociated from our property if they're
9 not willing to sign up for the state program, but if
10 they disassociate from Boonville, we also ensure that
11 they're disassociated through all the Isle properties.
12 So if they disassociate through Boonville, they're
13 disassociated through
14 sister properties.
15 As you can imagine, just being 30 minutes from
16
17 times. We have had no issues with this; however, we do
18 enforce a strict identification policy requiring anyone
19 to be under the age of 35 to present I.D. We require
20 all our team members at hiring to go through underage
21 gaming training for the new team members, and we also
22 incorporate that into our semi-annual training when we
23 talk about problem gaming.
24 In addition, we do fraudulent identification
25 training for our security personnel and we do that
00012
1 quarterly. We've implemented basically some I.D. swipe
2 at our ticketing area, or what we call Isle 1, to
3 ensure that when someone swipes an I.D., that it picks
4 up and it will give us the information. So if they've
5 changed the information on the front of the I.D. but
6 not on the bar code, that spouts out to us.
7 We've also installed face level cameras in our
8 taping area, so that if surveillance or Missouri Gaming
9 would like to have a closer look at something in a
10 face-on shot, we have that available. And we do what
11 we call a bounty hunter program, so if any of our team
12 members do find a phony I.D., we give them a $100
13 bonus.
14 Finally, as far as -- maybe not finally. Sorry.
15 In regards to contributions, donations, and
16 sponsorships, from October to October we've put a
17 little over $52,000 within the community of Boonville.
18 We've done almost a quarter of a million in the state
19 of
20 necessarily stay within the state. It goes out
21 further.
22 One of the things I just wanted to touch base on
23 was that not only do we do the financial, but we've
24 also -- our teams have been very active within the
25 community. One thing that we recently did that our
00013
1 team is very proud of, there is a United Way Day of
2 Caring, and about 5 percent of our team members
3 participated in that one day. And they worked at
4 Harvest House, which is a homeless shelter, Unlimited
5
6 the Boonville YMCA. At Harvest House, it's a challenge
7 facility, but they were able to go in and do plumbing
8 work and electrical work. And in this shot, you see our
9 training managers actually working on replacing the
10 floors in one of the bathrooms.
11 At United Way Day of Caring, this is a shot from
12 when we were at Unlimited Opportunities. It's a
13 sheltered workshop that provides a tremendous resource
14 to our community. And our director of HR is in this
15 shot and also Velda from our housekeeping department.
16 In addition, a lot of our team members also
17 participate in other activities in the community;
18 Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy, Relay For Life,
19 The Food Pantry in
20 Days, the
21 We also have our team members very involved in the
22 Moberly Dinner Holiday Meal, which Moberly is about an
23 hour from our property. Angel Tree, and then there's
24 also a lot of people who participate as volunteers in
25 schools and churches.
00014
1 Just in closing, our corporate mission statement
2 is that we want to be the best gaming company for our
3 market -- or for our employees, communities, guests,
4 and investors. And as a property, we strive very hard
5 to be a good example within our community to ensure
6 that our guests have the best time possible and that
7 our team members are able to have a lifestyle which
8 they can be fiscally able to support themselves.
9 And with that, I'd be willing to take any
10 questions from the Commissioners, and representatives from
11 Boonville will be also.
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Does the employees number
13 include the hotel staff that's been --
14 MS. RICHTER: Yes.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: And it's last year?
16 MS. RICHTER: Yes.
17 CHAIRMAN SHULL: I might point out, I did
18 see on your ad -- I went through Boonville yesterday -- as I
19 was driving down in the car that you were offering $9
20 rates.
21 MS. RICHTER: No, that's wrong. There was
22 a problem with the meter. They were supposed to fix
23 that. No. Thank you for telling me. In our company
24 we call that a gift. So, no, that's wrong. That meter
25 should have been corrected. We typically don't drop
00015
1 our rates below $59. I will let my director of
2 marketing, Heather, know that.
3 CHAIRMAN SHULL: And the turnover, that
4 40 percent --
5 MS. RICHTER: It's improving.
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: It was what last year?
7 MS. RICHTER: Last time, I believe it was
8 58 percent. I think it was 57.9 is what I had on the
9 slide.
10 Oh, last year? You know, I don't have the
11 number for the last year. The number's been steadily
12 declining. We've worked really hard to get our
13 managers more accountable, making sure they're hiring
14 the right people, but they're also doing quality
15 training. Because as a company, we've implemented what
16 we call OTMATT, One-Team-Member-At-A-Time-Training, and
17 we really work on on-the-job training programs. I
18 think that's helping the turnover come down.
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any other
20 questions?
21 COMMISSIONER JONES: Ms. Richter, I'd just
22 like to commend you, because I think you're the first
23 female GM that has addressed the Commission, and it
24 seems like you have this operation going in the right
25 direction.
00016
1 MS. RICHTER: Thank you, sir.
2 COMMISSIONER JONES: So I'd just like to
3 commend you on all the hard work of your staff and all
4 the improvements in the numbers.
5 MS. RICHTER: My team has done a great
6 job. I'm very proud of them.
7 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Actually, I have a
8 question. Ma'am, you mentioned gifts a few minutes
9 ago, and I note from your presentation that in the
10 category Denominated Contributions and Sponsorships,
11 there's no mention of political contributions for
12 obvious reasons.
13 But on that subject, I am sure you're aware that
14 there's been some controversy in the past, and actually
15 recently as well, about the advisability of political
16 contributions and the appropriateness of political
17 contributions by casinos, at least in some people's
18 opinions. And I'm wondering if you -- if there's been
19 any discussion in your organization? And if so,
20 whether or not your organization takes the position
21 that if other casinos were to voluntarily forego
22 political contributions or work out some other plan
23 whereby if they absolutely had to make a political
24 contribution, if they felt so, that they would make
25 them in equal amounts to the candidates or some such
00017
1 thing to address the issue in some people's minds of
2 casinos being and other special interests added to the
3 already very long list of special interests.
4 MS. RICHTER: Commissioner, those
5 decisions are typically made at our corporate office,
6 because there are three Isle of Capri properties within
7 the state. I know that Mr. Campbell's been involved on
8 those decisions, and I usually take advice from
9 corporate on how they'd like us to participate in those
10 types of donations.
11 MR. CAMPBELL: Commissioner, to my
12 knowledge, there has been no discussion, but I can't
13 say that with absolute certainty. I'm sure the Isle of
14
15 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Well, I'm sure the
16 casino would be happy to say whatever funds are
17 allocated for political contributions. That's kind of
18 a no-brainer. But if the other thornier problem of
19 persuading the others not to do so could be addressed
20 successfully, would your -- would you have an opinion
21 as you stand here now as to whether or not that would
22 be looked upon with some feeling of cooperation by your
23 casino?
24 MR. CAMPBELL: Commissioner, I have no
25 opinion, nor do I have authority to opine. I can tell
00018
1 you, though, that the Isle has always considered, you
2 know, any directions suggested by the Commission, and,
3 certainly, I'm sure they would consider this type of --
4 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Well, this isn't
5 something that the Commission has discussed or even
6 privately talked about, but this is my personal
7 interjection. And if you're -- would you be willing to
8 broach the subject to your organization?
9 MR. CAMPBELL: Absolutely.
10 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Thank you.
11 MS. RICHTER: Anything else I can address?
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: I think that's it.
13 MS. RICHTER: I appreciate your time.
14 Thank you.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Next, the City of
16 Boonville.
17 MR. IRL TESSENDORF: Thank you. My name is
18 Irl Tessendorf. I'm the city administrator with the
19 City of
20 police chief.
21 I would just hit on a couple of items that was
22 listed in your letter that you disseminated. In terms
23 of the lease agreement and development agreement, we
24 would affirm what
25 full compliance with the agreement.
00019
1
In their role as a corporate citizen,
2 outlined the contributions and so forth. I would add
3 one point that I think is important. In a smaller
4 community where your, I guess, human resources on
5 certain voluntary boards are sometimes limited. The
6 number of their management staff and employees have
7 consented to serve on some voluntary boards and
8 commissions, some with the city, some not. And in
9 terms of -- there's one, the Industrial Development
10 Authority, which caries out some significant work for
11 the city and the community. And a number of other
12 ones.
13 You saw the slide on economic impact in terms of
14 small business generation. I had the opportunity to
15 review the data that was collected and the slide was
16 based on. And they kind of range from, you know, sort
17 of mom and pop lawn care startup things to restaurants,
18 you know, franchise restaurants. So I think the -- you
19 know, you never know for sure how much you can
20 attribute that to the Isle, but I've noticed a lot of
21 entrepreneurial things that have kind of showed up in
22 those pieces of data that kind of indicate that people
23 feel good about the community and they have an
24 opportunity to start something and be successful at it.
25 And I think the Isle's presence there and their
00020
1 contribution probably are greatly influential in that
2 attitude.
3 Obviously, we don't also want to understate the
4 direct benefits that the Isle provides to the community
5 in terms of stable jobs. They're not seasonal.
6 They're relatively immune to economic cycles, I think,
7 and so that's an important thing in the small rural
8 community.
9 In addition, our purchasing is also something to
10 not overlook.
11 Revenue sharing and our use of funds from the
12 taxes generated, I submitted to the Commission our
13 details of that. The City is always engaged in some
14 level of revenue sharing with surrounding communities,
15 primarily law enforcement agencies. And you also note
16 on there that there's some sort of nonprofit YMCA, that
17 kind of thing that the City has contributed to.
18 So I think that's probably all I have to add.
19 Jim will take a moment on the crime side.
20 MR. JIM GHOLSON: Good morning. There's not
21 really a lot I can add. You've seen the crime rates.
22 It's gone down a little bit, and there's not a lot I
23 can tell you, unless you have some questions.
24 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
25 I think the numbers probably speak for themselves.
00021
1 MR. GHOLSON: Thank you.
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good job. Thank you very
3 much.
4 Is there anyone that would care to make a public
5 comment?
6 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, the next item
7 is investigative summary. That would be done by
8 Lieutenant Rex Scism.
9 LT. REX SCISM: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
10 Commissioners.
11 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good morning.
