TEN FIRMS INTERESTED IN RIVERBOAT GAMING HERE

Representatives from 10 companies attended a meeting Wednesday of casino operators and developers interested in submitting riverboat gambling proposals in Cape Girardeau.

About 35 people attended the meeting at City Hall.

Only those who attended Wednesday's meeting will be allowed to submit a proposal by the Jan. 18 deadline set by the Cape Girardeau City Council.

It's unclear how many proposals are likely to be submitted, and of the 10 companies at the meeting some are working together on proposals.

For example, Lee Askew of the Memphis, Tenn., architectural firm of Askew, Nixon and Ferguson is an architect for the Boyd Group of Las Vegas, Nev., which was represented at the meeting by Maunty Collins and Dan Davis.

The Boyd Group was at the forefront of the local effort to get voter approval of riverboat gambling, and last year proposed a multimillion-dollar casino riverboat operation here.

The company already has purchased or holds an option on a large tract of property in the riverfront area designated for the riverboat casino.

Also among those at Wednesday's meeting was Barry Thalden of the Thalden Corp. of St. Louis. There have been reports that it has an option on the St. Vincent's Seminary property that abuts the Mississippi.

Thalden said Wednesday that he's also representing Lady Luck Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas. Lawrence Tombari of Lady Luck also was at the meeting.

Others in attendance included: Paul Zemitzsch of Sequel Development, St. Louis; Buck Marsh of White Construction Co., Clarksdale, Miss.; Don Glazebrook of Gaming Development Group, Edwardsville, Ill.; Janie Arnold of Gaming Corp. of America, based in Minneapolis, Minn.; W.M. Grace of St. Joe Riverboat Partners, St. Joseph; and Daniel Byron of Gold River Hotel and Resort Inc., Las Vegas.

Collins complimented city officials on the city's request-for-proposals document, saying it was "one of the best" the Boyd Group has seen.

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer urged those interested in submitting a proposal to closely adhere to the document.

"We want you to be part of our community, but I underline `part of the community,'" Fischer said. "We want to support you, but we also want to make sure that you support our community."

Assistant City Manager Doug Leslie emphasized that proposals must be for excursion riverboat gambling -- not a land-based casino -- and that they must have plans for a "long-term operation."

He also said there is the opportunity for developers to enhance their proposals by addressing many added considerations that would benefit the city beyond the state-mandated local tax revenues from the boat.

"The city's intent is to provide maximum flexibility for the proposals to provide the most advantageous operation for the community," Leslie said.

Developers asked few questions. Askew inquired as to infrastructure along the riverfront, and Thalden asked city officials whether there was the chance that the Jan. 18 deadline might be extended.

City Engineer J. Kensey Russell explained that the area is served by antiquated combined sanitary and storm sewers. He also said that although water lines in the area are in "pretty good shape," they might not be sufficient for a large, land-based development.

Leslie said after the meeting that sewer and water system improvements will have to be addressed in the casino proposals.

City Attorney Warren Wells urged Thalden to formally request an extension, which -- if there was enough demand from other developers -- could be taken to the city council for consideration at a special meeting. The council's next scheduled meeting isn't until Jan. 19.

Leslie said he was pleased with the meeting.

"The number of people that were there is about what we expected," Leslie said. "There's no way to guess how many proposals we'll get, but there seems to be a good deal of interest."

The assistant city manager said St. Joseph had about the same number of companies represented at its pre-submission meeting but received only one proposal -- from St. Joe Riverboat Partners.

A notice of the city's request-for-proposals document and Wednesday's meeting was sent to 96 casino operators and was published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and the Casino Journal's National Gaming Summary.