St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 6

3 MAR 10 1987 6A Region ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Mar. 10, 1887 1 Stadium Panel Hedges Bets On By Terry Ganey Post-Dispatch Jefferson City Bureau Chief JEFFERSON CITY The Missouri Horse Racing Commission gave a 'qualified endorsement but no license on Monday to an applicant seeking a race track in the Missouri Bootheel. commissioners agreed that the application for the $22 million "Bootheel Downs," a track near Braggadocio, was a strong one. But they said the lack of a firm financial commitment kept the five-member panel from giving final approval.

Phil Snowden, a commissioner from Kansas City, said the applica-tion was "an excellent proposal" put together by "good people" with "tre-, mendous community support." But he said too many questions were unanswered about financing to qualify it asthe state's first licensed thorough- bred race track. ulhe commission promised to issue a'Micense if the applicant resolved questions about financing by June 1. In addition, Steven C. Roberts, a commissioner from St. Louis, said before he could vote to approve the application, he wanted the applicant to produce a plan for hiring minorities.

John J. Mooney, a racing consultant who prepared the application, said three investment banking firms had indicated a willingness to sell bonds to provide financing for the project. Mooney also presented the commissioners with a letter from David S. Sullivan, a clinical psychologist from Oak Brook, 111., who claimed he was prepared to put $7 million into the race track venture. But the commissioners said the promises of financing were not enough to convince the board that the money would be forthcoming.

"I don't think we can go on record approving this," said Chairman Lawrence K. Roos of St. Louis County. The commission adopted a resolution that said the application for the Bootheel Downs had the commission's continued support. The resolution indicated a license would be granted if solid financial commitments were made by June 1.

presentation," Mason said. "At this point, I don't think you could rule anyone in or out who you would call a 'player" in this community. I think that once the commitment is made, there may be some surprises about who will come forward." In other comments, Mason said, "Personally, I don't care where the stadium goes if a new one is built, and ideally it should be centrally located. But since the city was unable to move on this, I admire Mr. McNary for picking up the ball." The potential investors "hate to see what's happening between the city and the county governments.

We think they should be working together," he said. But he said he believed that some powerful community and business interests behind the scenes were forcing the division. Mason said the group was looking at two potential financing schemes for a stadium. One, which was McNary's original plan, calls for investors to put up about $30 million. An extra 100 million would be raised by selling tax-exempt bonds.

An alternative financing plan would be to make a public offering. Shares would be sold in a joint project that would involve the stadium, basketball team and other parts of the project. Mason said the second alternative could generate "a lot of emotional interest." He said the public could buy into the project "just as we contribute to the Symphony and the Art Museum, just as those of us who contributed to the Admiral did. We weren't looking for a good payday but trying to do something good for the community. a downtown stadium.

On Monday, Mason said that over the months he and others in the investment group had met not only with McNary but also with city officials-over the possibility of investing in a new stadium for the region. "I have been among a group of people working with both sides from time to time but more frequently with Mr. McNary, because his desire and devotion to getting the job done far exceeds what the city has done," Mason said. He said he had gone to several private meetings involving potential investors and "football interests" to discuss the potential for a county stadium. About a dozen potential investors formed the core group, he said.

"The players change each time" at the various meetings, Mason added. He said it would be best to describe himself as "a casual observer" who had "indicated a willingness to participate" as an investor if "the numbers look right." Mason is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of the J.L Mason Group, the largest company building homes in Missouri. The company also is involved in office and commercial projects. Mason said the next step would be for Bidwill "to sign on the dotted line" for a lease agreement. "When that happens and he makes the commitment, then the pro forma numbers can be put together and we'll know what income we can expect from the Cardinal operations," he said.

"It's up to Gene (McNary) now to get a package together and make the From page one build a stadium in the county with private money. But he has faced opposition from some of the leading civic powers in the area. They are worried about the impact on downtown St. Louis, which has strived to rebuild itself. Last year, Mayor Vincent C.

Schoemehl Jr. revived the idea of a new stadium downtown amid mounting concern that a stadium in the county would harm the city's businesses and deter the revival of the city. Some opponents of a county stadium also believe that the city should be the heart of the region and home to its cultural and sports institutions. For months, Bidwill has been talking with officials in the city and the county about their rival plans for a new stadium. The talks began after Bidwill said that Busch Stadium downtown was too small and that he needed a larger stadium to remain competitive in the National Football League.

