Weighty issues go to vote August 3

Amendment 1

Constitutional Amendment 1 would allow floating gambling facilities on or adjacent to the White River in Rockaway Beach. Now, riverboat gambling is legal only on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

John Creller, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Springfield, said from organized labor’s point of view, the project would be a boon. “If it passes it’s going to create a lot of work for a lot of construction workers,” he said.

Proponents of the measure claim 1,900 construction jobs would result from approval.

Those jobs would be open to bidding by competitive union and nonunion organizations based on a prevailing wage agreement that is already signed, said Robert Low, president of Springfield-based Prime Inc. and partner with Southwest Casino and Hotel Corp. in Southwest Missouri Gaming LLC, the entity promoting the Rockaway Beach casino.

Once in place, the casino and related facilities should employ another 1,000 people in food and hotel services, gaming positions and maintenance jobs, Low said. Positions would include casino jobs, from dealers to housekeepers, food service employees, and other related positions. The average wage would be about $9 an hour before tips, he added.

If approved, the casino, restaurants and retail shops would be finished in 18 months and cost a little more than $100 million, Low said.

Peter Herschend, co-owner of Silver Dollar City, wants the amendment, not Rockaway Beach, to fail. “Rockaway Beach is simply a vehicle that’s carrying a much, much broader and much more damaging message,” he said.

“The reason we are so vigorously opposing the amendment is that Rockaway Beach represents a set of barn doors that are firmly locked right now. Those (barn doors) are holding back the spread of casino-level gambling throughout the state.”

A poll of 1,000 voters conducted by “Show Me You Care,” an organization largely funded by the Herschend family, indicated a very tight contest on the gambling issue, said Chip Mason, treasurer.

Meanwhile, the Taney County Commission voted unanimously to voice “its emphatic opposition to any type of casino gambling in Taney County,” according to press release.

If Rockaway Beach gambling is approved, give it five years and there will be similar efforts at Lake of the Ozarks and in Branson, Herschend said. “The concern that we have is that casinos will spread throughout the state,” thereby diminishing Missouri’s long-standing family friendly reputation.

In respect to the prospect of the casino offering alternatives of higher-paying jobs than many area businesses now supply, Herschend said Silver Dollar City’s starting wage for full-time employees is $9 an hour, plus benefits, and many work in technical capacities at around $20 an hour.

Herschend said what must be considered are the net new jobs the area would gain, since existing jobs can be lost when businesses surrounding the casino fail. He cited a National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling study that said since Atlantic City legalized gambling in 1976, “the number of retail businesses has declined by one-third.”

Southwest power plant

To address its need for power, the city of Springfield is proposing the issuance of public utility revenue bonds in the amount of $515 million in order to build a new pulverized coal facility in southwest Springfield near the existing Southwest Power Plant on Farm Road 115.

The total project cost would be around $580 million with $460 million going toward construction and $120 million needed for finance charges, said John Twitty, general manager of City Utilities. CU already owns land near the existing Southwest Power Plant where the new facility would go, he added.

If approved, the bonds would be repaid through a 16 percent permanent utility rate increase phased in over a four-year period, Twitty said. This would generate about $24 million toward the $34.2 million total debt service on the bond. The remaining $10 million would come from internal dollars freed up as other debts are paid down, he added.

Twitty said the plant is necessary as both the demand from and the numbers of CU customers are increasing. In 1980 CU had 60,000 retail customers; now there are 100,000, he said.

In respect to residential customer usage, Twitty said it has increased from 7,400 kilowatt hours per year; “today that number’s approaching 11,000.”

Stan Van Velsor works with the Southwest Missouri Citizens for Clean Energy, a 2-year-old group dedicated to exploring alternative energy options, as well as educating citizens on more efficient use of existing resources.

Education is critical to efficient energy utilization, Van Velsor said. In this regard, CU could implement a “community benefits charge” where CU applies rate increases to promote efficient energy practices among its users.

Another way to get the public using energy better is to get individuals and businesses to make energy-efficient changes in homes and workplaces through the use of low-interest loans to upgrade systems, he added.

“The question is, should we spend customers’ money encouraging lower use?” Twitty said.

Encouraging people to use less, giving grants, revolving loan funds or sharing costs have costs associated with them as well, he said. “I would suggest to you that energy efficiency actually ends up costing you more than building a new facility.”

The new power plant would require 30 full-time additional CU employees when finished, Twitty said, with up to 1,000 construction jobs required to complete the task.

Pollution

Pending voter approval, building would begin in spring 2005 and be complete late 2008 or early 2009, he added.

Central to Van Velsor’s view is the pollution generated from coal-burning utility operations, citing some 4 million tons of coal pollution that is produced annually from local operations.

While the new plant would be three to five times cleaner in respect to pollutants like nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxides according to Department of Natural Resource estimates, it would emit more mercury and carbon dioxide than Springfield’s two existing plants, Van Velsor said.

While carbon dioxide is not controlled, an Environmental Protection Agency ruling is expected on mercury and money is included in the new plant proposal to control mercury, Twitty said.