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BEFORE THE MISSOURI GAMING COMMISSION
5 STATE OF MISSOURI
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9 Meeting
April 16, 2008
10 10:00 a.m.
Missouri State Trooper Association
11 1729 East Elm Street
Jefferson City, Missouri
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1 AGENDA
2 PAGE
3 I. Call to Order 4:2
4 II. Minutes
A. March 26, 2008 4:14
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III. Considerations of Hearing Officer
6 Recommendations
B. Michael R. Coca 5:19
7 1. Resolution No. 08-037
C. James Pokorney 8:20
8 1. Resolution No. 08-038
D. David B. Chitwood 13:9
9 1. Resolution No. 08-039
10 IV. Consideration of Disciplinary Actions
E. Loren J. Guidry 15:24
11 1. DC-08-164
F. Harrah's North Kansas City, LLC. 17:10
12 1. DC-08-165
13 V. Consideration of Settlement Agreements
G. Ameristar Casino St. Charles, Inc. 20:12
14 1. Resolution No. 08-040
15 VI. Consideration of Extension of Class A
License
16 H. Harrah's North Kansas City, LLC 22:1
1. Resolution No. 08-041
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VII. Consideration of Licensure of Certain
18 Supplier
I. Paltronics, Incorporated 23:2
19 1. Resolution No. 08-042
20 VIII. Consideration of Relicensure of
Certain Supplier
21 J. IGT 23:13
1. Resolution No. 08-043
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IX. Consideration of Licensure of Level I/
23 Key Applicants
K. Resolution No. 08-044 24:18
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X. Presentation by Pinnacle Entertainment, 27:18
25 Inc. Re: South County Project
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2 BEFORE THE MISSOURI GAMING COMMISSION
STATE OF MISSOURI
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Meeting
7 April 16, 2008
10:00 a.m.
8 Missouri State Trooper Association
1729 East Elm Street
9 Jefferson City, Missouri
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14 COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT:
15 Noel J. Shull, Chairman
Darryl T. Jones
16 Samuel J. Hais
Larry W. Plunkett, Sr.
17 Suzanne Bradley
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20 Reported by:
Patricia A. Stewart, RMR, RPR, CCR 401
21 Midwest Litigation Services
3432 West Truman Boulevard, Suite 207
22 Jefferson City, Missouri 65109
(573) 636-7551
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Good morning.
3 Would you call the roll, please.
4 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Present.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
7 COMMISSIONER JONES: Present.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
9 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Present.
10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
11 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Present.
12 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
13 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Present.
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: The first order of business
15 is to consider the minutes of the March 26th meeting.
16 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: I make a motion we
17 approve the minutes of the March 26th meeting.
18 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
20 seconded.
21 Is there any further discussion?
22 Hearing none, call the roll, please.
23 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
24 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
25 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
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1 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
2 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
3 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
5 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
7 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
8 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted the
9 minutes of the March 26th, 2008 meeting.
10 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Mr. McNary, do you want to
11 go ahead?
12 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, Item III on the
13 agenda is Consideration of Hearing Officer
14 Recommendations, and Hearing Officer Katee Porter will
15 make those presentations.
16 MS. PORTER: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
17 fellow Commission members.
18 CHAIRMAN/COMMISSIONERS: Good morning.
19 MS. PORTER: The first item we have on
20 the docket is against Michael Coca, which is Case
21 No. DC-07-207.
22 Since this is my first presentation before
23 you, you may want to stop me if I'm dragging on and
24 providing too many facts or stop me if you need more
25 information. That way we're kind of on the same page.
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1 Mr. Coca's case involved failing to remove
2 serial protocol converter chips from the EGDs. There were
3 four different counts.
4 The initial discovery of the problem was
5 during an audit back on November 21st of 2006. There were
6 also some additional revoked chips in the serial protocol
7 converter chips on the 22nd, as well as some additional
8 discoveries on December 7th of 2006 regarding revoked
9 software that had not been replaced, and then the licensee
10 also had done self-reporting on some violations that they
11 had discovered on December 19th.
