Penn Letter Draft - News, Weather and Sports for Sioux City, IA: KCAU-TV.com

By: Channel 9 Eyewitness News

news@kcautv.com

The following is a letter Channel Nine Eyewitness News has obtained. In It Argosy Casino Vice President Lance George lays out the cities requests for a new dock agreement with the City of Sioux City.

The Letter reads As Follows:

In follow up to our recent meetings regarding the ongoing license negotiations and for those who were not able to attend today's meetings –

On Wednesday of last week the City and Penn discussed the lease extension that expires on January 29, 2013. This call was followed by an email in which the city documented their proposed terms.

To be clear, Penn has offered a continuation of our current lease terms until a new land-based casino opens in Woodbury County.

Many of you have likely seen or read comments from the City stating that they are comfortable with a simple extension – "The City is not looking for significant change here, in fact we're not asking for any real change to the economic terms or formulas that are in place." Paul Eckert, KMEG, November 9th

As I have committed to you before, I want to ensure each of you are aware of the facts.

Below you will see the requested terms from the city:

· An increase in rent of $180K annually – change to economic term

· A minimum monthly rent equal to 3% of current month's AGR or 3% of prior year AGR (yoy), whichever amount is greater – change to economic term

· No rent abatement if there is a natural disaster – change to previous lease agreement

· One-time payment to the city of previous six month's payments if the IRGC selects the suburban bid – change to economic term (approximately $900,000)

· Indemnity – city is looking to indemnify themselves, Warner Gaming and MRHD

As you know, Penn remains committed to Sioux City and we are hopeful that cooler heads prevail over the next several weeks.

I want to recognize your efforts over the last 15 months. I know it has been a challenging environment (understatement) – I can't thank you enough.

The minute there is an update I will schedule additional meetings

Lance George

Vice President/General Manager

We reached out to city leaders Monday night.

Councilman John Fitch called the leak of information, "not appropriate."

Mayor Bob Scott had no comment regarding the information, however, he did tell Channel 9 that he will no longer be involved in the city's dock negotiations with the Argosy, saying, "I'm so burned out by many accusations that I excused myself from negotiations this week."

We also tried contacting City Manager, Paul Eckert, but have not been able to reach him.