SCOTT CITY NEEDS BOOST OF GAMBLING

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City is in dire need of an economic stimulus. Mayor Larry Forhan believes riverboat gambling is the answer the city has been searching for.

After voting to place the local option on riverboat gambling on the April 5 ballot, Forhan solicited proposals from casino operators from throughout the country that might be interested in Scott City.

Lady Luck, a riverboat gambling company that recently lost a bid for Cape Girardeau's endorsement for a casino operator, has make a $63.2 million proposal to Scott City, which promises to more than triple the city's annual budget.

"We are thrilled a company such as Lady Luck offered us a better facility than they offered Cape Girardeau," said Forhan. "They are proposing to build things we don't have anywhere in Scott County, such as a golf course and a recreational facility.

"Right now, our citizens have to go out of the county to do those things," he said. "I don't think that's right."

But the key to Lady Luck's proposal is not the benefit package it is offering, it's the site they want to develop. Lady Luck is eyeballing a 28-acre tract owned by the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority.

Casino Magic, a riverboat gambling company that expressed an interest in the port until Scott County voters rejected riverboat gambling on the November ballot, has an option to lease the land until the end of April. Forhan said Casino Magic will not pursue an option to renew the lease.

Forhan said that if Scott City approved riverboat gambling April 5, the city will begin a friendly annexation process for the land from the east end of town to the west edge of the port, without including the slackwater harbor.

If that effort succeeds, Forhan said it's unclear what action the city will take.

"We cannot annex land that is being leased," said Forhan. "It would be up to the company, the port authority and Scott City to come to some kind of agreement if the boat were to be located out there.

"The city wouldn't become involved until the time that information is presented to them," said Forhan. "The company would have to figure out how to do it."

The Cape County Commission is trying to compel Scott City to produce all proposals and records related to riverboat gambling and the port authority -- a move Forhan is unhappy with.

"I have no idea why they did that. It is very mean-spirited of the commission to act in this way," said Forhan. "(Cape County Presiding Commissioner) Gene Huckstep has stated publicly that he wants to show Scott City that he means business.

"I get very angry with the Cape County Commission -- they are interfering with our government," said Forhan. "We are making no moves toward the port, but it makes an ideal site for a recreational facility such as this."

Despite conflicts with the Cape County Commission, Forhan said if riverboat gambling is approved in April, the city will move quickly in picking an operator for the city.

"One of the biggest things that ever had an impact on Illmo was the coming of the railroads," Forhan said. "This will have that same sort of effect. It will create hundreds of permanent jobs, will increase sales tax revenues and will allow us to fix the streets and sewers in the city and make all kinds of other civic improvements.

"We have a very long list of things we don't have in this community," Forhan said. "This could be our solution."

But if the citizens of Scott City vote down riverboat gambling, the issue is moot.

Shirley Young, former mayor of Scott City and now the president of the Scott City Chamber of Commerce, hopes not that doesn't happen.

Young is spear-heading a pro-gambling campaign in the city, touting the financial opportunities of the gambling firms' proposals.

"If there are not jobs provided for our young people who graduate from high school and college, and they are forced to leave this community to find work," Young said. "In the meantime, our city continues to age.

"The cost of everything is going up, but our city revenues are going down," she continued. "I am in support of this. If we can't find a way to retain our young people, we have no future."

But Ward 1 Councilman Terry Johnston has a different viewpoint. Johnston, who opposes riverboat gambling in Scott City, was passed over in the mayor's appointments for a council gambling committee.

"I don't know what to say, I'm in such an uproar right now," said Johnston. "I represent the viewpoint of 50 percent of this city, and I couldn't sit on the gambling committee which is going to decide its fate?"

Johnston said the city is moving forward with too much haste.

"There are so many unanswered questions out there," he said. "Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon too quickly.

"Riverboat gambling is not going to be the answer to all this city's problems," Johnston continued. "I'm just thanking God it's not all over with yet."