12 Your initial finding was that you believed
13 Mr. Coca had, in fact, violated the various rules,
14 regulations and laws, and you had recommended a ten-day
15 suspension of his license.
16 After the hearing, which was a rather
17 abbreviated hearing because Mr. Coca did not contest any
18 of the allegations contained within the action against
19 him; he merely wanted to present evidence to try to
20 mitigate the recommended ten-day punishment.
21 Mr. Coca did present evidence, and then also
22 Gaming Specialist Dawn Leehy presented testimony regarding
23 the efforts that had been made by Mr. Coca and his staff
24 to resolve the problems that were initially found.
25 She did indicate that she felt that at the
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1 time of the hearing that the Isle of Capri had a good
2 handle on the issue and had gotten everything resolved to
3 their satisfaction and that there had not been any new
4 violations, which at that point was over a year from the
5 allegations in the petition.
6 They also had placed different mechanisms in
7 place to make sure that this did not reoccur, and Mr. Coca
8 also conducted some training and awareness with his staff.
9 Basically after hearing the evidence
10 presented from both the Gaming Commission's
11 representatives and Mr. Coca, I found that he did, in
12 fact, violate the alleged statutes, rules, MICS and ICS,
13 but I did feel that based upon the corrective actions that
14 were taken and the fact that I did not think that since a
15 year had passed and there had been no further violations,
16 that another violation of this type was in danger of
17 occurring, and I felt that a five-day suspension was
18 enough to get Mr. Coca's attention to ensure complete
19 compliance that's required by the Gaming Commission.
20 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions for
21 Ms. Porter?
22 Is there a motion?
23 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I would
24 move that Commission Resolution 08-037 be approved.
25 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Second.
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1 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
2 seconded.
3 Is Mr. Coca here?
4 MS. PORTER: I did not see Mr. Coca.
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Call the roll, please.
6 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
7 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
9 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
11 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
12 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
13 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
14 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
15 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
16 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted
17 Resolution No. 08-037.
18 MS. PORTER: May I proceed to the next?
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Certainly, please.
20 MS. PORTER: The next is In Re: James A.
21 Pokorney, Case No. 07-508.
22 Mr. Pokorney's case involved failing to
23 disclose arrests and convictions in connection with his
24 application for a gaming license.
25 The investigator had given him many
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1 opportunities during the background investigation to kind
2 of prompt him to remember anything that he had failed to
3 disclose, and it took much prompting to get Mr. Pokorney
4 to be able to remember any of the facts regarding his
5 arrests.
6 They were about 20 years old at least, but
7 he did fail to disclose them and they were of a rather
8 serious nature. So based on that I did agree with the
9 Commission's findings that Mr. Pokorney be denied an
10 occupational gaming license.
11 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
12 Is Mr. Pokorney here and would he care to
13 speak?
14 MS. PORTER: Mr. Pokorney is here.
15 MR. POKORNEY: Good morning.
16 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Would you like to come up
17 and address us?
18 MR. POKORNEY: Where would you like me?
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: That's fine.
20 Do you have some comments?
21 MR. POKORNEY: Yeah. Well, I am sorry that
22 I omitted arrests, but I really honestly and truthfully
23 didn't remember them because they happened when I was 19
24 and 20 and that was, like, 38 years ago. And my memory is
25 of such that I'm lucky if I can remember 10 years ago, let
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1 alone 38 years ago.
2 And when he did bring the one to my
3 attention, yeah, I didn't remember it at first and then he
4 said, well, here, read this. And after I read it, then I
5 could remember it. But I didn't do anything to try and
6 deceive anyone or anything.
7 I did hold a Level II and a Level III gaming
8 license in the State of Wisconsin for 12 years, and
9 nothing turned up on there and so that did not help my
10 memory.
11 That's really -- I'm really honestly and
12 truthfully sorry that I omitted them. I mean, you know,
13 if I would have remembered them, I would have put them on
14 the application.
15 That's all I have to say.
16 CHAIRMAN SHULL: What is your job with the
17 casino?
