Cincinnati Enquirer reports on ferry zone change request

BURLINGTON - The group that wants to start a ferry between Rising Sun and Boone County has asked the county for a change in zoning to allow the ferry.

Rising Sun officials say the Ohio River ferry would make it easier for the Indiana city's 2,400 residents to get to Northern Kentucky - cutting a half hour off the drive. It would also make it easier for Northern Kentucky residents to get to Rising Sun's Grand Victoria Casino & Resort, which is a mile south of the landing.

On the Boone County side, the landing would be on 4 acres on McVille Road owned by Robert and Lois Pikar of Fort Thomas. There would also be a parking lot and a boat dock off the road.
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The land is zoned for agriculture. To operate a ferry, the zoning would have to be changed to recreational. In addition to the zone change, the ferry also would require a conditional-use permit from the Boone County Planning Commission.

Laura Goodridge, who lives next to where the landing in proposed, said she's trying to keep an open mind about the project until she has more details.

"But my husband is staunchly opposed," she said.

Goodridge said she's concerned about headlights, noise and traffic.

The proposed landing site is on land her grandparents once owned and near their former house, which was built in 1812, she said. The ferry plans do not disturb the house.

"This land is near and dear to me," she said.

Goodridge is also worried about the riverbank. If the bank is lowered, the area could be exposed to flooding, she said.

The ferry is being proposed by the Rising Sun/Ohio County Port Authority and would be funded by Rising Sun, Ohio County and a foundation funded by Grand Victoria Casino & Resort.

"We see it as a locally initiated project for our local residents," said Ed Sullivan, executive director of the Rising Sun Regional Foundation.

"A lot of residents do their shopping at Florence Mall, and more and more residents get their health care services in Northern Kentucky," Sullivan said. The regional foundation is funded by an agreement between the city and casino.

To fund the $500,000 ferry project, the city of Rising Sun and Ohio County are being asked to contribute $200,000 each. The foundation also has been asked to give $100,000.

If the Port Authority gets a change in zoning, it will then apply for the permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sullivan said. The Port Authority has a contract to buy the Pikars' land if the zone change and permits are approved.

Southeast Indiana Casinos See January Rise

Unseasonably pleasant and balmy weather contributed to a strong uptick in January business for two of the three area riverboat casinos on the Indiana side of the Ohio River.

Compared to January 2005, the Argosy and Grand Victoria casinos – the two closest to Cincinnati – rung up revenue gains of 12 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Lawrenceville-based Argosy, by far the largest of the casinos, achieved gross revenues of $39 million for the month. Grand Victoria, based in Rising Sun, had revenues of more than $13.6 million versus a little less than $11.5 million last year.

Switzerland County’s Belterra, the farthest of the three, saw revenue fall about 15 percent to $12.3 million for the month.

General manager Larry Buck attributed this to two things: first, there were simply more winners at the casino’s table games, meaning Belterra paid out about 17 percent more than average to winners.

Secondly, he said, Belterra capitalized on the closing for 10 days of Caesars casino near Louisville last January due to flooding. The additional business Belterra drew during that period resulted in a tough comparison for this year.

The same rainy, cold weather that caused the flooding last year held down profits for the other Indiana casinos then, accounting for a good chunk of this January’s gains. In addition to good weather, Grand Victoria’s results were aided by the casino opening 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the first time in mid-January.

Previously, the casino had been closed for several hours each morning on weekdays.

Bryce Kendrick, assistant director of marketing for Grand Victoria, also attributed some gains to enhancements to the casino’s Players Advantage Club and an expansion of promotional giveaways.

Revenue at the casinos tracked total admissions, which were up significantly at Argosy and Grand Victoria but were flat at Belterra.

Belterra recently announced plans to add another 250 hotel rooms to its existing 600, which would make it the largest hotel in Indiana.

Despite flatness in their results during much of the last half of 2005, all three area casinos have announced expansion plans of one form or another in recent months.

