Two competing casino proposals top the agenda for tonight's meeting of the Davenport city council. Aldermen will consider a plan from Dan Kehl, and one from local developer Rodney Blackwell and Canadian company Clairvest, to build a land-based casino along Interstate 80 in north Davenport. The two resolutions call for the city to sign non-exclusive development agreements with backers of the two proposals.
Mayor Bill Gluba says aldermen could approve one, or two, or neither one. But his recommendation is to approve both.
"It's like having two offers on your house - accept one as the primary offer but then have a backup offer in case the first one fails to go through."
Then the decision will be forwarded to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
The Kehl plan is favored by the Riverboat Development Authority which owns the license of the Rhythm City Casino in Davenport. While the mayor and some aldermen favor the other plan. But if the Blackwell-Clairvest plan is not chosen, Gluba still wants to encourage the company to invest in the city.
"We'd like to see a Costco store here, we'd like to see a Golf Pro, and an indoor-outdoor water park. There's all kinds of opportunities to invest in Davenport. And any time some company, especially an international one with a billion dollars of assess has money to invest in the range of 250 million dollars, we want to stay close to them and encourage them to the extent possible."
The Racing and Gaming Commission is next scheduled to meet on October 10th, in Dubuque.