18 MR. POKORNEY: I am an EVS cleaner.
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: And how long have you been
20 there?
21 MR. POKORNEY: I've been at Harrah's since
22 June 12, ten months.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Have you had any issues
24 since you've been there?
25 MR. POKORNEY: No, I haven't. I have had no
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1 issues. I haven't been late to work, haven't missed a day
2 of work. As a matter of fact, I transport one of my co-
3 workers back and forth to work because she has no license
4 and no way to get to work.
5 I've made a lot of goods friends since I've
6 been there, and I really hate to lose my job.
7 MS. PORTER: The arrests we're talking about
8 did occur in December of 1969, December of 1970. They
9 ranged from one charge of criminal damage and one count of
10 obstructing an officer, one count of burglary, one count
11 of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended driver's
12 license and one count of resisting arrest.
13 I don't believe he was actually convicted on
14 all of the charges but he was actually at least arrested.
15 COMMISSIONER HAIS: What was the disposition
16 of the burglary?
17 MS. PORTER: He -- it says he -- according
18 to Mr. Pokorney, he was convicted of misdemeanor burglary,
19 placed on probation, fined $365 and was required to pay
20 for a replacement door for the house that was burglarized.
21 COMMISSIONER HAIS: A replacement what?
22 MS. PORTER: A replacement door for the
23 house that was burglarized.
24 CHAIRMAN SHULL: And did you fulfill the
25 restitution?
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1 MR. POKORNEY: Yes, I did.
2 MR. HINCKLEY: It's not a disqualifying
3 offense.
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Counsel, you say that we do
5 have latitude with this issue?
6 MR. HINCKLEY: That's correct, Mr. Chairman.
7 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Mr. Chairman, I would
8 move that Commission Resolution 08-038 be disapproved.
9 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
10 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion has been made and
11 seconded.
12 Is there any further discussion?
13 Call the roll, please.
14 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
16 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
17 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
18 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
19 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
20 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
21 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
22 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
23 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
24 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you, Mr. Pokorney.
25 MR. POKORNEY: Does that mean I don't get my
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1 gaming license or I do?
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: No. That means that you do
3 get to keep your gaming license.
4 MR. POKORNEY: I will keep it?
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Yes, sir.
6 MR. POKORNEY: Thank you very much.
7 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Work on your memory.
8 MS. PORTER: All right. Our next case is
9 David B. Chitwood, 07-514.
10 This is a similar case, in that Mr. Chitwood
11 failed to reveal property code violations he had in 2005
12 that were supposedly dismissed and a disturbing-the-peace
13 arrest in 1979 that was also dismissed.
14 During his interview process he seemed to
15 have several opportunities to disclose this and be
16 reminded of his arrests.
17 On the initial form he filled out there is
18 actually a statement that says I have nothing else to
19 declare on this question in a response to a question
20 regarding arrests.
21 But then after the fingerprints were
22 submitted to the Highway Patrol and the FBI, his 1983
23 arrest by the Kansas City Police Department for a felony
24 charge of stealing was found.
25 The investigator did re-interview
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1 Mr. Chitwood on November 15th of 2007 regarding that
2 stealing charge, and he initially said he could not recall
3 the arrest but later during the interview stated he seemed
4 to recall there was a problem involving one -- involving
5 him at one of his employers earlier years ago but he could
6 not remember the circumstances.
7 Lastly, the investigator provided him a
8 disposition of occupational gaming license to
9 Mr. Chitwood, and he acknowledged receipt of that, and he
10 didn't disclose any further incidents with the law.
11 So based on failing to disclose those
12 arrests, especially for the felony stealing, I concurred
13 with your initial recommendation of denying him a gaming
14 license.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions for
16 Ms. Porter?
17 Is Mr. Chitwood in the audience and would he
18 care to speak?
19 Is there a motion?
20 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. Chairman, I move
21 that we approve the Resolution No. 08-039.
22 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Second.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
24 seconded.
25 Is there further discussion?
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1 Hearing none, call the roll, please.