Applications being sought for Rising Sun's New Artist Stipend Program

The Economic Restructuring Committee of the Historic Downtown Program in Rising Sun, Indiana is currently accepting applications for their new Artist Stipend Program. The Program is being established to encourage professional studio artists to locate or work in Rising Sun, Indiana and concentrate on their work in a supportive, collegial environment for a period of one year. This program allows artists to work without distraction in an effort to break new ground and focus on individual goals. The program is intended to strengthen and reinforce the arts as economic development in Rising Sun and serve as a catalyst in broadening the community's understanding of art.

In-residence grants are offered to artists involved with painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, printmaking and other studio-based art making. Grants are not made in the disciplines of performance art or production crafts at this time. "The new program is a natural expansion of the City of Rising Sun's award winning "“Arts as Economics"” Program" said Historic Downtown Director Tammy Elbright.

Many artists’' studios are available for lease in the City of Rising Sun. Some are open spaces with natural or fluorescent lighting and convertible to the artist'’s requirements within reason. Artists can also choose to share studio space with other artists utilizing the stipend program.

The stipend program is being funded in in joint collaboration with the Rising Sun Redevelopment Commission and the Rising Sun Regional Foundation. The deadline for initial applications to the program will be February 28, 2006.

For more information or request for an application to the 2006 Artist Stipend Program, contact the Historic Downtown Business Development Center at 103 S. Walnut Street, Rising Sun, Indiana or call (812) 438-2750 or visit the chamber's website at www.risingsunchamber.com.

Snack Shack has new winter hours

Albert Oliver, owner of the Snack Shack located at 228 Main Street in downtown Rising Sun is introducing new winter hours and menu, which includes homemade soups. Each day of the week will be a different soup:

Monday Potato Bacon

Tuesday Lumberjack Vegetable

Wednesday Minestrone

Thursday Brown Jug – Vegetable in a cheese and cream of chicken base

Friday Chili (Chili will be available every day of the week)

Along with the soups, there are a wide range of sandwiches, snacks, ice cream and beverages. Don’t forget, Albert boasts the “Best Burger in Town” and remember breakfast is served all day long.

New Hours of Operation are Monday thru Friday from 10-2:00, Saturday 10-5:00 and Sunday 12-4:00.

Is it time to consider Unigov once more?

In the 1980's, a dedicated group of local citizens sought to investigate whether the Indianapolis government consolidation plan "Unigov" would work in Rising Sun and Ohio County. They held meeting, discussed options, and came up with a few ideas for saving money by eliminating duplication of efforts. The movement stopped after creating a combined law enforcement building in the old sheriff's office in 1991. Today, however, it may be time to revisit this issue as the State may soon remove significant hurdles to consolidation. Now, that concept is contained in House Bill 1362, which passed the House by a vote of 73-23 and is now headed to the Senate. The measure now allows local governments to consolidate without permission from the General Assembly is moving through the legislative process.

The bill provides a statewide outline for reorganization of any kind of government, from townships to counties, cities to schools and all other taxing units.
Supporters in Indianapolis and Evansville have been moving in this direction for several years, but the reorganization movement got welcome support when Gov. Mitch Daniels made it part of his program.

"“Redundant and antiquated government makes property taxes too high and decision making too slow," he said in his State of the State address. "“Let our traditional ‘creature of the state’ system begin giving way to a new era of home rule and local autonomy across our state.”"

Under the bill, virtually any adjacent or overlapping government units could decide to combine. The legislative bodies of both those entities could start the process by an initial vote or residents could petition to do so themselves. The legislative bodies would next set up a committee to draft a reorganization plan. The makeup of the committee is included in House Bill 1362.

The committee would have a year to draft a proposal that must include a variety of items, such as information on bonds and debt, personnel and labor agreements, details on how and where services would be provided and an explanation of the new legislative, fiscal and executive bodies that would run the merged unit.

The legislative bodies must approve that plan before the final step in the process a public referendum. There is at least one poison pill in the legislation – a provision on how the votes are counted in the final referendum. Originally, the bill required 51% percent approval from the total number of people affected by the change. For instance, if a city and county were trying to merge there would be one countywide vote. But a recent amendment separates the voting so that a majority of voters in each unit must approve the change.