Some opponents of the county project have filed suit because of their objections to the impact of construction in the Missouri River flood plain and wetland at Riverport. Another suit has been filed by residents opposed to the use of $4 million in public money to buy land and help build a levee at the Riverport site. Both suits are pending. Over the weekend, Bidwill said that plans for a new city stadium were "dead." In response, Schoemehl blamed Bidwill for the collapse of the talks. He said he had not given up on $enate Passes Insurance Law Revision Race Track Mooney said the commission's resolution may help persuade investors to pledge money to the track.

The southeast Missouri race track application is the strongest of six the commission has received and considered so far. The commission has reopened the application process and set a new deadline of June 1. Chris Droke, a trucking company operator and farrrer from Horners-ville, has applied for the license to operate Bootheel Downs Inc. He has requested two 60-day racing seasons, one beginning in May and the other in September. Initially, the track would be operated during the daytime only, four days a week.

Under a worst-case scenario, Mooney said he believed the track could remain open if the number of bettors and the amounts they wagered were 10 percent below the most pessimistic projections. He said the track could pay for itself if it averaged 4,000 daily attendance with 1 00 wagered for each person. raise rates by 24.9 percent each year without opposition. In seeking to reduce damage awards, the proposal would restore to Missouri judges the power to increase or lower jury awards for punitive damages. An amendment to strike that provision lost 25-8.

The measure also would restrict a requirement that a defendant who can afford to pay must pay all of an award if co-defendants are unable to do so. In an effort to encourage out-of-court settlements, the measure would authorize interest costs to be added to an award if delaying tactics are used. Two major amendments adopted by the Senate removed restrictions on libel suits against newspapers and a provision limiting the size of punitive damages. The application requests 120 racing days and proposes that 10 races be run each day. It says the races could begin as soon as June of this year, and it projects an initial attendance of 6,500 for Saturday nights, growing to 8,000 eventually.

Mooney told the commissioners that they could see the ponies run at a demonstration that could be arranged in Sedalia. The commissioners said they wanted more time to study the application. Phil Snowden, a commission member from Kansas City, said, "It's great that people have new ideas and ingenuity. I applaud that." But Snowden and other commissioners asked the Racing Commission's staff to collect more data on racing ponies before giving preliminary consideration to the application. High Court Rejects Missourian's Appeal JEFFERSON CITY (UPI) The U.S.

Supreme Court rejected Monday the appeal of condemned killer Robert O'Neal, a member of a white supremacist group convicted of killing a fellow prisoner at the Missouri Penitentiary. No execution date has been set for O'Neal, one of 47 prisoners on death row in Missouri. The last execution in Missouri took place in 1965. O'Neal, 25, was sentenced to die in Missouri's gas chamber for killing Arthur Dade. Both men were in prison when O'Neal stabbed Dade on Feb.

3, 1984. At the time, O'Neal was serving a life sentence for killing an elderly man from Greene County during a burglary. O'Neal is one of three prisoners sentenced in Dade's killing. O'Neal has been affiliated with the Aryan Nation, a white supremacist group that has members among convicts nationwide. David Tate, convicted of killing a Missouri Highway Patrol trooper with an automatic weapon, is a member of the group.

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Lindecke Missouri Political Correspondent JEFFERSON CITY The Senate passed and returned to the House on Monday a proposal to revise legislation dealing with liability insurance. The measure is designed to deal with protests against rising insurance premiums and excessive awards in damage suits. vote was 33-0. Sen. Truman E.

Wilson, D-St. Joseph, who handled the proposal on the Senate floor, said he expected a quick response from the House. Both chambers must agree on differences between the House and Senate versions. "An interim task force wrote the legislation as a compromise among insurance companies, trial lawyers Ponies From page one to John J. Mooney, a race track consultant from Palatine, 111." Mooney said he knew of no place where pari-mutuel wagering takes place on pony races.

