CITY FINE-TUNES DOCUMENT TO SOLICIT RIVERBOAT VENDORS

City officials are fine-tuning the initial draft of a "request for proposal" document aimed at attracting developers of a riverboat gambling operation in Cape Girardeau.

On Monday, the city council will conduct a public hearing to review the RFP, which is written to "leave flexibility for developers to provide the best possible proposal for the community," said Doug Leslie, assistant city manager.

Leslie said the initial draft of the RFP document actually has been rewritten several times.

Still, it represents only "a start" in the process of selecting a riverboat casino operator in Cape Girardeau, where voters last month approved riverboat gambling.

Leslie said public input on Monday is the next major step in the process.

"After the council's received public input on this, whatever changes are incorporated into the RFP, then they would need to send it to all the known riverboat providers in the country," he said.

"At that point, it's basically like any of the city bid lettings for any contract," Leslie added. "It's a competitive process, and the sealed bids would be opened at a pre-assigned time."

Led by Councilman Mary Wulfers, the council has taken the position that it wants the RFP sent to as many gambling companies as possible.

Wulfers said Tuesday she thinks the city ought to benefit from riverboat gambling far beyond the state-mandated tax and boarding fee revenues earmarked for the city.

"I have read in the paper what St. Louis is going to end up getting, and the numbers are so big it's hardly imaginable," she said. "In my opinion, Cape Girardeau has at least as much to offer in some areas -- if not more in others -- as St. Louis.

"It's a pretty lucrative business, and I think we should look to gain as much as possible from this."

Leslie agreed.

He said a preliminary "letter of interest" will be sent this week to as many gambling concerns as can be found. The actual process of accepting development proposals from the companies will take "21-30 days," he said.

"One of preambles to this is we want to get the best deal possible for Cape Girardeau," Leslie said. "I really don't know what interest there will be. It's hard to predict that.

"But we will distribute it as widely as possible."

In developing the draft RFP, city officials conferred with several Missouri cities that already have been through the selection process.

Leslie said the city has tried to combine the "best elements" of those proposals. "We then added to that and tailored it to Cape Girardeau's needs," he said.

"It is a new field, and there's nobody out there with a license," Leslie added. "But I feel pretty confident that we were able to capture some of the experience that's available."

Members of some citizens advisory boards, such as the planning and zoning commission and parks and recreation advisory board, recently received the document.

Leslie said the planning and zoning commission will have to amend the city's zoning code to accommodate riverboat facilities.

The RFP document includes many items the city is seeking in addition to riverboat tax obligations mandated by state law.

The city has invited developers to propose such things as improvements to city streets and sewers affected by the riverboat operations.

The RFP requires background information and the financial qualifications of the developer. The company also is required to comply with any conditions set out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, levee districts, and other agencies with jurisdiction over the development site.

The RFP also asks for developers' plans to address not only the infrastructure needs of the city but also the "social costs associated with problem gambling."

Among the items in the section titled "Additional Issues of Interest to the City" are:

-- Annual contributions to the city's Park Development Foundation.

-- Commitment to the community through contributions to other civic organizations.

-- Provision of public dock facilities for the general public.

The proposals also must include a $1,000 "non-refundable submission fee" to cover city administrative costs.

"We've tried to address as many areas as we could from a staff perspective, or those things that other cities who have been through the process have identified," said Leslie. "The council will be looking for public input Monday night which could add to that."

The assistant city manager said the drafting of the RFP document is ahead of schedule. The city hopes to have a recommendation on a riverboat operator submitted to the Missouri Gaming Commission by March 7.

Riverboat gambling proponents have criticized the timetable as too slow.

But Leslie said he believes the March deadline will ensure a thorough examination of any proposals the city might get.

"The state gaming commission just recently formed and opened its offices," said Leslie. "I'm not sure that we're that off-target as far as the timeframe.

"Some of the cities that went through this months ago are basically at the same point we are having approved this only last month."

So far, a handful of developers has asked for the RFP, including the Boyd Gaming Corp.

The Boyd company is a Las Vegas-based casino operator that led the way in the campaign to pass riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau with the promise of a multi-million dollar riverboat proposal.