(Emmetsburg)– Voters in Palo Alto county Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a gaming referendum. 2,461 voted yes while 1,004 voted no.
The proposal calls for a riverboat casino to be located on Five Mile Island Lake near Emmetsburg.
It’s still far from a done deal, though. Promoters need to convince the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to lift it’s moratorium on the issuance of new gaming permits. Emmetsburg Economic Development Director Tom Alger is hopeful they’ll be able to do that. He’s confident the commission would look favorably at the Emmetsburg proposal.
Competition for any additional licenses the state may award is going to be stiff. Numerous areas have expressed interest in hosting gaming operations. Residents in Worth county head to the polls June 24th; Dickinson county voters will decide the fate of a gaming proposal July 8th.
The city of Fort Dodge is also interested in hosting a riverboat casino. A referendum there hasn’t been scheduled yet.
And some officials in Clay county say they’ll promote a proposal for a parimutuel horse operation if the Dickinson county referendum fails.
