Local News in Brief : Pact on Overseeing Card Club Approved
After two months of legal and administrative delays, the Bell City Council approved an agreement with a group of casino operators who will oversee the California Bell Casino when the city eventually takes over the financially ailing card club.
The operating agreement between the Community Redevelopment Agency and California Casino Properties Inc. leaves the city with one final hurdle in its 14-month quest to become the first municipality in the country to own a gambling club.
The city must raise $7.1 million to complete eminent-domain proceedings against the 8-year-old card club, City Administrator John Bramble said.
That figure--the agreed-upon fair market value of the club set by real-estate appraisers last year--will be raised through the sale of revenue bonds, a process that will begin immediately, Bramble said.
City officials, who had once predicted that the club takeover would be completed by last fall, estimated that the city could acquire ownership by early next year.
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