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3- <br /> • 1 average night. On a busy night when there are special promotions, there could <br /> 2 be between 300 and 400 people in attendance. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 It now costs $10 per person to get into the hall and Mr. Schmidt stated that, <br /> 5 research has shown that the average bingo player could be expected to lose <br /> 6 between $5 and $6 a night. This does not include losses with pull tabs, for <br /> 7 which no more than $50 in check cashing per person is allowed. Mr. Schmidt <br /> 8 told Commissioner Hansen he had arrived at those estimates by researching the <br /> 9 demographics of the area and not specific games in this area. A neutral area <br /> 10 like the Apache location would probably attract more Protestants who are not <br /> 11 comfortable playing in a Catholic Church as well as some people who wouldn't <br /> 12 care to go to a VFW hall , Mr. Schmidt said. <br /> 13 <br /> 14 Commissioner Madden reported he had talked to someone in the Minnestoa Charities <br /> 15 Review office who had absolutely no knowledge whatever about the Disabled Veterans <br /> 16 group who would be associated with the March of Dimes and other charities in <br /> 17 this enterprise and had indicated to the Commissioner that as far as that person <br /> 18 knew the organization had not registered with the Department of Commerce as <br /> 19 required to do business in Minnesota. the Commissioner said he would be very <br /> 20 uncomfortable recommending approval of an organization which didn't meet the <br /> 21 Charity Review's guidelines. <br /> 22 <br /> 23 Mr. Schmidt said the reason the group might not have registered is because <br /> 24 they operate a wilderness retreat for disabled veterans which is totally funded <br /> 25 by the state, who also gave them the land on which they have their retreat. <br /> 26 He said he had elsewhere in his possession copies of their federal tax returns, <br /> • 27 articles of incorporation and by-laws as well as the state tax exemption number. <br /> 28 <br /> 29 Mr. Schmidt said he is also associated with Allied Charities of Minnesota, <br /> 30 and indicated that organization was also "very concerned about the charitable <br /> 31 gambling image". He indicated he anticipated that with a higher attendance <br /> 32 at the St. Anthony location, it might be possible to reduce the $10 charged <br /> 33 at the door. With the cost of the lease less than 150 customers would cause <br /> 34 them to lose money and Mr. Chuck Wheeler of St. Cloud reiterated that the 200 <br /> 35 figure quoted by Mr. Childs had been given as an average attendance number, <br /> 36 below which it would be impossible for.- the charities to meet the differentials <br /> 37 which the state reviews on an annual basis. Mr. Wheeler reiterated that with <br /> 38 large foundations like McKnight weaning the established charities from dependence <br /> 39 on their help, this type of activity provides steady income for charities between <br /> 40 fund raisers. <br /> 41 <br /> 42 Mr. Cavanaugh said the new business would have a $150,000,000 retail base at <br /> 43 Apache to draw on and they would also benefit from the center's promotions. <br /> 44 <br /> 45 Commissioner Jones estimated 50% of the City's liquor stores' business was <br /> 46 conducted between 4:00 and 8:00 P.M. and he wondered what effect 350 additional <br /> 47 people coming into the area might have on the liquor business when it came <br /> 48 to parking. Mr. Cavanaugh said he had seen for himself that 75% of the Country <br /> 49 Store customers shop before 6:30 P.M. and had noticed earlier that night that <br /> 50 their common parking lot was almost empty. <br /> 51 <br /> • 52 When the Commissioner asked whether it might not be better in terms of parking <br /> 53 to locate this business in the empty space near the car wash, which would be <br /> 54 closed when the bingo parlor is open, the Rein executive said with 2,800 parking <br /> 55 spaces in the center, he could foresee no parking problems for any of the businesses <br />