2 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
3 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
5 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
7 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
9 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
10 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
11 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
12 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted
13 Resolution No. 08-039.
14 MS. PORTER: I have nothing further. Thank
15 you for your time.
16 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you very much.
17 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, the next item on
18 the agenda, Consideration of Disciplinary Actions, will be
19 handled by General Counsel Chris Hinckley.
20 MR. HINCKLEY: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
21 Commissioners.
22 CHAIRMAN/COMMISSIONERS: Good morning.
23 MR. HINCKLEY: I direct your attention to
24 Tab E and Disciplinary Complaint No. 08-164 concerning
25 Level I Licensee Loren J. Guidry, Vice-President of
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1 Operations at Harrah's Maryland Heights.
2 The violations in this discipline fall under
3 11 CSR 45-10.030, requiring that all licensees promptly
4 report anything that they reasonably believe to be a
5 violation of law to Missouri Gaming Commission agents.
6 The facts in support of these alleged
7 violations are that the licensee witnessed a female patron
8 assault a Harrah's employee and failed to report the
9 assault to the Commission.
10 As a result of these factual allegations,
11 the Staff recommends that the Commission propose a five-
12 calendar day suspension on Level I Licensee Loren Guidry.
13 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
14 Is there a motion?
15 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: I move to approve
16 Disciplinary Complaint 08-164.
17 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Second.
18 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
19 seconded.
20 Is there further discussion?
21 Hearing none, call the roll, please.
22 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
24 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
25 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
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1 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
2 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
3 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
4 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
6 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
7 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted
8 Disciplinary Complaint DC-08-164.
9 MR. HINCKLEY: I now direct your attention
10 to Tab F and Disciplinary Complaint No. 08-165 concerning
11 Class A Licensee Harrah's North Kansas City.
12 The violations under this discipline fall
13 under 11 CSR 45-5.184, requiring that all decks of cards
14 be inspected by a dealer and that inspection be verified
15 by a floor person before those cards are introduced into
16 play and the minimum internal controls and internal
17 controls requiring these same inspections, as well as
18 requiring security to fill out the discrepancy reports
19 after finding defective or missing cards during the pre-
20 use and post-use process.
21 The facts supporting these alleged
22 violations are that during a poker tournament a deck of
23 cards was discovered that had two queen of diamonds and
24 was missing a queen of hearts.
25 The discrepancy was not discovered during
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1 the pre-use inspection at the table or by security, and
2 the deck was in play for 40 minutes and discovered after
3 the game was over.
4 Upon being informed of this, the licensee
5 refunded the entrance fee of all of the poker tournament
6 players.
7 Further investigation revealed that when
8 decks were being inspected by security before and after
9 being put into play at the poker tournaments, that defects
10 were not being appropriately recorded on the inspection
11 and discrepancy reports.
12 As a result of these factual allegations,
13 the Staff recommends that the Commission propose a $5,000
14 fine.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Any questions for
16 Mr. Hinckley?
17 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Yes.
18 Do I understand there are two parts of this:
19 Inspections weren't done as they should have been but also
20 they weren't reported?
21 MR. HINCKLEY: Well, inspections actually
22 were done, but, like, what I said about the -- had the
23 cards got to the table as a result of a faulty inspection.
24 The one at the table by the floor person, the dealer
25 didn't pick up the fact that there were the two --
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1 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Right.
2 MR. HINCKLEY: -- queen of diamonds --
3 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Right.
4 MR. HINCKLEY: -- which is an issue in a
5 poker game.
6 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Absolutely.
7 MR. HINCKLEY: As well, the second part was
8 that the security who inspected the cards before and then
9 after to see if they can remain in play, if there is a
10 problem like this or other problems, you're required to
11 fill out a discrepancy report, that it goes with the cards
12 as they're put back into play or shredded.
13 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Okay.
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a motion?
15 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: A motion. I'll move
16 to approve Disciplinary Complaint 08-165.
17 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
18 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
19 seconded.
