CORPS OFFICIAL SAYS DECISION ON RIVERBOAT SITE MUST BE REACHED

The Corps of Engineers hasn't made up its mind about a proposed docking site for a riverboat casino in Cape Girardeau, but it hopes to decide by this fall, said Mike Brazier, chief of the regulatory branch of the Corps office in St. Louis.

"We have got to get this thing resolved," he said Wednesday.

Last May, Boyd Gaming Corp. announced a delay in applying for a state riverboat gambling permit.

Company officials said the search for a riverfront site was a factor in the delay.

Boyd wants a site 500 feet north of the Broadway floodgates, while the Riverboat Pilots Association would like to see the casino docked 750 feet north of the floodgates.

Originally, Boyd had looked at a site closer to Broadway but settled for a site farther north after river industry officials expressed safety concerns.

Brazier said the Corps had been ready to make a decision on the northern-most site, favored by the barge industry.

"From a safety standpoint, it is better to go north," he said.

But Bill Haag Jr. of the Horner and Shifrin engineering firm in St. Louis said the northern-most site wasn't suitable for the proposed casino operation.

He said the site would put a floating casino farther away from where Boyd's land facilities would be.

"You want to make it as convenient as you can for people using the facility," he said. Haag's firm is handling the permit and site work for Boyd.

Brazier said the river industry's site might require Boyd to make changes in the proposed system of walkways that would extend over the top of the floodwall to connect the boat to land facilities.

Brazier said the Corps' only concerns are about river traffic safety and preserving the floodwall.

Haag said safety is an issue that can be raised at any dock site. But he said Boyd could protect its riverboat from runaway barges by installing a sheet pile shell around the site.