12 LT. SCISM: An investigation was conducted
13 by the
14 Background Team of the Isle of Capri-Boonville, Inc.,
15 regarding renewal of their Class A riverboat gaming
16 license.
17 IOC-Boonville was incorporated in the state of
18
19 they were granted a Class A gaming license by
the
20 Gaming Commission for the purpose of operating a
21 riverboat gambling operation in
22 Criminal and financial background checks were
23 conducted on IOC-Boonville key and level 1 personnel.
24 No discrepancies or concerns were noted. The
25 background checks included, but were not limited to,
00022
1 criminal, financial, and general character inquiries,
2 where the individuals lived, worked, and frequented.
3
The City of
4 officials were contacted regarding concerns with the
5 operations of IOC-Boonville and there were no issues,
6 concerns, or negative information disclosures.
7 The Missouri Department of Natural Resources,
8 Missouri Department of Health, Cooper County Department
9 of Health and ABS Consulting, Incorporated were
10 contacted regarding concerns with the IOC-Boonville
11 operation and no concerns were noted.
12 The results of this investigation were provided
13 to the Gaming Commission staff for their review, and
14 you possess detailed summary reports before you. The
15 investigating officers who are present at this hearing
16 will be happy to entertain any questions you might have
17 at this time.
18 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
19 LT. SCISM: Thank you.
20 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you.
21 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, staff
22 recommends relicensure.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a motion?
24 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I would
25 move to approve Commission Resolution 07-085.
00023
1 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there any further
3 discussion? Hearing none, call roll, please.
4 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
7 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
9 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
11 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
12 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
13 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
14 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
15 Resolution No. 07-085.
16 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, the next item
17 is President Riverboat Casino Class A licensee and
18 relicensure. The applicant will be represented here by
19 Attorney Jerry Riffel.
20 MR. RIFFEL: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners,
21 my name is Jerry Riffel with Lathrop & Gage. I'm
22 representing today the Class A licensee PRC-MO,
23 Riverboat Casino, LLC.
24 To my left is Mr. Jack Godfrey. He is general
25 counsel of Pinnacle Entertainment. I would like to
00024
1 also introduce at this time three others: Mr. Chris
2 Strobbe, if you'd stand up, please. He's kind of easy
3 to see. He's the general manager. And the slot
4 manager for the facility is Robin Smith. And then
5 last, I'd like to introduce Todd George, who's
6
vice-president and general manager of
7 who is the top officer. There he is.
8 We have delivered today a letter dated
9 November 27 to Mr. McNary, which outlines the questions
10 we were asked to present to you. And we're going to
11 give you some highlights of those answers and then
12 we'll answer any questions you might have. We'd also
13 like to state that Rodney Crim, our home dock city
14 representative is here, and we hope he'll support us.
15 The background facts here are that we pay rent.
16 We have a lease with the City of
17 varies from 2 to 4 percent. You'll remember this
18 facility came out of a long, long bankruptcy at the end
19 of last year after the Commission approved the change of
20 control to Pinnacle Entertainment. That was closed in
21 December of 2006. So you actually just approved an
22 extension of that license for one year until now, and
23 that's the purpose of this hearing.
24 We made some improvements in '07. We created a
25 new buffet, which was a renovation we call the
00025
1 Boardwalk Cafe, which we think is very nice. We did a
2 lot of maintenance. We replaced the canopies, for
3 example, and the side curtains on the ramps. We did a
4 conversion of our slot and accounting functions on our
5 electronic gaming devices. We added a number of
6 electronic gaming devices. We replaced a number of
7 other ones and we also added 20 new gaming tables.
8 Our employment remains stable at around 550. We
9 have, I feel like, an excellent record on MBE/WBE. Our
10 employees are 60 percent African-American, 53 percent
11 women, for example. In management, using those two
12 categories again, we are 42 percent African-American
13 and we are 42 percent female managers.
14 We have a written MBE/WBE program. We work with
15 Mr. Nathan,
16 regularly. We have a goal of 10 percent. We feel like
17 we've met that goal. We had over 50 WBEs in purchasing
18 and services during 2007.
19 We've enforced our policies on staff, on
20 intoxication, and on underage gambling and believe that
21 we've had a good record this year in all those
22 categories.
23 Management is very excited about the President
24 for a number of reasons. Hopefully, Lumiere coming on
25 place on December 19th, 3.3 billion of economic
00026
1
development in the City of
2 the Pinnacle Casino and the Busch Stadium Ballpark
3 Village and the Bottle District.
4 During 2007, we feel like our cash receipts were
5 affected somewhat by the reopening of the Casino Queen.
6 And, certainly, there is a little bit of time sequence
7 coming after -- coming out of this bankruptcy.
8 We had some minor issues with parking, but we're
9 very, very optimistic about the future. And we expect
10 to work very closely with
11 and in other areas to make this as successful a
12 facility as is reasonably possible. Thank you.
13 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
14 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. Riffel, what were
15 your total dollar purchases for calendar year 2007?
16 MR. RIFFEL: Mr. Strobbe?
17 MR. STROBBE: Could you repeat that? I
18 didn't hear that.
19 MR. RIFFEL: Total number of dollar
20 purchases, procurements?
21 MR. STROBBE: I wouldn't have that off the
22 top of my head right now, but I can get that
23 information to you. It's something that would be --
24 should be in the booklet that we sent. Pre-licensing
25 application, all those numbers should be -- probably
00027
1 not in this form here, but probably in the
2 pre-application that was sent to the gaming staff. But
3 we can get those numbers to you.
4 MR. RIFFEL: We can probably call out to
5 the facility and get that now. Why don't we do that?
6 Would that help?
7 COMMISSIONER JONES: Yeah.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Any other questions?
9 MR. RIFFEL: Thank you.
10 MR. GODFREY: We'd like to introduce
11 Rodney Crim now to speak for the City of
12 MR. RODNEY CRIM: Good morning.
13 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good morning.
14 MR. CRIM: Again, I'm Rodney Crim, the
15 executive director of the St. Louis Development
16 Corporation, and I'm going to be making a couple
17 comments today. I'll make some now and then I'll make
18 some with the new project.
19 But what I would like to do now is just
20 highlight a letter that the Mayor sent to Mr. McNary.
21 And this was dated October 3rd, 2007. This may be in
22 your package, it may not. I'm not sure, so I just
23 wanted to highlight this. But it's regarding licensing
24 of the new Pinnacle Entertainment Casino and
25 relicensing of the President Casino at the Admiral. So
00028
1 it's kind of a combined letter, but, again, it speaks
2 to the relicensing as well.
3 "Dear, Mr. McNary: The City of St. Louis has
4 been asked to indicate whether or not the City supports
5 the licensing of the new Pinnacle Casino on Laclede's
6 Landing and the relicensing of the President Casino at
7 the Admiral, now owned by Pinnacle Entertainment.
8 "As stated in the Gaming Development Plan of the
9 City
of
10 desire is to maintain the existing gaming license
11 related to the President Admiral facility and add a new
12 license when Pinnacle completes its current, more
13 comprehensive project now under development.
14 Therefore, we support both the licensing of the new
15 casino and the relicensing of the President Admiral.
16 We are extremely pleased with Pinnacle's progress to
17 date on the new facility."
18 And then it just goes on to say, "Please contact
19 me or Barb Geisman if there are any additional
20 questions."
21 But the Mayor also wanted to make a point of
22 thanking the Commission for contacting us regarding
23 this important matter. "And thank you for everything
24 that you as the Gaming Commission are doing to improve
25 gaming in the City of
00029
1 that.
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you, Mr. Crim. Are
3 there any questions for Mr. Crim? Thank you.
4 MR. CRIM: Thank you.
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there anyone that
6 would care to make a public comment?
7 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Counselor, you can
8 answer from your seat. You don't have to stand. I
9 neglected to ask you this, but before we leave your
10 presentation, I wanted to just ask you, you were
11 present in the room when I asked Mr. Campbell the
12 question I did about political contributions, were you
13 not?
14 MR. RIFFEL: Yes, sir, I was.
15 COMMISSIONER HAIS: And if I were to ask
16 you the same question, would you be willing to discuss
17 with your organization, like I assume it has not to
18 date been discussed, but if you -- if you would, would
19 be willing to discuss with them the possibility of all
20 the casinos licensed in the state of
21 voluntarily agreeing to forego political contributions
22 across the board? Would you be -- would you do that?
23 MR. RIFFEL: Commissioner, our president,
24 our general counsel, all our principle officers, other
25 than the CEO Chairman, are here today, so we have a --
00030
1 we have a staff that's here ready and willing to work
2 with you. If you asked us to consider that, we
3 certainly would.
4 What our policy at the moment is, we're very
5
careful about and -- for example,
6 elected officials cannot receive campaign contributions
7 from gaming companies, and we don't give them. We
8 follow the reporting requirements. We advise the
9 Commission when we make them, and we think we consider
10 them very well. But if that request were made by the
11 Commission, we certainly would consider it.
12 COMMISSIONER HAIS: I suspect that it may
13 be discussed at some greater length, but subject to
14 that, if you could just broach it, I'd be interested in
15 your input --
16 MR. RIFFEL: Yes, sir.
17 COMMISSIONER HAIS: -- the next time.
18 MR. RIFFEL: Yes, sir.
19 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Thank you.
20 MR. RIFFEL: Yes, sir.
21 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
22 discussion with questions?
23 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, the
24 investigative summary will be handled by Lieutenant Rex
25 Scism.
00031
1 LT. SCISM: Good morning, again,
2 Mr. Chairman and Commissioners. An investigation was
3 conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol
4
5 Missouri, Inc. regarding renewal of their Class A
6 riverboat gaming license.
7 The President is a wholly owned subsidiary of
8 Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. and was acquired as a
9 result of a bankruptcy file that occurred in 2006.
10 Criminal and financial background checks were conducted
11 on President key and level 1 personnel. No
12 discrepancies or concerns were noted.
13 The background checks included but were not
14 limited to criminal, financial, and general character
15 inquiries where the individuals lived, worked, and
16 frequented.
