BAY ST. LOUIS REPS TELL HOW BOAT CASINO AFFECTED CITY

As the mayor of Bay St. Louis, Miss., Eddie Farve sometimes has trouble believing the good fortune that has struck his town of 8,000 people since voters approved riverboat gaming in December 1990.

He recalled driving through the parking lot of Casino Magic's development in Bay St. Louis at 3 a.m. on a Friday, only to find a lot full of cars, buses and recreational vehicles with license plates from all over the country.

"We sometimes wonder where they all come from and how they get here, but it really doesn't make us much difference," said Farve. "All that counts is that they are there and spending money."

Farve, who was recently re-elected to a second term as mayor, and Ronnie Peters, who has been sheriff of Hancock County, where Bay St. Louis is situated, were among visitors brought to the area this week by officials of Casino Magic. They talked about how riverboat gaming has affected their area.

At several public appearances, including town hall meetings Wednesday in Sikeston and Thursday at Scott City, Farve and Peterson described how the benefits of riverboat gaming had far exceeded their expectations and how their initial fears were without foundation.

The two officials said they had volunteered to talk with citizens of Scott County because they wanted to share their experiences with Casino Magic and riverboat gaming.

"Before we made our decision, we called on other cities that had boats, and many of the issues being raised here were also raised in our area," said Farve. "We are proud of what we did -- we did it right the first time. We just want to offer you the benefit of our experience."

Casino Magic has signed an agreement with the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority to lease approximately 25 acres of land for a gambling boat. To do so voters in Scott County must approve the local option Tuesday. The company has agreed to make a $30 million investment the first year and plans future expansion into a full-scale resort that includes a golf course, RV park, large hotel and major-events facility.

Officials of the port authority say they are treating Casino Magic as any other tenant at the port. They say the 800 jobs and $20 million payroll the company will provide would boost the entire area.

In addition, the revenue generated from the lease agreement and other fees would enable the port authority to make capital improvements that would attract more industry and jobs to the area, they say.

"Anybody who believes all this is not possible -- just pie-in-the-sky -- all they have to do is come to Bay St. Louis," said Farve. "This is not just somebody's dream; it can and did happen."

Farve explained that Bay St. Louis, situated between Biloxi and New Orleans on the Gulf Coast, had never recovered from the aftermath of Hurricane Camille in 1969. After the area lost an industry with 1,700 jobs, "we needed a catalyst to revitalize our area," said the mayor.

At that point the city council decided to take advantage of a state law allowing riverboat gaming, with local approval, and put the issue to voters.

"A lot of concerns were raised at the time from citizens," recalled Farve. "We did not try to address the moral issues, but instead we talked about jobs and economic issues."

In the campaign, voters were promised 400 to 500 jobs.

Casino Magic opened on Sept. 30, 1992, with a development of 40 acres. It is now in the process of another expansion that will encompass a total of 550 acres. It has a workforce of more than 2,400 people in full-time jobs.

Instead of the anticipated 740,000 visitors the first year, Bay St. Louis was swamped with between 2.5 and 3 million visitors to Casino Magic's place.

Farve said all projections have been far exceeded and city tax revenues that have come directly from the gaming operations were over $2 million the first year. He said $3.5 million is anticipated next year. During the first year schools in the city received $700,000 and the county received $1.1 million directly from Casino Magic's operations.

Sales tax revenues in the city have increased nearly $300,000. But, Farve said, that is due primarily to the increase in business caused by the employment boon because the city had no motels the first year. One is now under construction by Casino Magic.

Doug Whitehead, senior Missouri project coordinator for Casino Magic, attributes the higher-than-expected employment to the big success his company has had at Bay St. Louis. There are other gaming operations nearby, but so far, Whitehead said, the addition of new operations has only greatly increased the number of visitors to the area.

Whitehead said only a handful of the employees are from outside the Bay St. Louis area. He said that only about 25 percent of the jobs are directly related to gaming and the rest involve things like food service, transportation, group sales, promotion, accounting and cleaning.

Peterson said he had serious reservations about legalizing gaming in his county because of its potential impact on crime. But the sheriff said that the only increases his department and city police have seen is in traffic accidents, a result of increased traffic, and credit-card fraud.

Said Peterson: "I was very apprehensive initially about gaming coming into Hancock County. But I'm not having the problems you often hear that people are worried about like the Mafia, drugs and prostitution. Casinos are making bunches and bunches of money legally; they don't need to do anything illegal.

"Our biggest problem is with traffic because there are a lot more people in the county."

Roland Williams, senior investigator for Casino Magic at Bay St. Louis, worked in security in Las Vegas for 14 years before moving to Mississippi last year. He has a security staff of more than 100 full-time employees.

"The only problems we have had are accidents related to the activity that is going on," said Williams.

Williams said most of the security force has worked before in law enforcement and are trained in CPR and Mississippi state gaming laws.

With the additional revenues from the gaming, Farve said the first thing the city council did was use $750,000 to abolish city taxes. Additional revenue was used to cover costs incurred because of gaming in the city, and now there will be money left over to make other improvements the city wants.

Whitehead said Casino Magic's philosophy fits well with the rural setting offered at the SEMO port. The company began after developing a casino in a cornfield on an Indian reservation in Morton, Minn., where they learned to market in a way that brought people to the area, he said. Later, a casino was opened in Deadwood, S.D., before operations were expanded to Bay St. Louis and Biloxi.

"Our success is due to the fact we have learned to market in a rural location," said Whitehead. "Our concept in Bay St. Louis is to develop a gaming resort, and that is what we want to do here. This is not pie-in-the-sky; we are doing it."

Whitehead said Casino Magic owns two travel agencies that bring visitors to its operations by bus and air. The company is projecting at least 1 million visitors to the Scott County operation the first year, with revenues of $50 million to $60 million that will earn the county $2 million the first year.

He said he anticipates an increase of 150,000 passengers each year at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport alone because of the project. In Bay St. Louis, the company helped pay the costs of re-opening an airport that had been virtually closed because of little usage.

Farve is a firm believer in Casino Magic's ability to draw people. If Casino Magic builds in Scott County, people will come, he said.

"They target their market and bring the people in. They are good at what they do," said Farve.