No move afoot to raid casino funds this year

FRom the LOuisville Courier-Journal

INDIANAPOLIS — Just a year after lawmakers nearly took millions of dollars in local tax revenue generated by casinos to balance the state's budget, the issue seems to have all but died.

Fiscal leaders are no longer talking about raiding casino counties' coffers — either to bolster the state's bottom line or to help other local governments struggling to pay bills.

Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, said recently that he has not heard a word about the issue this year. And Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said earlier that he doesn't expect lawmakers to even discuss it.

"I haven't heard anything," said Sen. Johnny Nugent, R-Lawrenceburg, whose district includes two gambling boats. "And I don't even want to mention it around here."

That's good news for officials in Southern Indiana, where five riverboat casinos have helped bolster local budgets. Even as they celebrated their victory last year, those officials worried that lawmakers would try again.

As a result, they've taken some steps to discourage criticism of the revenue they receive for playing host to a casino. Harrison County, for example, began a long-term planning process to try to bring more order to the way it spends its roughly $23million in annual revenue from the Caesars Indiana casino.

But Lawrenceburg, home of the Argosy Casino, undertook the biggest change. It initiated a $10million annual plan to start sharing its substantial casino revenue in the form of economic development grants to surrounding counties. Also, the city plans to give $500,000 annually to nearby Franklin County.

"We had to do it," said Rep. Bob Bischoff, D-Lawrenceburg. "What it does is bring in support from other legislators in southeast Indiana to protect the riverboat revenue."

Last year the Senate passed a plan that would have raised $75million for the state budget by reducing the amount of money casino communities could collect in casino taxes.

Ohio County and Rising Sun would have lost nearly $5.9million.

But while most of the state's casino communities were affected, legislators' biggest complaint involved the city of Lawrenceburg, where Argosy is the state's highest-revenue boat. The city receives about $25million in wagering and admissions taxes and another $46million annually from a local agreement with the casino.

And unlike other casino communities, it hadn't shared any of that revenue with surrounding counties.


This year, on the advice of Gov. Mitch Daniels and area lawmakers, Lawrenceburg Mayor Bill Cunningham developed a somewhat similar program, one that is meant to stimulate growth, retention and improvement of the economic development climate in southeastern Indiana.

The $10 million grant program is perhaps the biggest piece.

Officials in nine area counties — including Jackson, Jennings and Jefferson — can apply for grants for projects related to economic development. A selection committee that includes Cunningham, a Lawrenceburg city councilman, the city manager, a representative of the governor's office and a state economic development official will decide who gets grants.

Also, the city plans to fund some projects that fill a regional need.

Cunningham, in a recent letter to Nugent and Bischoff, said that while the city plans to spend much of its money on Dearborn County projects, "the overall impact will be widely felt throughout the region."

"The new Tanners Creek U.S. 50 bridge and the new Ivy Tech Community College are just two local projects that have a great deal of regional impact," he said. "We are very fortunate to be able to assist our neighbors in building a stronger economic base for their communities and for a stronger Indiana."

Daniels recently called Lawrenceburg's program "a very wise move" that should help convince lawmakers that casino communities should keep their money.

The governor said he believes a "deal is a deal" and so casino communities should be allowed to keep the revenue they were promised. But he said the criticism of Lawrenceburg's failure to share with counties "that are struggling and poorer" was legitimate.

"I really thought they had a responsibility to address the criticism that it wasn't being shared wisely or properly," Daniels said. "They've done a great job in providing an answer to those criticisms."

Markt Lytle, a former legislator who now lobbies on behalf of Belterra Casino, said that Lawrenceburg officials took a "courageous step" in agreeing to distribute money regionally.

But he said that it probably won't stop lawmakers in the future from looking at local casino-tax revenue.

"I'm not sure they'll ever really take the money," he said of lawmakers. "It would be a difficult thing to do, but it's an issue that's going to keep coming back."