He said if the corrtmission approved the concept for Kansas City, it would be the first such track in the world. Mooney said the ponies would range in size from 34 inches to 52 inches tall, measured at the withers. A horse is at least 58 inches tall. The ponies fall into two classes, miniatures and hackneys, and they are raised for shows or as pets, he said. Mooney said the ponies were being trained at a facility near Sedalia to respond to commands from 20-pound radio-controlled jockeys attached to Taxes From page one finances caused by the Supreme Coyrt decision.

The measure sailed through the House and Senate but had to return to the for Monday's vote when the House made technical changes in it. The purpose of the bill is to waive thenormal eight-week advance notice before an election can be held. In' St. Louis, the Board of Aldermen has passed two ordinances putting the taxes on the ballot March 24. The only three senators voting against the measure Monday were the three black members, Sens.

J.B. "Jet" Banks and John F. Bass, both D-St. Louis, and Sen. Phil B.

Curls, D-Kansas City. Banks and Bass said they doubted whether the city was in financial straits and said the taxes collected should be refunded. Although he handled the bill, Scott said Schoemehl was responsible for submitting the faulty election to city voters in 1984. Two companion measures remain to be passed. Soott already has guided through the Senate a bill that would allow St.

Louis to resume collecting the two taxes as soon as they are passed in the 24 election, should that occur, That bill is pending in the House. Without this bill, Scott said, the city would lose three months of revenue. NO RESTRICTIONS TWO DAY ADVANCE $16999 mmm mm wJmmmmmmmmmm. and businesses that buy liability insurance. Lawyers attacked the proposal strongly in the Senate, contending that it limited too severely the ability of their clients to get compensation for damages.

Passage came on the fourth day of debate, when John C. Shepherd came to observe from the gallery. He is chairman of the task force and a former president of the American Bar Association. The legislation would put restrictions on the ability of insurance companies to raise premiums and cancel coverage. If an insurance company wanted to raise rates more than 25 percent, it would have to get approval from the state's Insurance Division.

Opponents attacked that provision as allowing insurance companies to saddles on each pony's back. He said an operator on the side of the track could control each robot, which in turn controls each pony. He said the robots could "speak" to the ponies to encourage them to run faster. "They really work beautifully," Mooney said. "I think it's a great application.

This is a great chance for Missouri to be the first. I think it's the answer to dog racing, myself." Bills have been filed in the Legislature to allow pari-mutuel wagering on dog races. Proponents say the economics of dog racing make it better suited to Missouri than horse racing. According to the application by Show Me Track $2 million would be invested in setting up a 140-yard oval track within Kemper Arena. The ponies would run races as long as an eighth of a mile.

The two taxes together are worth about $2 million a month to the city. The other measure, introduced by Rep. Anthony D. Ribaudo, D-St. Louis, would ban any refunds of taxes already collected.

Ribaudo said the city could not afford to repay $58 million. He also said that in most cases, retailers would receive the refunds because individual payers of sales tax could not be identified. That measure is set for hearing in a House committee today. who is the House majority leader, said he believed the House would pass it But Scott, president pro tern of the Senate, said he expected opposition in the Senate. "That's the tough one," Scott said.

One member of the Senate, Sen. Thomas W. McCarthy, R-Chesterfield, is a lawyer who represented former Mayor Jim Conway, a plaintiff in the suit that overturned the two taxes. McCarthy said, "The no-refund bill is clearly unconstitutional. If nothing else, I'll file a constitutional objection." When a constitutional objection is filed with a bill, its intent is to call to the attention of the Supreme Court alleged errors as grounds for invalidating it.

McCarthy said the no-refund bill would be unconstitutional because "the Legislature can't make legal the illegal acts of a city!" faulty joints or install a new cooling system without that type of joints. Andi Smith, communications and public relations director at the chemical-producing plant, said company officials would not comment on the agency's action or the Incident. General To Be Honored Wilfred L. Ebel, acting director of the Selective Service System, will be guest speaker at a dinner here Wednesday evening honoring retired Army Maj. Gen.

Henry Mohr of St. Louis. Mohr is former chief of the Army Reserves and a nationally syndicated columnist on defense matters. He will get the Meritorious Service Award and Medal from the Association of the United States Army. The association is sponsoring the dinner, at 7:30 p.m.

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