Casino news from http://www.courier-journal.com/
The Indiana Gaming Commission is expected to vote tomorrow on whether to sanction developers of a casino in Orange County for failing to secure all financing for the $382 million project by a May 1 deadline.
The disciplinary action, if approved as expected, would come nearly six weeks before the French Lick casino's unveiling, and as its partners remain locked in a contract dispute over ownership.
The gaming commission is expected to review the proposal by agency staff to settle the matter against Blue Sky Casino LLC's partners -- Bloomington-based medical-device manufacturer Cook Group Inc. and Indianapolis real estate developer Lauth Property Group -- during an afternoon meeting in Indianapolis.
Yesterday, Ernie Yelton, gaming commission executive director, said a settlement between the commission and Blue Sky was in the works. He declined to disclose the amount of a proposed fine pending a final agreement.
Vernon Back, Lauth's general counsel, declined to comment other than to say documents still were being exchanged.
Yelton indicated in early June that the agency might sanction Blue Sky for failing to meet the deadline, one of several dates outlined in the state's operating contract.
Blue Sky was the only bidder early last year after a deal with Donald Trump's casino company fell through. Cook and Lauth's plans include remodeling two century-old hotels and building a parking garage, a 1,200-slot casino, a convention center and an 18-hole golf course.
Executives with the companies shared the spotlight briefly Friday when they held a ribbon-cutting to reopen the French Lick golf course, which had been closed several months for renovations.
The casino project is set to open on time Nov. 1, but the dispute isn't expected to be resolved soon.
In a lawsuit filed in June in Orange Circuit Court, Cook's company, Orange County Holdings, claimed that Lauth failed to meet an April 15 deadline set by the parties to secure a $25 million loan, called a revolver.
Orange County Holdings said that once the deadline passed, the agreements called for the company to receive half of Lauth's stake, or an additional 25 percent share. That would provide a 75 percent stake to Orange County Holdings.
Lauth's lawyers have claimed in a separate suit that the two companies' representatives had an oral agreement to extend the deadline beyond April 15 to take advantage of more favorable interest rates.
The upshot was a savings of $700,000 to $800,000 that benefited both companies, Back told The Courier-Journal recently.
Other issues raised in the lawsuits, such as claims by Lauth that Cook founder Bill Cook is intimately involved in decision-making for the project, are under review by the gaming commission.
Bill Cook is not mentioned among the group of Cook executives guiding its companies, but his son, Carl Cook, has been overseeing the casino's development with others.
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