20 Is there further discussion?
21 Hearing none, call the roll, please.
22 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
23 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
24 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
25 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
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1 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
2 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
3 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
4 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
6 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
7 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted
8 DC-08-165.
9 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Hinckley will
10 continue on with the Settlement Agreements.
11 MR. HINCKLEY: I now direct your attention
12 to Tab G and Commission Resolution No. 08-040 regarding a
13 settlement agreement with Ameristar Casino St. Charles.
14 This settlement agreement concerns
15 underlying Discipline Matter 07-092, in which it was
16 alleged that the licensee allowed a patron to perform
17 license gaming duties for approximately a half an hour, in
18 particular, the position of a dealer or stickman at a
19 craps table, and then failed to report such violation to
20 Missouri Gaming Commission until the next day.
21 As a result of hearing those allegations,
22 the Commission proposed a $100,000 fine.
23 The licensee requested a hearing in this
24 matter and began the hearing process, but decided after
25 that to forego any further hearings and negotiated with
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1 the Missouri Gaming Commission a settlement of this matter
2 for the payment of $90,000, and the Staff would recommend
3 that the Commission approve this settlement agreement.
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions for
5 Mr. Hinckley?
6 COMMISSIONER HAIS: I would move,
7 Mr. Chairman, to approve DC-08-040.
8 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Second.
9 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
10 seconded.
11 Is there further discussion?
12 Hearing none, call the roll.
13 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
15 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
16 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
17 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
18 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
19 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
20 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
21 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
22 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
23 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted
24 Resolution No. 08-040.
25 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, Item VI on the
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1 agenda concerns licensure of Harrah's North Kansas City.
2 The investigation is not complete, and Staff
3 would recommend that that license be extended for 60 days
4 pending completion of the investigation.
5 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
6 Is there a motion?
7 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: I make a motion we
8 approve Resolution 08-041.
9 COMMISSIONER JONES: Second.
10 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
11 seconded.
12 Is there further discussion?
13 Hearing none, call the roll.
14 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
16 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
17 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
18 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
19 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
20 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
21 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
22 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
23 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
24 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted
25 Resolution No. 08-041.
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1 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, Item VII on the
2 agenda concerns Paltronics' licensing, and I believe you,
3 Mr. Chairman, have some action to take.
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: I would like to move that
5 to a future meeting.
6 MR. MCNARY: Item VIII concerns
7 Consideration of Relicensure of Certain Supplier, which is
8 IGT, and Lieutenant Scism will address that.
9 LIEUTENANT SCISM: Good morning, Chairman,
10 Commissioners.
11 CHAIRMAN/COMMISSIONERS: Good morning.
12 LIEUTENANT SCISM: Cursory tax reviews have
13 been conducted in conjunction with the relicensing of one
14 licensed supplier company, and the following company is
15 being presented for your consideration: International
16 Game Technology, IGT, of Reno, Nevada.
17 No issues were discovered during the
18 aforementioned review.
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any questions?
20 Is there a motion to approve?
21 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. Chairman, I move
22 for the approval of Resolution No. 08-043.
23 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Second.
24 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
25 seconded.
24
1 Is there further discussion?
2 Hearing none, call the roll.
3 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
4 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
5 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
6 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
8 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
10 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
11 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
12 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
13 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted
14 Resolution No. 08-043.
15 MR. MCNARY: Lieutenant Scism will continue
16 on with Item IX.
17 LIEUTENANT SCISM: Missouri State Highway
18 Patrol investigators, along with Gaming Commission
19 financial investigators, conducted background
20 investigations on multiple keyperson and Level I
21 applicants. The investigations included, but were not
22 limited to, criminal, financial and general character
23 inquiries which were made in the jurisdictions where the
24 applicants lived, worked and frequented.
