Bets Placed On Racino

An overflow crowd attended the joint meeting of the Kimball City Council and the Kimball County Commissioners. The officials and public heard a presentation in which developer Canterbury Park Holdings proposed a horse racing track and casino for Kimball.

It's clear that this proposal is in the very early stages and its future is uncertain.

Tom Sage, executive director of the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, provided the Observer with some background information on racing and gaming.

Sage said there are two separate licenses that can be applied for – a racing license and a gaming license. There are six licensed race tracks in Nebraska: Grand Island, Hastings, Omaha, South Sioux City, Columbus and Lincoln.

The Racing and Gaming Commission met on July 16, and Sage said representatives submitted five different applications for race tracks, which are in Bellevue, York, Norfolk, North Platte and Gering/Scottsbluff.

"Those applications have not been approved or denied," Sage said. "The commission let the applicants know there has to be some due diligence."

Sage was specific when he said, "No timetable has been set on when there will be a decision one way or the other. The Racing and Gaming Commissioners said that there would definitely be a public hearing on each of the locations before they would ever have a vote."

The Racing and Gaming Commission has rules and regulations that must be adhered to before voting on a license.

"There is quite a bit to it," Sage said.

He explained that the rules and regulations are not even in place for the commission to accept a gaming license.

"There are no gaming licenses submitted from any location," Sage said. "There is not even the mechanism right now for us to accept a gaming license.".

The rule-making process in Nebraska, according to Sage, is "cumbersome." Rules must be approved of by the secretary of state, attorney general and governor. Such approvals could be months away.

The next Racing and Gaming Commission meeting is scheduled for Sept. 10.

Meanwhile in Kimball, after the Canterbury Park presentation on Wednesday, both the City Council and County Commissioners voted to approve a letter of support for the proposed economic development project by Canterbury Park Holding. A Canterbury Park spokesperson indicated that the company wanted the approval of the community before they continued with the process.

The landowners of the proposed site, the Nielsen family, were represented by a nervous Chris Nielsen. He addressed the crowd and the officials, stating that they were hoping to "bring something home" and wanted to offer "something to drive economic opportunity here." Nielsen lives in Omaha but was raised in Kimball and graduated from Kimball High School.

After the presentation by Canterbury spokesman Mike Montross, about a dozen area residents expressed their views or commented about the project.

The proposed project would include a 5/8-mile race track, stable area, resort hotel and casino, event center, restaurants, and fueling station at Exit 22 off of I-80 and the Highway 71 bypass, east and south of Kimball.

The 100 acres on the west side of the bypass would be the site of the project. Montross said that the initial investment would be $60 million for Phase One, which would provide 200 new jobs to the area. The company estimated that 80% of patrons would be from outside Nebraska, using a $2 million marketing budget to market primarily to Colorado and Wyoming as a destination resort.

Canterbury Park has horse racing, table games, and poker at their facility in Shakopee, Minnesota. Shakopee is located about 30 miles from St. Paul, Minnesota.