City of
17 regarding the concerns of the operation of the
18 President, and there were no issues, concerns, or
19 negative information disclosures.
20 The Missouri Department of Natural Resources,
21 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, local health
22 departments, and ABS Consulting, Incorporated were
23 contacted regarding concerns with the President, and,
24 again, no major concerns were noted.
25 The results of this investigation were provided
00032
1 to the Gaming Commission staff for their review and you
2 possess a detailed summary report before you. The
3 investigating officers are present at this hearing, and
4 we'd be happy to entertain any questions you may have
5 at this time.
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Any questions?
7 LT. SCISM: Thank you.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you.
9 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, staff
10 recommends relicensure.
11 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a motion?
12 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: I make a motion we
13 approve Resolution No. 07-086.
14 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Second.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
16 discussion? Call roll.
17 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
18 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
19 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
20 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
21 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
22 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
23 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
24 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
25 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
00033
1 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
2 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
3 Resolution 07-086.
4 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, next item of
5 consideration, licensure of Pinnacle Entertainment,
6 Inc., Casino One Corporation, doing business as Lumiere
7 Place Casino. Presentation will be made by a cast of
8 thousands.
9 MR. RIFFEL: Respectfully stated, that is
10 correct.
11 Jerry Riffel and Jack Godfrey again. We'd
12 simply like to present to you and introduce our staff
13 that's present today, leading with Wade Hundley, who
14 will speak, who is the president of Pinnacle
15 Entertainment; Jack Godfrey, again, general counsel;
16 Steve Capp, if you'd stand up, the chief financial
17 officer of Pinnacle Entertainment; Alain Uboldi, chief
18 operating officer of Pinnacle Entertainment; Cliff
19 Kortman, who is president of the construction division
20 of Pinnacle Entertainment; Todd George, again, who is
21 general manager and vice-president of
22 Mario Maseno, senior director of marketing, who was
23 just up here; and Harry Moppins, who's the gentleman
24 who administers our MBE/WBE programs that I think
25 you've met many times; Steven Drewes, who's the senior
00034
1 director of finance is also here; Mac Carhill, who's
2 the director of recruiting is also here. And we also
3 feel on this project like we should introduce our very
4 special partner that we've worked with so long and so
5 hard, and that's Rodney Crim, who's the president and
6 CEO of the St. Louis Development Corporation.
7 And now we will present Wade Hundley.
8 MR. WADE HUNDLEY: Thank you, Jerry, and good
9 morning. This is a very exciting time for us. I might
10 also mention that Jeff Babinski, our senior director of
11 casino offices is here as well. Jerry probably wasn't
12 aware that he was in the room.
13 But this is a very exciting time for us.
14 There's been a tremendous amount of work by a lot of
15 people both inside our organization and outside as well
16 to get us to the point we are today.
17 Just to give you a timeline of where we're at
18 with
19 portion of the property as well as the majority of our
20 restaurants three weeks from today, on December 19th.
21 So we're, obviously, in crunch time, if you will, right
22 now.
23 I know most of you may have had a chance to tour
24 the property yesterday. We're hopeful that you liked
25 what you saw. We still have a tremendous amount of
00035
1 work to do in the next three weeks putting on the
2 finishing touches from the construction side, training
3 our people, getting them fitted for uniforms,
4 etc., etc. So there's a lot of work being
5 done. We're working 24 hours a day, basically at this
6 point, to get the place open in three weeks.
7 After that, our two hotels, the Hotel Lumiere
8 and the Four Seasons Hotel, we plan to open those
9 facilities sometime in late January or early February.
10 We'll have a grand opening of the Four Seasons property
11 probably sometime in February where we'll actually be
12 renting rooms to guests, so that will be another
13 exciting time for us. I might mention that the public
14 spaces of those two hotels will be available to us on
15 New Year's Eve for our New Year's Eve celebration and
16 party, both the Four Seasons and Hotel Lumiere, so
17 we'll have events at both of those facilities in
18 connection with our New Year's Eve festivities.
19 After the hotels, the final portion of the
20 property that we will be opening will be the tunnel
21 connection over to the other side of the highway, and
22 that will be done in March. So we'll have a final
23 grand opening where all facilities are open and all
24 restaurants, all hotels are up and going full blast
25 probably sometime in early March or early April. So
00036
1 we're excited.
2 We really like the way things are coming
3 together. We think this will be a great addition to
4 the city, the region, and certainly to our portfolio
5 within Pinnacle. And I'll turn it over to Todd, really
6 to give some of the specifics of where we stand.
7 MR. TODD GEORGE: Good morning.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good morning.
9 MR. GEORGE: Thank you very much for
10 coming down, those of you that could make it, and,
11 again, we hope you liked what you saw.
12 And also I'd like to start off by thanking the
13 Commission for everything that you guys have done
14 through this process, the hiring process. You guys
15 have worked with us also on the slot testing and
16 everything else, and it's gone very smoothly because of
17 all the hard work.
18 We just have a few slides to go through today.
19 We'd like to start out with the employment
20 demographics. As I touched on earlier, the hiring
21 process, we're going along fairly quickly. We've got
22 about 1,332 people hired. We figure by the time the
23 entire facility is open, we'll have about 1,700 people
24 at opening. For the opening on the 19th, our goal is
25 to have about 1,500 people. Most of the remaining
00037
1 hires are in the food and beverage area.
2 You can see the breakdown by ethnic group. We
3 have a very diverse workforce, and that's
4 representative of the community in which we're working
5 in. The other demographic statistic, because we are on
6 the
7 from
the
8
coming from
9
10 is one of the markets we will market to from a customer
11 standpoint.
12 The gender report, this slide is a little
13 misleading because of the scale on the left-hand side.
14 You can see 697 and 680. It's almost 50/50, male and
15 female. Our apologies for the scale. But, again,
16 representative of the population base that's there.
17 When we came in and we looked at what the competitive
18 set is, we really have to focus on that
19 as well, especially with the improvements that have
20 been made at Casino Queen where they have taken their
21 market share up and they have started doing 18,
22 $19 million a month in gaming revenue. So when you
23 factor that in, you can see that as of 10 of '07, the
24 market, including the Casino Queen, has now generated
25 $835 million with Casino Queen jumping up to a
00038
1 19 percent market share.
2 The market revenue trend again showing growth
3 throughout 2006, and we can figure that will still go
4 in. Again, this is just the growth percentage, so when
5 Ameristar opened the new facility, you can see that the
6 growth was 7.8. The market's still growing from '05 to
7 '06 at a rate of almost 4 percent.
8 Where we positioned ourselves, really the best
9 in
class gaming, dining experience in
10 one contemporary location. There's a lot going on in
11
12 happy to be a part of that, not only as a company, but
13 also as individuals that live there.
14 We're positioning ourselves within the city as
15 the first hotel/casino/entertainment destination all in
16 downtown
17 bigger renovation and revitalization that's going on in
18
19 the hotel, the gaming and dining, nightlife amenities,
20 again, catering to everyone, including the folks in the
21 suburbs, but also we look at that business leisure
22 traveler, the conventioneer that's coming into town as
23 being a key segment for us to work with. We hope
24 ultimately to become a complete compelling
25 entertainment district in the downtown
00039
1 marketplace.
2 Our service philosophy -- I'm not going to read
3 this whole thing, but we hope that, you know, we can
4 offer service second to none, and, again, focusing on
5 the customers. And we've stressed that from the time
6 that we interview people. We hope to take the best of
7 the best from what's down there and bring people up
8 along the way.
9 The markets, we looked at the population
10 breakdown. And, again, the statistics for us to focus
11 was, again, all that money from across the border in
12
13 region. You're looking at 330,000 people in there, so
14 we think that we can make some inlets into that area,
15 which the
16 drive for them.
17 Just some quick marketing samples. We've been
18 really going after the news print, billboards, radio,
19 TV in several different areas, but really just kind of
20 a fun approach to advertising, focusing more on the
21 entire experience, not just the gaming experience,
22 focusing on some great restaurants and hotel amenities
23 as well.
24 For those of you that were there yesterday, this
25 is just kind of what you saw yesterday. This is how
00040
1 the floor is coming along, again with the 2,000 slots
2 and 49 tables and 13 poker tables. It's really coming
3 together nicely. Construction is, like Wade said,
4 working it seems 24-7 to try to wrap this up with all
5 of this.
6 This is some poker room area. This is the
7 buffet that will offer us the opportunity to change
8 into a grill concept as well. This is the Asian
9 restaurant. This is the burger bar that Hubert Keller
10 is going to be operating, and then the glow bar in the
11 center of the casino floor. This is the aqua bar,
12 which is off the casino floor as well.
13 This is the tunnel. I think Wade touched on it,
14 but this we hope to have open in the first quarter of
15 this year.
This will come out in
16 Edward Jones Dome and will be critical in targeting
17 that convention business that we spoke to. This is the
18 exterior shot with everything going up.
19 This is the old Embassy Suites. It's been
20 re-themed as Hotel Lumiere. This is the atrium. We're
21 going towards that and we hope to, again, have that
22 open in the first quarter of next year, but actually
23 have this space available for New Year's Eve. This is
24 the hotel lobby that also functioned as the mass
25 processing room for the Gaming Commission, the hotel
00041
1 entrance, and that's it.
2 MR. HUNDLEY: We'd be happy to entertain
3 any questions you have at this time.
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
5 MR. MCNARY: May I inquire, Mr. Chairman?
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Sure.
7 MR. MCNARY: Can you bring us up to date,
8 because I think it's still a loose end, on the
9 discussions with American Bureau of Shipping on the
10 retention broads and where they stand?
11 MR. HUNDLEY: Sure. We'll ask Cliff
12 Kortman, who's head of the construction, to come up and
13 address that.
14 MR. CLIFF KORTMAN: Good morning, everybody.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good morning.
16 MR. KORTMAN: Thanks for taking the time
17 to ask that question.
18 As you know, we have been working closely with
19 ABS over the life of the project. We have recently met
20 with ABS and your staff to discuss our gauge
21 restraining situation. Our barge is restrained versus
22 free-floating. That means that we hold down. It's
23 buoyant, but we hold it down.