25 The following individuals are being
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1 presented for your consideration: Christopher A. Pilch,
2 Surveillance Manager, Harrah's, Maryland Heights;
3 Timothy J. Reeves, Regional IT Director, Harrah's, North
4 Kansas City; Michael A. Babinski, Director of Casino
5 Operations, President Casino, St. Louis; Jean A. Swope,
6 Internal Audit Supervisor, HGI St. Jo Frontier Casino,
7 St. Joseph, Missouri; Kevin M. Atkins, MIS Assistant, HGI
8 St. Jo Frontier, St. Joseph, Missouri; and Carl Brooks,
9 Director, Ameristar Casinos, Las Vegas, Nevada.
10 The results of all investigations were
11 provided to the Gaming Commission Staff for their review,
12 and you have summary reports before you for all applicants
13 being considered.
14 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are you including
15 Mr. Oldani in this?
16 LIEUTENANT SCISM: It was my understanding
17 that we were not today.
18 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Okay.
19 Are there any questions?
20 Do we need to amend Exhibit A to withdraw
21 his name?
22 MR. WELCH: That would probably be
23 appropriate if you so chose.
24 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: I make a motion to
25 amend.
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1 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Second.
2 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there any further
3 discussion?
4 Hearing none, call the roll, please.
5 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
6 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
8 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
10 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
11 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
12 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
13 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
14 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Do we need to now approve
16 the motion?
17 Is there a motion to approve this, 08-044?
18 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. Chairman, I move to
19 approve Resolution No. 08-044 as amended.
20 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Second.
21 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion is made and
22 seconded.
23 Is there any further discussion?
24 Hearing none, call the roll.
25 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
27
1 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
2 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
3 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
5 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
7 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
9 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
10 MS. FRANKS: By your vote you've adopted
11 Resolution No. 08-044 as amended.
12 MR. MCNARY: Mr. Chairman, you were
13 interested in an update of the South St. Louis County
14 project. We contacted Pinnacle Entertainment, and they're
15 good enough to give us an update.
16 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you.
17 MR. HUNDLEY: Good morning, Chairman Shull,
18 and members of the Commission. My name is Wade Hundley.
19 I'm the President of Pinnacle Entertainment.
20 With me today are Cliff Kortman, President
21 of our Construction Division; Jerry Riffel, our legal
22 counsel from Lathrop & Gage. Jack Godfrey is also with us
23 today, our general counsel, as well as Marty Thomas, and
24 Todd George, our general manager of our Lumiere Place
25 Casino.
28
1 We are happy to be here to give you an
2 update. We're well underway and making good progress on
3 our county project, River City.
4 You've got before you some pictures of our
5 progress, and I'd like to turn it over to Cliff Kortman to
6 give you some information in terms of exactly where we
7 stand in our timeline.
8 MR. KORTMAN: I'm going to hand these out
9 real quick.
10 Good morning.
11 CHAIRMAN/COMMISSIONERS: Good morning.
12 MR. KORTMAN: Well, I know it's been some
13 time since we've been before you to talk about the South
14 County project. I believe it was last summer that you
15 guys took a field trip out to the county and were pretty
16 excited about our level of progress since then.
17 So let me kind of give you a quick overview
18 of what we've been doing and how things are going.
19 As you know, last summer -- late last summer
20 we were successful in getting the FEMA deed-restricted
21 property released. That triggered actual construction of
22 the road, the access road.
23 So the first picture that you see is that
24 stretch of road where the FEMA properties were. So, you
25 know, obviously you can see from that photo there that all
29
1 of the work now, the grading and stuff, has been done, the
2 utilities have been relocated in that stretch. Drainage,
3 most of the drainage work has been done. And if you just
4 keep following with a couple page turns there, you can see
5 into the next section of the road, one of the Kaiser
6 Creek. You can see the bridge abutment there at Kaiser
7 Creek. That work is now progressing and moving quite
8 well.
9 As you might guess, we've had quite a bit of
10 rain in the month of March. I just looked at the numbers
11 this morning. We had a record rainfall month in St. Louis
12 County. We had 8.39 inches in March, and the highest
13 recorded amount prior to that time was 1897. So we've had
14 a wet month.
15 In the last 44 days we've lost 31 days to
16 rain. So it's driven our schedule back a little bit, but
17 we're working every day to try to maintain schedule and
18 pick up ground on the schedule.
