After five hours and 66 speakers, the over 225 participants watched Thursday as they heard comments and information both for and against the proposed casino in Greene County.
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission was in Jefferson yesterday for their site visit and public forum about the $40-million project that Wild Rose Entertainment and the non-profit partner Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation have been trying to establish since the referendum vote passed 75.1% on August 6th.
Of the 66 speakers, 46 spoke in favor of the casino which ranged from City of Jefferson and Greene County officials to surrounding county groups like Guthrie County Supervisors, Carroll and Calhoun county area development corporations to other organizations like Greene County Community Foundation. The statements that were made to the Commission were those of economic development, job creation, population growth and the need for more funding to accomplish various community-related projects.
Those who spoke against the casino included Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Mesquaki Casino, several representatives with the racing horse industry with Prairie Meadows and other concerned citizens. Their arguments were about cannibalization that the proposed casino would have on the surrounding casinos and other businesses and how it might impact the amount of money the non-profit groups of the gaming counties would receive. Even the non-profit of Wild Rose Emmetsburg, Palo Alto Gaming and Development Corporation spoke against the project.
However, chairman Jeff Lamberti told Raccoon Valley Radio how important having public hearings are for their decision-making process.
“Well, it’s an important part of the process that we go through is to have these public hearings and let people on both sides of the issue put their input and of course we really focus on the criteria that we use and hearing from the people on those criteria that we use in making the decision. But yeah, it’s a very important part of the process.”
He talked about the impression he got from the people of Greene County.
“Oh, it’s always good, I mean obviously there’s a lot of public support for the project and that’s always good to see.”
The next step will be the Commission’s final decision in Burlington on Thursday, June 12th.