24 About a couple of months ago, we noticed that
25 our gauges were malfunctioning, and we have narrowed
00042
1 that problem down to a dissimilar metal issue. We
2 discussed that with the staff, with Mr. Ho. We talked
3 about a remedy on these gauges, and we've presented to
4 Mr. Ho and to the staff a procedure to replace these
5 gauges.
6 I'm happy to tell you today that in anticipation
7 of those procedures being hopefully approved, we went
8 ahead and started manufacturing brand new strain gauges
9 that are a completely different design, completely
10 enclosed. We had a -- we feel like this is the proper
11 remedy. The day after we met with your staff is the
12 day that we placed an order for an additional
13 replacement of 100 -- I think it's 103 strain gauges.
14 We expect to see 28 of those strain gauges next week,
15 and we're going to be putting those in as soon as we
16 receive them.
17 But we have been working with ABS in terms of
18 the process. I've had much dialogue with ABS. They've
19 been on site inspecting the process throughout the
20 entire time. I think the relationship is good, and I
21 think our process for replacement is solid and will be
22 done in a timely manner.
23 MR. MCNARY: Our concern is safety of the
24 boat. We don't think the boat's going to sail away,
25 but would you speak to the safety?
00043
1 MR. KORTMAN: Sure. We have -- we have
2 multiple systems involved with restraining of the
3 barge. It's not just simply one system. There's a
4 number of systems that have been installed into the
5 system, sort of the belts and suspenders of a
6 restraining system.
7 The idea of a restraining system is that you
8 push water underneath the barge and push the barge up
9 so that you hold it constantly in one position. In the
10 event that you push too much water, which is pretty
11 difficult to do, we have a weir system. It's a
12 mechanical system that if you have too much water, the
13 water goes over the weirs into the basin, and it's
14 pumped out.
15 Not only do we have that mechanical system of
16 the set of weirs, but we also have bilge alarm systems
17 and alarm systems that monitor the level of water
18 within the basin. So we have three or four different
19 systems installed in the event that there is a failure
20 of a gauge, per se.
21 MR. HUNDLEY: Yeah. I think, Cliff, it's
22 safe to say that we don't really believe there's any
23 problem with the barge or the integrity of the
24 structure itself. It's really a problem with the
25 measurement device and malfunctioning measuring device
00044
1 that we have to replace.
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: I believe the way it was
3 explained yesterday is this is just a redundancy.
4 There are three or four systems that you look at, so if
5 one failed, you would have other measures to determine.
6 MR. KORTMAN: Right. But we do understand
7 the importance of making sure that it needs to be
8 completed as soon as possible and fixed as soon as
9 possible. So we are on a track to do that in a shorter
10 time frame than what we have talked about. We
11 discussed that with Mr. Ho this morning.
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Any other questions?
13 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. George and
14 Mr. Hudley, I'd like to thank you. I know there are
15 some issues working along with the MBE/WBE concerns
16 along with Mr. Moppins over there. I'm glad that
17 you're working together along with
18 staff in making sure that we reach those goals, so to
19 speak. And, again, I'd like to thank you, the team,
20 for doing that.
21 I know there's some discussion about the
22 denominator on the number that we will be using, but we
23 worked around that. And between the two casinos, the
24 President and
25 to be a good deal, a win-win for all of
00045
1 I'd like to commend you on that.
2 MR. HUNDLEY: We appreciate that. It's
3 been a good team effort, so we appreciate that.
4 MR. GEORGE: Thank you very much.
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you. Good morning
6 again.
7 MR. CRIM: Good morning again. Again, I'm
8
Rodney Crim, Executive Director of
9 Development Corporation.
10 Just for the record, again, I won't read the
11 entire letter, but, again, the mayor's letter to
12 Mr. McNary that we do support both the licensing of the
13 new casino and the relicensing of the President
14 Admiral. And we're extremely pleased with Pinnacle's
15 progress to date on the new facility.
16 I also just wanted to make some general comments
17 that I believe this has been a great partnership over
18 the last four years. I remember the day when they
19 delivered their response to our request for proposal,
20 and I said, "Who is Pinnacle?" And so for the four
21 years, we've gotten to know each other quite well. And
22 the project has come along quite well.
23 Our redevelopment agreement outlined what the
24 City's desires were in this project, and Pinnacle has
25 met and exceeded our agreement. We agreed to a
00046
1 $257 million project, and they are delivering a
2 $507 million project.
3 Their jobs will exceed our objective of 1,157
4 jobs. As Todd George just mentioned, we think that
5 number will get up to like 1,700, so that's pretty
6
impressive. They've partnered
with our
7 Agency on Training and Employment -- we call it
8 SLATE -- and hosted job fairs with record attendance
9 levels. And Mac Carhill, who they've introduced, kind
10 of led that charge working with our Tom Jones, who runs
11 SLATE.
12 We wanted a five-star hotel, and they delivered
13 on that with the Four Seasons Hotel. This gives our
14 corporations a place for their visiting senior
15 executives, so they don't have to travel so far when
16 they're in town visiting those big companies like
17 Anheuser-Busch downtown.
18 We wanted a mixed-use development within five
19 years of opening the casino and we asked for a
20 $50 million commitment for this. Pinnacle has already
21 created preliminary plans that are likely to double the
22 initial investment of $507 million. Again, that's not
23 all worked out yet, but they have presented these
24 preliminary plans, and that gets to our objectives of
25 condos, retail, more entertainment and related parking.
00047
1 And this may occur sooner than the five years.
2 Pinnacle agreed, as Commissioner Jones
3 mentioned, to our MWBE objectives and has worked hard
4 to achieve significant performance in this area. They
5 hired MWBE advisers. They hired an MWBE director,
6 Harry Moppins, and established processes, including
7 weekly meetings, to require the construction community
8 to take this initiative seriously. When the project is
9 completed and the final numbers are reviewed, I believe
10 we will see that this project resulted in one of the
11 highest dollar amounts going to minority and
12 women-owned businesses in the city's history. It's one
13 of the highest. It may be the highest, and we'll know
14 that once we're all done.
15 In addition, we are pleased that Pinnacle
16 selected an MBE as the general contractor on the remake
17 of the former Embassy Suites Hotel, which is about a
18 $16 million project.
19 Also our redevelopment agreement highlighted our
20 desire to ensure diversity on the ongoing operations of
21 the business. We are nearing completion of MWBE plans
22 for ongoing operations with Pinnacle that will also
23 include the Four Seasons, so we're pretty excited about
24 that.
25 Pinnacle has proven already to be a great
00048
1 corporate citizen. They're very involved in all of our
2 corporate initiatives for the city in helping create a
3
better place and
4 work, and do business.
5 And, again, we also want to continuously say
6 thank you for all of your support in helping the city
7 be the best that it can be. Thank you.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions
9 for Mr. Crim?
10 MR. CRIM: Thank you.
11 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there anyone that
12 would care to make a public comment?
13 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, the
14 investigative summary will be once again by Rex Scism.
15 LT. SCISM: We're walking a few hundred
16 miles up here today, aren't we?
17 On April 26, 2004, Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.
18 applied for a Missouri Class A gaming license through a
19 subordinate company, Casino One, Incorporated. Casino
20 One subsequently applied for two Class A riverboat
21 licenses, one of which is located in Downtown St. Louis
22 and will operate as Lumiere Place Casino.
23 Missouri State Highway Patrol investigators
24 along with Gaming Commission financial investigators
25 conducted background investigations on Pinnacle
00049
1 Entertainment and all associated key persons related to
2 both the parent company and Lumiere Place Casino. The
3 investigation included comprehensive criminal and
4 financial checks of Pinnacle, Lumiere Place Casino, and
5 all associated key persons. The investigation also
6 included, but was not limited to, criminal, financial,
7 and general character inquiries of all key persons as
8 well as a comprehensive financial analysis of the
9
parent company, and specifically the
10 Casino development.
11 The results of this investigation were provided
12 to the Gaming Commission staff for their review and
13 specific details related to our investigative findings
14 are contained within the comprehensive summary report
15 in your possession. The investigative officers are
16 once again present at this hearing, and we'd be happy
17 to entertain any questions that you may have at this
18 time.
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there questions for
20 Mr. Scism?
21 LT. SCISM: Thank you again.
22 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you.
23 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, there are a few
24 options to the Commission in this report. Our
25 regulations called for a certification by ABS as to
00050
1 safety. That also -- that can be waived under our
2 regulations.
3 The Commission can either wait for that
4 certification, the Commission can go ahead and waive
5 that at this time and license Lumiere, or the
6 Commission can wait for a period of time and then waive
7 it in case it doesn't come in before December 19th.
8 With regard to safety, the staff is satisfied that the
9 casino is safe with the ABS contingency hanging on.
10 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Could we find out what
11 the time frame is that is contemplated to make the
12 necessary repairs?
13 MR. KORTMAN: I'm back. We had talked to
14 the staff and with ABS, and we had talked about a
15 timeline of approximately six months to have all of
16 these gauges replaced. We, as I mentioned before, have
17 acted upon that prior to testing of these gauges or
18 trying to manufacture a fix of the gauges. We've gone
19 with a completely different gauge, a completely
20 enclosed body. As I mentioned to you before,
21 approximately one-fourth of those are going to be here
22 next week.
23 And we are dead-set on having this thing ready
24 to go pursuant to your direction. We will -- we will
25 do anything that we have to do to get these gauges
00051
1 replaced. We do not think it will take the entire six
2 months. We would anticipate and hope that we would
3 have these done within 30 days.
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: It appears that we
5 probably need to discuss this with our staff prior to
6 making a conclusion as to what the direction should be,
7 so are we planning on having a closed session today?
8 MR. MCNARY: Yes.
9 CHAIRMAN SHULL: And then possibly coming
10 back into open session after the closed session?
11 MR. MCNARY: We can do whatever you and
12 the Commission decide.
13 CHAIRMAN SHULL: I think that's what we
14 would like to defer right now.