19 The picture -- you can see in the foreground
20 of the picture, this is the River Des Peres. This is not
21 the river river. This is the back water of the River
22 Des Peres.
23 So you can see that there is -- you know,
24 water levels are at record levels at or around the site.
25 We're pleased to tell you that the South County project is
30
1 about seven and a half feet above the highest water that's
2 been measured there this year. So we're high and dry, and
3 we're happy about that, and our work is progressing on
4 putting the foundation work on the site itself.
5 One of the -- about the third or fourth
6 photo down you can see a railroad crossing. You can see
7 the railroad, and this is the bridge actually that crosses
8 the railroad.
9 You will recall that that was a gigantic
10 hurdle for us to get approval from the railroad authority.
11 We were successful in getting that done. And, as you can
12 see, the work is progressing very nicely on the railroad
13 crossing.
14 The fifth photo or sixth photo down is an
15 aerial of the site taken last Friday. As you can see,
16 there is still a lot of water ponding at the site.
17 You can sort of see the outline of the
18 building footprint there on the photo. That's this part
19 right in here. We are right now at about 25 percent
20 complete with the piles for the casino platform or the
21 floating area of the project. That's pretty significant
22 since -- you know, due to all of the weather delays, we're
23 still making very good progress on the outer cast pile
24 systems.
25 Friday we had 15 in one day, which is the
31
1 most we've ever gotten in one day. Hopefully within the
2 next two weeks we're going to mobilize a second piece of
3 equipment and hopefully pick up our production times two.
4 MR. HUNDLEY: And, Cliff, there is about
5 400-- there is about 420 some odd piles --
6 MR. KORTMAN: 1,200.
7 MR. HUNDLEY: Well, of the total project,
8 but 420 in the basin itself.
9 MR. KORTMAN: Yes. So we've got just about
10 115, I think, in as of Friday, out of about 400 for the
11 basin, and there is 1,200 total on the project.
12 There is some close-ups of some of the work
13 that's taken place.
14 I'm happy to entertain any questions you
15 have on the close-up photos.
16 One of the other things that I wanted to
17 mention to you is that earlier this month an RFP went out
18 from Pinnacle Entertainment to four regional contractors
19 for the building construction.
20 As we updated you one other time, Pinnacle
21 went at risk for the footing and foundation work so we can
22 get that work started, and as you can see from our photos,
23 it's going quite well.
24 In May -- actually on May 15th we'll receive
25 responses to the RFP, and then we'll be selecting a
32
1 general contractor for the project by the end of May.
2 And we're happy to give you that update. If
3 you have any questions, we'll entertain those now.
4 MR. HUNDLEY: We've invested about
5 $60 million to date in this River City project, of a total
6 of a budget of $375 million. So that's kind of where we
7 are. And the bulk of the investment comes at the latter
8 end of the project. So that's -- but we've invested about
9 $60 million as we stand here today.
10 COMMISSIONER JONES: A question: The
11 31 days lost to rain --
12 MR. KORTMAN: Yes, sir.
13 COMMISSIONER JONES: -- how far is the
14 schedule going to slide?
15 MR. KORTMAN: We're going to hesitate to
16 answer that question directly, Commissioner. The reason
17 why is when we get our general contractor, we want to
18 partner with them on this schedule rather than us tell
19 them what the schedule is. We really want them to respond
20 to the RFP both in terms of value as it relates to the
21 schedule.
22 Everyone understands that we want to have
23 this place open by the middle of next year. We don't
24 think that the weather impact on the foundations per se
25 has a direct impact to the end date though.
33
1 MR. HUNDLEY: Realistically --
2 COMMISSIONER JONES: You'll provide
3 something like a revised schedule --
4 MR. KORTMAN: We will.
5 COMMISSIONER JONES: -- after you get with
6 the general contractor?
7 MR. KORTMAN: Yes.
8 MR. HUNDLEY: Realistically, Commissioner
9 Jones, we met with the county yesterday. What we were
10 originally shooting for the last time we met with the
11 county several months ago is we were trying to get this
12 project open by April or May of next year.
