donybrx
12-21-2006, 03:45 PM
And a hunka hunka cake it 'tis.......
New jersey rival bidder shut out unanimously.......buh bye, Jersey mon...
Lucky Louie
BY MICHAEL RACE
HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF
12/21/2006Email to a friendPrinter-friendly
HARRISBURG — State gaming regulators preferred Louis DeNaples’ proposed slots parlor over that of a rival casino project in the Poconos, but it will be weeks before the public knows why.
The seven-member Gaming Control Board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a slots license for the Mount Airy Resort and Casino and deny the competing application of Pocono Manor Resort and Casino, but members offered no explanation for their votes. That will come in a written opinion expected in about two weeks, Chairman Tad Decker said.
“You can read it then,” he told reporters.
In the coming weeks, the board also will issue a formal order regarding the licenses, opening a 30-day window for a possible appeal by New Jersey developer Greg Matzel, who pitched the Pocono Manor project for Monroe County’s Tobyhanna Township, or any other applicant who lost out Wednesday.
Those appeals would be made directly to the state Supreme Court.
Matzel declined to comment on whether he might appeal the licensing decision.
“We’ll be evaluating our options,” he said minutes after the vote. “We’re evaluating everything.”
Mount Airy, under construction in Paradise Township, was approved for one of two at-large casino licenses outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The other license will go to the proposed Sands Bethworks casino in Bethlehem.
Though DeNaples will be the sole owner of Mount Airy, he will not run the casino. An attorney for the billionaire businessman said the resort instead would be overseen by a three-member “independent audit committee” that would be “totally separate” from DeNaples and his other business interests, which include some 90 businesses worth about $2 billion.
The board would have the ability to report any alleged improprieties directly to state gaming regulators, attorney John Donnelly told the board earlier this week.
“We want to assure the board and public the facility will be run properly,” he said.
The reclusive DeNaples said little after Wednesday’s vote. While some winning applicants congratulated each other and fielded media queries, DeNaples hurried toward an exit and into an awaiting vehicle.
“I am very happy and I thank God for the opportunity to get a license,” he said as he left.
Public discussion in recent days has focused on character issues of the applicants, sparked in part by media reports that gaming investigators were conducting last-minute interviews with law enforcement officials.
Decker disclosed the board had “reached out” to the FBI and State Police as recently as Tuesday as part of investigations into applicants.
Why the last-minute probes?
“An abundance of caution,” Decker said. “We want to make sure there’s nothing going on and we didn’t miss anything. ... It was a final check, that’s all.”
Kevin Feeley, a spokesman for the Mount Airy project, said DeNaples was not spared the board’s scrutiny.
“He was poked and prodded and investigated, front, back, up and down. In the end, they determined that he was suitable for licensure,” he said.
Gov. Ed Rendell held a conference call with reporters after the vote and said Decker described the Mount Airy project to him as being “much more consistent with the tenor of the Poconos” than the Pocono Manor proposal.
The governor downplayed the suggestion that DeNaples, who has contributed money to the campaigns of Democrats and Republicans over the years, landed a license in part through political connections.
“Almost every application ... had tremendous political connections,” Rendell said, including those who lost out on a license.
Decker was the only board member who made himself available for media interviews following the vote, and he stressed he would discuss only the licensing process, not the merits of individual applicants.
Still, he lauded each of the 13 contenders vying for the five non-track licenses awarded Wednesday.
“These were extremely competitive licenses,” he said. “There wasn’t one stinko application in the group.”
The two at-large licenses were sought by Mount Airy, Pocono Manor, Sands Bethworks, the Tropicana in Allentown and Crossroads Gaming and Resort Spa near Gettysburg. The five at-large license applicants were acted upon in a single motion made by board member Mary DiGiacomo Colins, who moved to approve Mount Airy and Sands Bethworks while simultaneously denying the applications of the remaining three.
Every vote taken Wednesday was unanimous, but Decker became testy at the suggestion the votes were worked out beforehand.
“What are we to make of unanimous votes for everything?” a reporter asked.
“We came to the same conclusion. Next question,” Decker responded.
He said the board had closed-door deliberations on the applicants Tuesday evening.
“There was a discussion about each applicant in great detail,” he said. “I’m not going to get into how vigorous it was, but there was a discussion.
“We thought we pretty much had made a decision, we thought we were pretty well there. People we’re going to think about it overnight and come here to vote today,” he said. “That’s how we left it last night. ... We had discussed every issue you could imagine.”
DeNaples has said he plans to fast-track his casino project, opening a 196-room hotel with 2,500 slots by next fall and expanding to a 400-room hotel with 3,000 slots in 2008. The resort also will include a nightclub, four restaurants, conference rooms, a 14,500-square-foot spa, indoor and outdoor pools, retail shops and parking for 2,232 vehicles.
Sands Bethworks plans a venue 300-room hotel with 3,000 slots on a massive, 124-acre site where a Bethlehem Steel plant once operated. It also will offer dining and retail amenities.