15 MR. MCNARY: Next item, Mr. Chairman, is
16 an update on Pinnacle's
17 And before we do this, I'd like to take a moment,
18 because I have some nostalgia about this particular
19 courthouse and this city.
20 There were a half dozen guys about 40 years ago that
21 used to go to coffee, and they'd plan out the future
22 of the city, and, you know, that happens. One of them
23 is here. He's an old guy now. It takes one to know
24 one. Hap Hamel, stand up. Hamel -- Albert Hamel was
25 one of the guys who made Clayton what it is today. I
00052
1 just wanted to recognize him.
2 (Applause.)
3 MR. MCNARY: On the South County project,
4 Wade Hundley and Jack Godfrey and also a cast of
5 thousands.
6 MR. GODFREY: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
7 Commissioners.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good morning.
9 MR. GODFREY: I note the appearance of all
10 the other individuals from Pinnacle and
11 that we've previously introduced. And with me at the
12 podium are Wade Hundley and Cliff Kortman, who will
13 discuss the status from Pinnacle's viewpoint, and Jerry
14 Riffel, our counsel. We also have present from the
15 County, Denny Coleman, who will speak to
16 County's perspective on this status.
17 MR. HUNDLEY: Thanks, Jack. And good
18 morning once again. We are excited to be here to
19 actually talk about our progress on the county project
20 as well as the
21 tremendous amount of progress since the last time I
22 believe we were here giving you an update.
23 We've now completed the environmental cleanup of
24 the project of the core site. The last environmental
25 cleanup that we're doing is actually on the Air Force,
00053
1 which was previously -- what Air Force land that was
2 turned over to the County several months ago. And so
3 we're in the process of -- I think asbestos now is
4 probably being removed from the buildings, or they're
5 finalizing that and we'll be tearing down the building,
6 cleaning up -- some additional soil conditions will
7 have to be cleaned up. And that really allows us to
8 complete the bridge over the railroad tracks, which is
9 part of our development.
10 We've made a significant amount of progress on
11 the amount of environmental cleanup. Almost done with
12 that aspect of the project. We've raised the site 12
13 feet over the entire 60 acres, which was quite an
14 undertaking. It took a number of months. And for
15 those who have been out there, you can see a big
16 difference in the site today versus where it was two
17 years ago.
18 We started on the road. We completed,
19 obviously, the acquisition of all parcels needed to
20 complete the road, and we've started on that road
21 project, which is one of the gaming items to the
22 project.
23 In addition to that, we've been working with the
24 County on actually basically getting the foundations
25 started on the project. We actually have the bid
00054
1 packages in. We've received the bids on the foundation
2 package, which is really the first thing that the
3 public will be able to see in terms of -- this is
4 really our first step to getting things in the air. We
5 believe -- we expect to start on foundations within the
6 next two weeks. And Cliff can -- he will come up and
7 mention more of the construction schedule in a few
8 moments.
9 We also just this week signed a new amendment to
10 our development agreement with the County. What that
11 new amendment did was really increase our commitment to
12 the project by 50 percent. Our original commitment on
13 the building agreement was $300 million to the project.
14 We're now committed to $450 million to the South
15
16 It did give us some flexibility in terms of some
17 of the components that we will include in phase II
18 rather than phase I. Phase I will be approximately
19 $375 million. That will include the full components of
20 the casino restaurant, some additional meeting spaces,
21 etc. Some of the other -- some additional
22 components are the movie theaters and the hotel. We've
23 got some flexibility to actually include that in what
24 we call phase II, which has to be -- has to come on line
25 within three years of the opening of the casino itself.
00055
1 And what that did was address really the
2 construction environment and cost escalations that
3 we've seen in construction and marketplace really in
4 this last three years. And now that we have that in
5 place, we're ready to really begin in earnest of our
6 project.
7 So with that, I'll turn it over to Cliff
8 Kortman, who will give you more of the details on that.
9 MR. KORTMAN: Thanks, again. I wanted to
10 just mention to you that when we talk about "we," we
11 try not to talk about our company, because "we" for us
12 really means you and the County. The County has been
13 instrumental in being a partner with us in
14 accomplishing all of the road right-of-way
15 acquisitions, the FEMA releases, and actually being
16 able to work on the NL site, so it's really been a
17 great partnership.
18 We're glad to tell you that the remediation on
19 the NL site is now 100 percent complete. The building
20 pad is at elevation and ready for foundations. We went
21 out with a bid package approximately three weeks ago.
22 We received all of our bids on the 20th. We're doing a
23 bid tab right now, and we're going to award in a week
24 and be in the ground shortly thereafter, so it's going
25 to be pretty exciting to see putting in foundation work
00056
1 and actually on the site.
2 If you had a chance to see the site, you can see
3 that the overpass over the railroad is well underway.
4 We are waiting right now for the FEMA site, which is
5 the former Air Force site, to be completely released so
6 we can do our first bridge abutment, our first landing
7 spot. And then we'll be on our downward approach of
8 the bridge.
9 Work on Kiser Creek is ongoing right now. We're
10 replacing the up-bridge on Kiser Creek. The abutment
11 is approximately 85 percent on the FEMA site and the
12 buildings have started to come down on the former Air
13 Force site, which is, I think everybody's pretty
14 excited to see.
15 Our phase I work on the, what we call the Weber
16 Reach, for lack of a better word, starts next week.
17 It's a lot of road improvements that happens on the
18 interstate with
19 major work section is from
20 Broadway into the site. And all of that work is
21 progressive according to schedule.
22 If you have any direct questions, I'd be happy
23 to answer those.
24 MR. HUNDLEY: One thing, Cliff, I failed
25 to mention is part of the amendment that we recently
00057
1 did with the County as well. We have -- in fact,
2 yesterday I think we wired funds to the County for
3 $5.1 million, which is our contribution to the
4 community/aquatic center and baseball and soccer
5 fields. That was originally -- and the original
6 development would have come a little later. As part of
7 our agreement with the County, we agreed to fund that
8 money now, which hopefully will help speed up the
9 progress on getting those facilities completed for the
10 area.
11 With that, I think we've asked Denny Coleman to
12 maybe come up and make a few comments.
13 MR. MCNARY: Denny Coleman's the director
14 of the economic development for
15 this is an important project.
16 MR. DENNY COLEMAN: Thank you, Mr. McNary and
17 Commissioners. First of all, welcome to the County
18
19 Executive Charlie Dooley, we want to thank you for your
20 presence here today. You honor us with holding your
21 meeting here. I think this is the first time the
22 Commission has met in the Council Chambers. And I'm
23 sure that if it meets your standards and what you would
24 like to see, we would be happy to have you back at any
25 time. So thank you for being here.
00058
1 This is an extraordinarily important project for
2
3 and
the
4 pleased with the progress that has been made to date.
5 And I also want to thank you for having the faith in
6 this total team that Wade and Cliff talked about,
7 because it has been a real team effort with Pinnacle,
8 the
County, the Port Authority, and the
9 to get as far as we have to date, and we're looking
10 forward to the progress in the very near future.
11 This was a challenging site. There were some
12 who believed we'd never be at this point in time. But
13 the site has been cleaned of its contamination, which
14 was basically the third priority from the local
15 community. Behind the jobs and the investment revenue
16 mix was the cleanup of the contamination on this site.
17 That has been completed.
18 The site is being built up and is nearly
19 completely built up out of the floodplain. The road
20 access to the casino is important, obviously, to the
21 functioning of the casino, but access to the general
22 community was always an issue for further economic
23 development.
So not only will the
24 benefit from the casino and the retail and
25 entertainment project itself, but the increased
00059
1 accessibility will stimulate further economic activity,
2 and indeed it already has in anticipation of the road
3 being completed.
4
And that is true not only for the
5 community but also for the Carondelet neighborhood in
6 the
City of
7
contiguous to the Lemay community in
8 So we're seeing a broader economic benefit from that
9 road in addition to what it will do for the casino.
10 Obviously, the jobs and investment we look
11 forward to as we move into the construction and then
12 the opening phase, but also we can't lose sight of the
13 fact that the rent that will be paid to the
14
15 the operation. Seventy-five percent of that is
16 committed to be reinvested into the
17 a minimum of the first five years of its opening and
18 operation. That will provide us money for housing,
19 commercial, infrastructure investments in the
20 community that are very important.
21 So this is an important economic development
22 project, but it is also an important community
23 development project for the community. And that's why
24 we have enjoyed such great support from the
25 community as well as from all of
00060
1 government.
2 So, again, thank you for having the faith in us.
3 We're very pleased and proud to have you with us here
4 today, and thank you for the great support you've shown
5 to
the entire team from Pinnacle and
6
7 questions.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: What is the proposed
9 completion date and when is it expected to be open?
10 MR. HUNDLEY: Our current target is to
11 have the facility opened around March, April of 2009.
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there other questions?
13 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. Hundley, so
14 there's no misunderstanding, out of the $450 million
15 investment, what part of that is for the main
16 acquisition? So we won't have -- so we don't have to
17 go down that road again.
18 MR. HUNDLEY: Actually, in the land -- I
19 mean, it's really -- we're leasing the main portion of
20 the project. The only land we had to buy was the land
21 along the road itself, which was a very small amount.
22 I think it was about 4 to $5 million was what we
23 actually had to purchase in terms of land to allow us
24 to put the road into the project. The 375 million in
25 phase I and the additional 75 million in phase II does
00061
1 not include -- I mean, it's only about $5 million of
2 land.
3 COMMISSIONER JONES: Okay. So that
4 denominated amount -- so when everyone comes back, the
5 denominated amount is somewhere around the 375, plus
6 the 75, right, give or take 5, 7, $8 million?
7 MR. HUNDLEY: In terms of total spend on
8 things. I mean, there's some -- we'll have some
9 discussions about what could be -- you know, just like
10 we did with the City in terms of what's reasonable to
11 include and exclude when you talk about things, but,
12 yes, that's correct.
13 COMMISSIONER JONES: All right. Thank
14 you.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there other
16 questions?
