PEORIA, Ill. – The city of Peoria says no deal to the Par-A-Dice.
In a special meeting Monday night, council was one vote short of accepting a settlement agreement regarding the proposed new Par-A-Dice facility in East Peoria. The meeting comes just days before the Illinois Gaming Board is scheduled to vote on the proposal at their meeting on Thursday.
Vote was 5 yays and 5 nays, with 5th District Councilman Denis Cyr not in attendance at the meeting. A simple majority was needed to accept the settlement.
Plans for the new Par-A-Dice from Boyd Gaming were revealed in December in a presentation to the Illinois Gaming Board. The city sent a letter to the IGB on January 20th, expressing their objections to the plans.
The objections from Peoria have been raised for more than a year. The concerns center around what Peoria feels is a loophole to the original 1991 intergovernmental agreement, which calls for any land-based casino to be located within Peoria. The December proposal from Boyd would keep the Par-A-Dice in East Peoria, but run a water-basin underneath the casino to avoid calling it “land-based.”
The city of Peoria and the Par-A-Dice entered negotiations to try and resolve those concerns, to try and avoid lengthy and costly litigation for both sides. The agreement worked out would have given Peoria 2.25% of reported adjusted gross gaming revenues from the new facility.
City leaders estimated that amount could have netted around $1.8 million each year. City Manager Patrick Urich says that money would go towards capital projects and needs in Peoria.
City attorney Patrick Hayes estimates that any litigation could cost Peoria anywhere from six to seven figures, with lawsuits going from the appellate courts to the Illinois Supreme Court. He added that if Peoria was not successful in their lawsuit, they may have to reimburse the city of East Peoria for their legal costs.
In addition, Hayes told the council that even if Peoria was successful in its lawsuit, the IGB could ask Boyd to submit alternate plans.
Mayor Rita Ali urged the council to accept the proposed settlement prior to the vote, saying that Par-A-Dice had already made up its mind on where the new facility would be built.
“Regardless of how we vote tonight, they’re going to likely, very likely, make a decision to move forward,” Ali said. “And if we don’t take this opportunity, we could be left empty-handed for Peoria.”
2nd District Councilman Alex Carmona agreed with the mayor that Boyd had also made up its mind on which side of the river that Boyd wanted the Par-A-Dice on. But he disagreed with not taking the fight to court.
“There certainly is risk from us as a city fighting this out in court,” Carmona said. “But it’s a calculated risk, because we’re the ones that are right.”
Carmona says he would like to see the city fight to try and get a bigger percentage of the adjusted gross revenues, adding that he believes Boyd will do whatever it takes to not bring the casino to Peoria.
Other no votes on the proposal included 3rd District Councilman Tim Riggenbach, and At-Large Councilmen John Kelly, Zach Oyler, and Kiran Velpula. Riggenbach told fellow councilmen that he wanted to see intergovernmental agreements respected, and that he wished people could agree that “a riverboat actually floats on a river and that’s undisputable.”
4th District Councilman Andre Allen and At-Large Councilman Mike Vespa voted yes. Vespa felt optimistic about Peoria’s chances to win a lawsuit, but noted that there was no guarantee that a lawsuit could get the city more revenue. Allen was concerned about filing a lawsuit and coming up empty-handed for the city.
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