Cape officials plan June 3 public meeting with casino developers

The Cape Girardeau City Council will meet in early June with interested casino developers to hear plans and ask questions about how well they will fit into the community.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is set for 6:30 p.m. June 3 at the Osage Community Centre, city manager Scott Meyer said during the council work session. The forum will be a council work session, with council members and city staff asking questions while the public watches.

Three casino developers have contacted the city about making a bid for the state gambling license that will become available July 1. The Missouri Gaming Commission staff will meet with interested parties today in Jefferson City to discuss how the application and evaluation process will work. The gaming commission itself is expected to set application deadlines at its May 26 meeting.

The developers who respond to Cape Girardeau's call to a meeting will be asked to provide two sets of information, Meyer said. The first will be what the developer wants to build, where it would be built and how well the company fits into Cape Girardeau's vision of itself expressed in the city Comprehensive Plan and DREAM Initiative master plan.

The companies will also be asked to provide information proving they have the financial power to build what they promise and to show they have the ability to convince regulators to grant them the license.

"If we choose someone with the best plan but no ability to get the license, we have nothing," Meyer said.

During the work session, Ward 3 council member Debra Tracy said she worried that a casino would drain money from the area, hurting existing businesses without bringing real growth. "People have an idea this is a boon for tourism, but it doesn't work that way," she said. "The owners of the boat take the money, and that money is gone from the state."

During the council's regular meeting, retired pastor Paul Kabo reported that a group organizing a petition drive to force a new vote on gambling in the city has a name, Quality of Life in Cape Girardeau, and is organizing volunteers to begin a petition drive. The group needs more than 2,600 signatures from registered voters to force a vote.

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