17 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, item VI,
18 consideration of settlement agreements, will be handled
19 by General Counsel
20 MR. HINCKLEY: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
21 Commissioners.
22 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good morning.
23 MR. HINCKLEY: I direct your attention to
24 tab F and Commission Resolution 07-089 concerning the
25 underlying disciplinary matter of 07-341 in which the
00062
1 licensee, Ameristar Casino Kansas City, was fined
2 $25,000 for violating internal control standards and
3 regulations regarding their soft count room procedures.
4 Shortly after the Commission issued its disciplinary
5 fine, the licensee contacted the Commission, took
6 responsibility for its actions and raised certain issues
7 that may be mitigating circumstances. As a result, the
8 Commission and the licensee drafted the enclosed
9 settlement agreement for your consideration in which
10 the matter would be settled for an amount of $20,000.
11 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Do you have a
12 recommendation?
13 MR. HINCKLEY: I'm sorry. The staff
14 recommends that the matter be settled for that amount,
15 Mr. Chairman.
16 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
17 Is there a motion?
18 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I would
19 move to approve Resolution No. 07-089.
20 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Second.
21 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Further discussion? Call
22 the roll, please.
23 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
24 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
25 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
00063
1 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
2 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
3 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
5 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
7 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
8 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
9 Resolution No. 07-089.
10 MR. HINCKLEY: And now I direct your
11 attention to tab G and Commission Resolution 07-090
12 regarding the settlement agreement and waiver of
13 hearings regarding Ameristar Casino Kansas City.
14 The underlying discipline in this matter is
15 07-343, which was a two-count case involving a $10,000
16 fine for violations involving electronic gaming devices
17 and revoked software. Shortly after the Commission
18 issued its discipline amount for $10,000, the licensee
19 contacted the Commission and took full responsibility
20 for their actions, and as well brought to light certain
21 mitigating circumstances regarding the matter. As a
22 result, the Commission and licensee drafted a
23 settlement agreement for $7,500 for your consideration.
24 The staff recommends that this settlement agreement be
25 adopted.
00064
1 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions
2 for Mr. Hinckley? Is there a motion?
3 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Mr. Chairman, I
4 move to approve Commission Resolution No. 07-090.
5 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
7 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll.
8 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
9 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
11 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
12 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
13 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
14 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
15 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
16 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
17 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
18 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
19 Resolution No. 07-090.
20 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, General Counsel
21
22 MR. HINCKLEY: I now direct your attention
23 to tab H and Commission Resolution 07-092 regarding
24 exclusion of an individual from the excursion gambling
25 boats and facilities in
00065
1 Pursuant to resolutions, the Gaming Commission
2 has the authority to place a person on the Exclusion
3 List for conviction of a felony in any jurisdiction of
4 any crime involving moral turpitude or a crime
5 involving gaming or performing any act or having a
6 notorious or unsavory reputation which would adversely
7 affect public confidence and trust in gaming.
8 The placement on the Exclusion List prohibits a
9
person from contact of any kind with
10 gaming operations. This matter concerns a Kathleen L.
11 Edwards, who on November 9th of 2006 pled guilty to one
12 count of interstate transportation of funds obtained by
13 fraud in the United States District Court, Western
14 District of Missouri and was sentenced to 30 months in
15 confinement and three years of supervised release. The
16 crime was one of moral turpitude, and evidence
17 indicates that the crime was, in part, motivated by
18 gambling. The amount of the money appropriated by
19 Ms. Edwards was in the range of $400,000.
20 As a result, the staff recommends that
21 Ms. Kathleen L. Edwards be placed on the
22 Exclusion List.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions
24 for Mr. Hinckley? Is there a motion?
25 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. Chairman, I move
00066
1 for the approval of Resolution No. 07-092.
2 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Second.
3 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
4 discussion?
5 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Is she here today? Is
6 Kathleen Edwards here? Would she care to speak?
7 MR. HINCKLEY: I believe Ms. Edwards is
8 confined at this time.
9 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you. Hearing none,
10 call the roll, please.
11 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
13 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
14 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
15 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
16 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
17 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
18 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
19 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
20 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
21 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
22 Resolution No. 07-092.
23 MR. HINCKLEY: Mr. Chairman,
24 Commissioners, the next two matters have to do with
25 removing persons from the Exclusion List that are
00067
1 presently -- that are now deceased.
2 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Mr. Chairman, if I
3 could?
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Yes.
5 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: I'd like to make a
6 motion that the Commission delegate, to the
7 Executive Director, the authority to remove individuals
8 from the List of Excluded Persons if he had clear and
9 convincing evidence that the person is deceased, so we
10 don't have to deal with these issues.
11 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a second?
12 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
13 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
14 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll.
15 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
16 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
17 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
18 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
19 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
20 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
21 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
22 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
23 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
24 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
25 MR. HINCKLEY: Mr. Chairman, I believe the
00068
1 next two matters then would be handled by Mr. McNary.
2 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, staff
3 recommends that a resolution be passed by the
4 Commission delegating authority to the Chairman to
5 extend a gaming license for up to 60 days. This is --
6 we do this every year because there won't be a December
7 meeting.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there any discussion?
9 Is there a motion?
10 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I would
11 move to approve the resolution as expressed by
12 Mr. McNary.
13 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Second.
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Further discussion?
15 Hearing none, call the roll.
16 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
17 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
18 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
19 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
20 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
21 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
22 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
23 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
24 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
25 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
00069
1 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
2 Resolution No. 07-095.
3 CHAIRMAN SHULL: If I might state so,
4 there's been a lot of conversation this morning about
5 what
wonderful projects these are for the
6 community, and I note that former Executive Director
7 Kevin Mullally is in the audience. And Kevin was
8 the one that was here when these items were -- or these
9 proposals were conceived. So, Kevin, it appears that's
10 been very worthwhile projects, and thank you.
11 MR. KEVIN MULLALLY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
12 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, the next three
13 items on the agenda should be taken together. They
14 deal with change of control of Harrah's Casinos in
15
16 The first item, which will be addressed by
17 Lieutenant Rex Scism, will deal with the licensure of
18 Hamlet Holdings, LLC. The second item, also dealt with
19 by Rex, will deal with the licensure of key persons, 11
20 of them who are key persons of Hamlet Holdings. The
21 final item under tab O was presented by Director of
22 Policy,
23 Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. to Hamlet Holdings, LLC.
24 These are taken in this order in that we must
25 have a licensed entity, in this case Hamlet Holdings,
00070
1 the transfer of Harrah's Entertainment to Hamlet
2 Holdings, LLC's officer must be appropriately licensed
3 in order for them to accept control of Harrah's
4 Entertainment. Rex?
5 LT. SCISM: Thank you, Mr. McNary.
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Excuse me. Before we
7 proceed, we would like to take about a 15-minute recess
8 in order to permit individuals to add a little money to
9 their parking meters across the street. We will take
10 about 15 minutes.
11 (Thereupon, a short recess was taken.)
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good morning, if we could
13 commence again. If everyone could take their seats,
14 I'd like to continue. Please, go ahead.
15 LT. SCISM: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
16 Subsequent to the acquisition of Harrah's
17 Entertainment, Inc.,
18 investigators, along with Gaming Commission financial
19 investigators conducted background investigations on
20 Hamlet Holdings, LLC, all related private equity firms,
21 and 11 key persons associated with the private equity
22 firms, Apollo Management, Apollo, and Texas Pacific
23 Group, TPG.
24 The investigations include comprehensive
25 criminal and financial checks of Hamlet Holdings,
00071
1 Apollo, TPG, the aforementioned key persons, and many
2 of the limited partners and co-investors involved with
3 the acquisition of Harrah's.
4 The investigation included, but was not limited
5 to, criminal, financial, and general character
6 inquiries of all key persons, as well as a
7 comprehensive financial analysis of Harrah's
8 Entertainment, Hamlet Holdings, Inc., Apollo, and TPG.
9 The results of this investigation were provided
10 to the Gaming Commission staff for their review and
11 were discussed during closed session on October 30th,
12 2007. Specific details related to our investigative
13 findings were contained within the comprehensive
14 summary reports in your possession.
15 And at this time, I'd, once again, be happy to
16 entertain any questions you may have.
17 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
18 I believe the -- do you have a question?
19 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, staff
20 recommends passing the resolution.
21 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
22 discussion?
23 COMMISSIONER JONES: Move for the approval
24 of Resolution No. 07-096.
25 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Second it.
00072
1 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
2 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
3 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
6 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
8 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
10 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
11 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
12 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
13 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
14 Resolution No. 07-096.
15 MR. MCNARY: Lieutenant.
16 LT. SCISM: Thank you, Mr. McNary.
17
18 Gaming Commission financial investigators, conducted
19 background investigations on multiple key persons and
20 level I applicants. The investigations included, but
21 were not limited to, criminal, financial, and general
22 character inquiries, which were made in the
23 jurisdictions where the applicants lived, worked, and
24 frequented.
25 The following individuals are been presented for
00073
1 your consideration today: Thomas W. Cook, senior
2 vice-president and general manager Harrah's North
3
4
general manager Lumiere Place Casino,
5 Black, member Hamlet Holdings, LLC; Joshua Harris,
6 vice-president Hamlet Holdings, LLC; Mark Rowan,
7 vice-president Hamlet Holdings, LLC; Eric Press,
8 secretary Hamlet Holdings, LLC; Anthony Civale,
9 secretary Hamlet Holdings, LLC; Jeffrey Benjamin,
10 secretary Hamlet Holdings, LLC; David Bonderman,
11 vice-president Hamlet Holdings, LLC; James Coulter,
12 vice-president Hamlet Holdings, LLC; Carl Peterson,
13 secretary Hamlet Holdings, LLC; Jonathan Coslet, member
14 Hamlet Holdings, LLC; and, finally, Kelvin Davis,
15 secretary Hamlet Holdings, LLC.
16 The results of all investigations were provided
17 to the Gaming Commission staff for their review and you
18 have summary reports before you for all applicants
19 being considered. At this time, once again, I'd be
20 happy to answer any questions you have. Thank you.
21 MR. MCNARY: Staff recommends approval of
22 this resolution.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Any further discussion or
24 questions?