13 What we've told them is given the amount of
14 time that we've lost to rain -- Cliff, I don't know if you
15 mentioned the trash that we found under the ground which
16 we've been digging up that's taken us a little extra time
17 as well.
18 Realistically we expect when we get these
19 schedules back to be somewhere around July, August
20 timeframe in terms of the completion and opening of
21 River City.
22 And that could change, as Cliff said. If we
23 have extra money to provide overtime and things, we can
24 speed that up, but that's kind of realistically where we
25 think we're going to be right now.
34
1 MR. MCNARY: Would you speak to this bridge
2 over the railroad tracks? Does that connect with
3 River Des Peres or Germania or what's -- I can't make
4 out --
5 MR. KORTMAN: Yeah. There is three bridges.
6 You're very familiar, obviously, with the access road.
7 There is three bridges. There's the Kaiser Creek
8 crossing, the Gravois crossing and then the crossing of
9 the railroad track right at the site.
10 We are replacing the bridge at Gravois,
11 we're replacing the bridge at Kaiser Creek, and then we're
12 constructing a new bridge over the railroad track, which
13 is the main access or the main artery into the site
14 itself.
15 MR. MCNARY: Well, the bridge on the
16 picture, what does that connect to?
17 MR. KORTMAN: What does that connect to?
18 Oh, I'm sorry. You're looking at this water
19 here?
20 MR. MCNARY: Yeah, I can't make it out.
21 MR. KORTMAN: What that is, is that is the
22 former FEMA site. You remember the Air Force site and the
23 fact that we had to get entitlements to the Air Force
24 site.
25 And that particular section has been
35
1 remediated, but there are some -- really, there were some
2 really badly contaminated soils that have been removed.
3 So what you're seeing there right now is a
4 rain puddle, just a big hole in the ground full of
5 rainwater.
6 We're in the process now of pumping all that
7 stuff out, and then they'll be two other structures built
8 there, and then that bridge will start coming down. And
9 then that will ultimately tie into the road that goes
10 Broadway and then to Lemay Ferry Road.
11 MR. MCNARY: Thank you.
12 CHAIRMAN SHULL: So you're projecting that
13 you'll have a general contractor --
14 MR. KORTMAN: By the end of May.
15 CHAIRMAN SHULL: -- by the end of May?
16 MR. HUNDLEY: And then they'll have ten days
17 to mobilize on the site, and they'll be underway on the
18 site in early June.
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Are there any other
20 questions?
21 MR. MCNARY: You've paid for all of the
22 infrastructure that is going in down there?
23 MR. KORTMAN: Yes, sir.
24 MR. MCNARY: Nobody helped you?
25 MR. KORTMAN: Well, we tried to get some
36
1 help, but nobody wanted to give us any money.
2 No. We have a lot of help, not fiscal but
3 we have a lot of help.
4 MR. HUNDLEY: There's been a lot of help.
5 MR. RIFFEL: We had some help on the
6 environmental related to the road.
7 MR. MCNARY: Well done.
8 MR. KORTMAN: Thank you, sir.
9 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Thank you very much.
10 MR. MCNARY: Those are all the agenda items.
11 Mr. Chairman, I think we're ready to go into
12 closed session.
13 COMMISSIONER JONES: Mr. Chairman, I move to
14 close this meeting to receive, discuss and consider the
15 following matters: Proprietary records, information and
16 summaries under Statute 610.021(14) and 313.847.1; closed
17 minutes or other closed records under 610.021(14) and
18 313.847.1.
19 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Is there a second?
20 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Second.
21 CHAIRMAN SHULL: A motion has been made and
22 seconded.
23 Is there any further discussion?
24 Hearing none, call the roll, please.
25 MS. FRANKS: Chairman Shull.
37
1 CHAIRMAN SHULL: Approved.
2 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones.
3 COMMISSIONER JONES: Approved.
4 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hais.
5 COMMISSIONER HAIS: Approved.
6 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Plunkett.
7 COMMISSIONER PLUNKETT: Approved.
8 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Bradley.
9 COMMISSIONER BRADLEY: Approved.
10