New jersey rival bidder shut out unanimously.......buh bye, Jersey mon...
Lucky Louie
BY MICHAEL RACE
HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF
12/21/2006Email to a friendPrinter-friendly
HARRISBURG — State gaming regulators preferred Louis DeNaples’ proposed slots parlor over that of a rival casino project in the Poconos, but it will be weeks before the public knows why.
The seven-member Gaming Control Board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a slots license for the Mount Airy Resort and Casino and deny the competing application of Pocono Manor Resort and Casino, but members offered no explanation for their votes. That will come in a written opinion expected in about two weeks, Chairman Tad Decker said.
“You can read it then,” he told reporters.
In the coming weeks, the board also will issue a formal order regarding the licenses, opening a 30-day window for a possible appeal by New Jersey developer Greg Matzel, who pitched the Pocono Manor project for Monroe County’s Tobyhanna Township, or any other applicant who lost out Wednesday.
Those appeals would be made directly to the state Supreme Court.
Matzel declined to comment on whether he might appeal the licensing decision.
“We’ll be evaluating our options,” he said minutes after the vote. “We’re evaluating everything.”
Mount Airy, under construction in Paradise Township, was approved for one of two at-large casino licenses outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The other license will go to the proposed Sands Bethworks casino in Bethlehem.
Though DeNaples will be the sole owner of Mount Airy, he will not run the casino. An attorney for the billionaire businessman said the resort instead would be overseen by a three-member “independent audit committee” that would be “totally separate” from DeNaples and his other business interests, which include some 90 businesses worth about $2 billion.
The board would have the ability to report any alleged improprieties directly to state gaming regulators, attorney John Donnelly told the board earlier this week.
“We want to assure the board and public the facility will be run properly,” he said.
The reclusive DeNaples said little after Wednesday’s vote. While some winning applicants congratulated each other and fielded media queries, DeNaples hurried toward an exit and into an awaiting vehicle.
“I am very happy and I thank God for the opportunity to get a license,” he said as he left.
Public discussion in recent days has focused on character issues of the applicants, sparked in part by media reports that gaming investigators were conducting last-minute interviews with law enforcement officials.
Decker disclosed the board had “reached out” to the FBI and State Police as recently as Tuesday as part of investigations into applicants.
Why the last-minute probes?
“An abundance of caution,” Decker said. “We want to make sure there’s nothing going on and we didn’t miss anything. ... It was a final check, that’s all.”
Kevin Feeley, a spokesman for the Mount Airy project, said DeNaples was not spared the board’s scrutiny.
“He was poked and prodded and investigated, front, back, up and down. In the end, they determined that he was suitable for licensure,” he said.
Gov. Ed Rendell held a conference call with reporters after the vote and said Decker described the Mount Airy project to him as being “much more consistent with the tenor of the Poconos” than the Pocono Manor proposal.
The governor downplayed the suggestion that DeNaples, who has contributed money to the campaigns of Democrats and Republicans over the years, landed a license in part through political connections.
“Almost every application ... had tremendous political connections,” Rendell said, including those who lost out on a license.
Decker was the only board member who made himself available for media interviews following the vote, and he stressed he would discuss only the licensing process, not the merits of individual applicants.
Still, he lauded each of the 13 contenders vying for the five non-track licenses awarded Wednesday.
“These were extremely competitive licenses,” he said. “There wasn’t one stinko application in the group.”
The two at-large licenses were sought by Mount Airy, Pocono Manor, Sands Bethworks, the Tropicana in Allentown and Crossroads Gaming and Resort Spa near Gettysburg. The five at-large license applicants were acted upon in a single motion made by board member Mary DiGiacomo Colins, who moved to approve Mount Airy and Sands Bethworks while simultaneously denying the applications of the remaining three.
Every vote taken Wednesday was unanimous, but Decker became testy at the suggestion the votes were worked out beforehand.
“What are we to make of unanimous votes for everything?” a reporter asked.
“We came to the same conclusion. Next question,” Decker responded.
He said the board had closed-door deliberations on the applicants Tuesday evening.
“There was a discussion about each applicant in great detail,” he said. “I’m not going to get into how vigorous it was, but there was a discussion.
“We thought we pretty much had made a decision, we thought we were pretty well there. People we’re going to think about it overnight and come here to vote today,” he said. “That’s how we left it last night. ... We had discussed every issue you could imagine.”
DeNaples has said he plans to fast-track his casino project, opening a 196-room hotel with 2,500 slots by next fall and expanding to a 400-room hotel with 3,000 slots in 2008. The resort also will include a nightclub, four restaurants, conference rooms, a 14,500-square-foot spa, indoor and outdoor pools, retail shops and parking for 2,232 vehicles.
Sands Bethworks plans a venue 300-room hotel with 3,000 slots on a massive, 124-acre site where a Bethlehem Steel plant once operated. It also will offer dining and retail amenities.