25 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I
00074
1 recommend approval of Commission Resolution 07-097.
2 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Second.
3 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
4 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
5 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
8 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
10 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
11 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
12 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
13 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
14 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
15 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
16 the Resolution No. 07-097.
17 MR. MCNARY: Chairman, the next item will
18 be presented by Director of Policy,
19 MR. WELCH: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
20 members of the Commission.
21 Harrah's Gaming or Harrah's Entertainment has
22 petitioned the Commission for approval to change its
23 controls under our rules. They're requesting a change
24 of control to a Missouri Gaming key person business
25 entity licensee that was approved today for licensure.
00075
1 The key people involved with the key person
2 business entity have been approved for licensure and,
3 therefore, we would recommend that the Commission
4 approve the change of control of Harrah's
5
Entertainment, Inc., Harrah's
6
Harrah's
7 Holdings, LLC.
8 Do you have any questions?
9 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions
10 for Mr. Welch? Is there a motion?
11 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Mr. Chairman, I
12 move to approve Commission Resolution 07-098.
13 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
15 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
16 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
17 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
18 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
19 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
20 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
21 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
22 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
23 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
24 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
25 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
00076
1 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
2 Resolution No. 07-098.
3 MR. MCNARY: I think that's all for you,
4 Mr. Welch.
5 Next item, Mr. Chairman, item XII on the agenda,
6 consideration of relicensure of certain suppliers, will
7 be handled by Lieutenant Rex Scism, once again.
8 LT. SCISM: You guys are getting used to
9 my voice this afternoon or this morning.
10 Cursory tax reviews have been conducted in
11 conjunction with the relicensing of two
12 supplier companies and no issues were discovered during
13 the aforementioned reviews.
14 The following supplier companies are being
15 presented for your consideration: AC Coin & Slot,
16
17
18 MR. MCNARY: Staff recommends approval.
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
20 Is there a motion?
21 COMMISSIONER JONES: Move for approval of
22 Resolution No. 07-099 and Resolution No. 07-100.
23 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Second.
24 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
25 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
00077
1 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
3 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
4 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
6 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
8 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
10 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
11 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
12 Resolution Nos. 07-099 and 07-100.
13 MR. MCNARY: Next item, Mr. Chairman, is
14 consideration of proposed amendments to the rules and
15 regulations, and that will be handled by Director of
16 Policy, David Welch.
17 MR. WELCH: These proposed changes to the
18 regulations deal with licensure of procedures and
19 responsibilities of licensees.
20 Based upon discussions with several members of
21 the Commission and staff, prior to considering the
22 proposed amendments, there may be a desire to consider
23 a motion directing staff to interact with the
24 Gaming Association to come up with a policy regarding
25 political contributions so as to avoid even the
00078
1 appearance of impropriety in their issuing of licenses
2 and consideration of disciplines and things of that
3 nature to urge the doing-away-with political
4 contributions by licensees.
5 If the Commission would like to direct staff to
6 enter into those discussions.
7 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Since I originated
8 with my remarks, I think that it is appropriate to
9 discuss it and to research it and to determine by us
10 what the appropriate position is for the Gaming
11 Commission so as not to deviate from a balanced
12 approach, to be fair and appropriate a regulation of
13 this industry without depriving anyone of even the hint
14 of their discouragement of them participating in the
15 political process to the extent appropriate, while at
16 the same time preserving for that wide spectrum, wide
17 range of the public who, after all, have varying
18 opinions about special interests as it relates -- as
19 they relate to various political interactions and what
20 our role is in that.
21 And I think that Mr. Welch, you can -- I'm
22 sure -- I have great confidence that you can devise a
23 proposal that would accommodate all those competing --
24 possibly competing interests.
25 MR. WELCH: I am sure we can, and I'm sure
00079
1 that the Gaming Association and other interested
2 parties will be very forthcoming in working with us on
3 that.
4 MR. MCNARY: Would it be appropriate,
5 Commissioner, to put that in the form of a motion
6 directing us to take action, advising us?
7 COMMISSIONER HAIS: I would expect it
8 would, and, Mr. Chairman, if you have no objection, I
9 would make such a motion.
10 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Please proceed.
11 COMMISSIONER HAIS: I would move that at
12 Mr. McNary's, Executive Director's, direction that
13 Mr. Welch, and whomever else he feels appropriate to
14 include in the process, research and determine and
15 draft a proper resolution to effectuate the result and
16 goal of this Commission in encouraging the industry to
17 voluntarily arrive at a mutually agreeable method of
18 addressing political contributions in the state of
19
20 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a second?
21 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: I'll second it.
22 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
23 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
24 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
25 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
00080
1 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
2 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
3 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
4 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
6 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
8 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
9 MR. WELCH: Before you, you have
10 amendments to 11 CSR 45, chapter 4 and 11 CSR 45,
11 chapter 10.
12 We had a meeting approximately two weeks ago
13 where many of these issues were considered and you gave
14 us direction to make amendments. We have made those
15 amendments. I believe two fell through the cracks and
16 we gave you another version this morning that corrected
17 those.
18 The first deals with 4.020(3)(B), and we
19 talked about passive investment. The suggestion was
20 made that we define what passive investment is. We
21 took the definition directly from Black's Law
22 Dictionary, 7th edition, "Not involving active
23 participation, especially if or relating to a business
24 enterprise in which an investor does not have immediate
25 control over the activity that produces income," so as
00081
1 to alleviate questions of what constitutes "passive."
2 The other change relates to chapter 4.020,
3 paragraph 6. We've added under Secured Areas that
4 licensees may in their internal controls request
5 authorization for certain level I licensees, key person
6 licensees, and others who are escorted by security or
7 the area supervisor to have access to secured areas
8 other than the surveillance area.
9 This was a concern of the Gaming Association
10 dealing with senior management being able to go in and
11 see what's going on and having access to certain parts
12 of the boats without making advanced notice of that.
13 They were going to go in and do that.
14 An additional item came up as we were doing our
15 fiscal notes. When we change a rule and increase a
16 cost on private industry, we have to have a reason for
17 doing that, otherwise it is considered a tax increase.
18 And we have looked at the costs on renewing licenses
19 for the key person licensees. We had recommended
20 changing that from $50 to $500. Upon review, the more
21 appropriate number would be $200. This is not in
22 anything you have, so it would be appropriate to make a
23 motion to amend 11 CSR 45-4.380(2)(A) from $500 to $200.
24 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there any questions or
25 discussions regarding that? Is there a motion?
00082
1 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I would
2 move to amend 11 CSR 45-4.380(2)(A) from $500 to $200.
3 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a second?
4 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
6 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
7 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
10 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
11 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
12 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
13 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
14 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
15 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
16 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
17 MR. WELCH: In addition, representatives
18 of Casino Watch have asked by way of staff to address
19 the Commission on certain concerns they have for no
20 more than two minutes.
21 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Granted.
22 MR. EVELIO SILVERA: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
23 members of the Commission, Mr. Executive Director, and
24 staff. Thank you for the opportunity to just quickly
25 address one of the proposed changes you'll be dealing
00083
1 with.
2 If I could draw your attention, it will be in
3 11 CSR 45, chapter 4.020. We're talking specifically
4 about paragraph 7, subsection or section C. It also
5 has an effect on three future sections in chapter 4,
6 .200, .210 and .230. It deals specifically with the
7 single source contract provider for any and all
8 licensing of testing labs and necessity of that.
9 We have not seen a discernible reason to change
10 the status quo away from its current process and bid
11 process. The claim that we received from staff at the
12 least meeting was that the multiple licenses for
13 testing labs would allow for better competition, and we
14 feel that's a bit of a misnomer and wanted to take this
15 opportunity quickly to highlight two points for you to
16 consider before voting on this proposed change.
17 First, the current bid process allows for the
18 exact same level of fair competition. Interested
19 companies can come forward and prove why they uphold
20 the level of scrutiny and standards and testing
21 equipments that you as a Commission and the citizens of
22
23 At that point, the Commission, as they have in
24 the past, can decide on those merits which company will
25 provide the most utility in
00084
1 idea of the competition is a necessary and sufficient
2 means to an end is simply not true. It is not enough
3 to simply allow for competition. Sufficient procedures
4 must
be in place to safeguard
5 ensure the proper equipment is selected.
6 Having multiple test labs can and will produce
7 different findings. It will be a far greater task to
8 take multiple test results and try to determine which
9 results the Commission should select. This proposed
10 process would expand the level of regulation to what is
11 seen at unnecessary levels, creating undue work for the
12 Commission and open the Commission to potentially up to
13 political pressures from which we believe regulatory
14 bodies should be free from.
15 The current bid process allows for the necessary
16 competition, but also provides sufficient methods and
17 procedures to protect Missourians. The current
18 contract provider is the actual setter of international
19 standards and we don't see anything in the status quo
20 to change.
21 We ask that you would consider that argument in
22 light of staff's making more competition by making this
23 change when you consider this proposed regulation.
24 Thank you.
25 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you.
00085
1 MR. WELCH: I'd be happy to answer any
2 questions you may have relating to that or any other
3 items included in the proposed rules.
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
5 MR. MCNARY: May I inquire? Casino Watch,
6 maybe the executive director should come back. You
7 know, I don't understand why Casino Watch is weighing
8 in on this issue. Why would it make any difference to
9 you whether these people -- whether it's a sole source
10 or there's competition when we're going to a licensing
11 procedure?
12 MR. SILVERA: Sure. Mr. McNary, as a
13 watchdog organization, we were included by the Director
14 of Policy, Mr. David Welch, to review all of the
15 proposed changes before the Commission, upon which we
16 gave a variety of different comments, the same way the
17 Gaming Association and other interested parties
18 involved.
19 Our particular point of contention with this
20 change solely has to do with the integrity of games,
21 the software, and the actual consumer protection of
22 making sure there aren't differing standards. And
23 having multiple licenses for testing labs, undoubtedly,
24 you're going to get multiple results.
25 At that point, what we're dealing with is, as a
00086
1 Commission, being put into the situation of having to
2 decide whose results are more valid. That can create a
3 situation where undue pressure and persuasion or a
4 conflict of interest. Does a particular casino having
5 a particular supplier with a certain software want
6 their standard from a test lab that they feel passed a
7 proper standard versus another standard?
8 As a watchdog organization, looking out for
9 consumer protection, particularly that these games are
10 fair, which is the goal of this Commission and all
11 those in the gaming industry in this state, I'm sure
12 you would agree that's why we have a contention with
13 this particular point. And we feel very free and open,
14 since we were invited in this process, to have the
15 moment to clarify.
16 MR. MCNARY: Thank you, I guess.
17 MR. WELCH: I would say on this rule it
18 has been put together by our electronic gaming people
19 taken largely from the RFP, which has been used in the
20 past. As licensees, if they violate our rules, they
21 will be subject to discipline before this Commission.
22 Currently, as a contractor, they are not subject to
23 discipline before this Commission. Obviously, we can
24 terminate the contract and that is a form of
25 discipline.
00087
1 It gives the opportunity for multiple entities
2 to come forward, but yet holds them to a standard that
3 we believe and we will know that they are doing the
4 right thing. And we will not be getting conflicting
5 results, because they won't be testing the same games.
6 Any other questions? Thank you.
7 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there any discussion?
8 Is there a motion?
9 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I would
10 move to approve the resolution as stated.
11 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Motion made and seconded.
13 Is there further discussion?
14 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, you said
15 "resolution." I think we're taking these as a package,
16 are we not?
17 CHAIRMAN SHULL: That's correct.
18 MR. MCNARY: So it would be resolutions?
19 COMMISSIONER HAIS: I misspoke. Thank
20 you, Mr. McNary. The resolution would be more properly
21 offered as 11 CSR 45-4 and 10 as amended at this
22 meeting. And I authorize the staff to make such a
23 format technical and grammatical and also spelling
24 corrections that are necessary and also to file such
25 with the Secretary of State's Office as proposed
00088
1 amendments.
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a second?
3 COMMISSIONER JONES: I'll second.
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
5 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
6 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
7 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
9 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
11 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
12 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
13 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
14 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
15 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
16 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
17 the proposed amendments to 11 CSR 45-4 and 10.
18 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, next item on
19 the agenda is consideration of relicensure of bingo
20 manufacturers and suppliers. With that, Rex Scism.
21 LT. SCISM: Thank you, again. Today I'm
22 presenting several companies for relicensure of
23 suppliers or manufacturers of bingo products in the
24 state of
25 You may notice some of the companies mentioned
00089
1 hold dual licenses. The primary difference between
2 relicensing a manufacturer and supplier is a bond
3 requirement, which is incumbent upon a supplier because
4 they're responsible for paying taxes on the items sold.
5 The relicensure of both manufacturers and
6 suppliers includes, but is not limited to, federal and
7 state tax checks, customer and product lists, corporate
8 organization, gaming license checks, as well as various
9 criminal and financial background checks on each
10 company’s key persons.
11 No issues were discovered during the relicensure
12 investigations and the following six companies have
13 applied for relicensure under a supplier's license:
14 All-American Bingo, Incorporated;
15
16 International, Incorporated; Games Galore; and
17 Universal Manufacturing Company.
18 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, staff
19 recommends relicensure.
20 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
21 Is there a motion?
22 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Mr. Chairman, I
23 make a motion that we pass Resolution 07-001-B.
24 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Second.
25 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
00090
1 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
2 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
3 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
5 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
7 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
9 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
11 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
12 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
13 Resolution No. 07-001-B.
14 LT. SCISM: And the following nine
15 companies have applied for relicensure of their
16 manufacturer's license: Applied Concepts,
17 Incorporated; Arrow International, Incorporated;
18 Douglas Press, Incorporated; Fortune Net, Incorporated;
19 Game Tech International, Incorporated; International
20 Game Co., Incorporated; MMG, Incorporated; Pollard
21 Games, Incorporated, doing business as American Games;
22 and, finally, Universal Manufacturing Company.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
24 MR. MCNARY: Staff recommends relicensure.
25 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there questions? Is
00091
1 there a motion?
2 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I would
3 recommend approval of Commission Resolution
4 No. 07-002-B.
5 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Any further discussion?
7 Hearing none, call roll, please.
8 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
9 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
11 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
12 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
13 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
14 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
15 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
16 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
17 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
18 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
19 Resolution No. 07-002B.
20 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, the last item
21 on the agenda is consideration of licensure of a
22 certain bingo manufacturer. Rex.
23 LT. SCISM: Thank you.
24 Highway Patrol investigators conducted background
25 investigations on the Rowland Gene Porter, Incorporated
00092
1 company and the company's associated key persons. The
2 investigation included, but was not limited to, federal
3 and state tax checks, corporate inquiries and criminal
4 and financial background checks on each of the
5 companies key persons. Rowland Gene Porter,
6 Incorporated is a manufacturer and distributor of bingo
7
supplies and which operates out of the state of
8 The results of this investigation where provided
9 to the Gaming Commission staff for their review and you
10 have summary reports before you regarding this
11 applicant. Thank you.
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Any questions? Is there
13 a recommendation?
14 MR. MCNARY: Staff recommends relicensure.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a motion?
16 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Mr. Chairman, I
17 recommend proposed approval of Commission Resolution
18 No. 07-003-B.
19 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Second.
20 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is a further discussion?
21 Hearing none, call the roll, please.
22 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
24 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
25 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
00093
1 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
2 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
3 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
4 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
6 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
7 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
8 Resolution No. 07-003-B.
9 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is that all for right
10 now? We will be going into close session and returning
11 to close in open session.
12 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. Chairman, I move
13 to close the meeting to proceed, discuss, and consider
14 the following matters: Investigatory records,
15 information, and summaries under §610.021(14);
16 proprietary records, information, and summaries under
17 §610.021(14) and 313.847.1; application records,
18 information, and summaries under §610.021(14) and
19 313.847.1; closed minutes or other closed records under
20 §610.021(14) and 313.847.1.
21 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a second?
22 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Second.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
24 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll, please.
25 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
00094
1 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
2 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
3 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
5 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
7 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
9 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
10 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Let's move to the closed
11 session area.
12 (Thereupon, closed session was held.)
13 CHAIRMAN SHULL: We'd like to go back into
14 open session now. Do we need to call roll again?
15 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
16 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Present.
17 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
18 COMMISSIONER JONES: Present.
19 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
20 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Present.
21 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
22 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Present.
23 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
24 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Present.
25 CHAIRMAN SHULL: We want to further
00095
1 consider the Pinnacle application for licensure.
2 Mr. McNary, would you like to --
3 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Welch, would you address
4 the --
5 MR. WELCH: Mr. Chairman, I would suggest
6 that we amend Resolution No. 07-087 under the sixth “BE
7 IT RESOLVED” by adding at the end of that, "Following
8 ABS certification as to the safety of Lumiere's gaming
9 floor and after execution of a hold harmless agreement
10 by Pinnacle acceptable to the Commission as reviewed by
11 the Commission's Executive Director and accepted by
12 Commissioner Hais as a representative of the Commission
13 and such license shall be further reviewed at the
14 Commission's March meeting."
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Would someone like to
16 make that motion?
17 COMMISSIONER HAIS: I'll make the motion,
18 Mr. Chairman, that the amendment be -- unless there is
19 some further discussion, that the amendment be
20 approved.
21 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a second?
22 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Second.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Further discussion?
24 Would you --
25 MR. GODFREY: Could we ask a few
00096
1 questions?
2 MR. RIFFEL: Could we consider -- we're
3 not clear -- the lawyers here aren't clear,
4 Mr. Chairman, as to what ABS certification is. Can we
5 consult with our client a minute outside? Is that all
6 right? We don't know what it requires. Is that all
7 right?
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: We'll take a five-minute
9 recess.
10 (Thereupon, a short recess was taken.)
11 MR. GODFREY: Mr. Chairman, thank you for
12 that short recess. Thank you. We appreciate it very
13 much. I think we understand the condition. Thank you.
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: I believe we are ready to
15 continue. Is there any further discussion regarding
16 the motion? Hearing none --
17 COMMISSIONER HAIS: We're satisfied.
18 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley seconded
19 the --
20 CHAIRMAN SHULL: And this is the
21 amended --
22 MR. WELCH: I think this is on the
23 amendment, and then you have to vote on the resolution
24 as amended.
25 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Call roll, please.
00097
1 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
3 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
4 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
6 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
8 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
10 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
11 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a motion to
12 approve the resolution?
13 COMMISSIONER HAIS: I move to approve the
14 resolution as amended.
15 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
16 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there further
17 discussion? Hearing none, call the roll.
18 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
20 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
21 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
22 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
23 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
24 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
25 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
00098
1 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
2 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
3 MS. FRANKS: By your vote, you've adopted
4 Resolution No. 07-087 as amended.
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any other
6 motions?
7 MR. GODFREY: Thank you very much.
8 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a motion to
9 adjourn?
10 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Motion to adjourn.
11 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Call the roll.
13 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull?
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approve.
15 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?
16 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approve.
17 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais?
18 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approve.
19 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett?
20 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approve.
21 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley?
22 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approve.
23 (Thereupon, the hearing was adjourned.)
24
25
00099
1 State
of
1 SS.
2
3 I, Lynn M. Winkeler, a Certified Court Reporter
4
within and for the States of Missouri and
5 certify that I was present at the Lawrence K. Roos
6
8
9 thereafter, a meeting was held, commencing at 9:00 in
10 the morning of that day, that all proceedings which
11 then transpired were contemporaneously reduced to
12 shorthand by me, and later transcribed into
13 typewriting, and that the foregoing 99 pages are a true
14 and accurate transcript of the record of the
15 proceedings made by me at that time.
16 In Witness Whereof, I have hereto set my hand and
17 seal this 5th day of December, 2007.
18
19
20 ______________________________
20 Lynn M. Winkeler, CCR #952
21 Certified Court Reporter within
21 And for the State of
22
23
24
25