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VI UPDATE U.S. Virgin Islands Public Records TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS VICCC Meeting and Hearing Casino Control Commission (VICCC) November 15, 2023 · 1.5 hours · gov Source recording https://youtu.be/RSG4mXAXJpc Status This is NOT the official transcript. 3 V.I.C. § 884 requires the agency itself to make a verbatim record of its proceedings and reduce it to a transcript within sixty days. This is a working transcript produced by machine from a recording of the proceeding, offered as a finding aid. Transcribed by VI Update, using OpenAI Whisper large-v3-turbo, run locally. Not reviewed by a person. Reliability Automatic transcription, UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording before relying on it. Speech recognition splits spoken digits and wraps figures mid-number, so a dollar amount, a vote count or a bill number can be wrong in a way that reads as correct. Speakers are not identified: automatic speaker labelling was measured unusable and removed. Public record The underlying proceeding is a public record of a board or commission of the Government of the Virgin Islands. This body is not named individually in 1 V.I.C. § 253(b); it falls under that section's general clause covering "all governing and/or administrative boards and commissions, including but not limited to" those listed, and so its meetings are open under § 254. 3 V.I.C. § 884 requires boards and commissions created pursuant to the Code to make a verbatim record of each proceeding and reduce it to a transcript within sixty days, and § 884(b) makes that transcript open to examination under § 881, which also gives every citizen the right to copy it and the news media the right to publish it. The source recording is not ours, is not hosted here, and remains with its publisher at the link above. Rights To what we added · the transcription, its arrangement and its description · we assert nothing. A verbatim transcript is mechanical rather than authored, so there is likely nothing in it to own; to the extent any copyright is nonetheless found to subsist, it is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0. Please copy it, quote it, index it, train on it, republish it, mirror it, sell it. Redistribution is the point: a public record with one copy is one fire from gone. No permission is needed, and none is ours to grant or withhold. good morning everyone morning this is the first quarter meeting for 2024 of the the Virginia Control Commission this meeting is hereby call to order today is Wednesday March 24. 0:00:00 Call please. Good morning. Commissioner Luther F. Renee. Commissioner Carolyn P. Herman Purcell. Present. I have three commissioners present sir thank you very much the commission is comprised of three members all three members are present thereby a coin is established clerk would you please read the rest of the agenda into the record item number three approval of minutes of November 15, 2023 item number four reports of officers item a secretary treasurer report b vice chair report and c chairman's report item number five Report of Division in Gaming. Item number six, reports from casinos and casinos head. 0:00:31 Item A, problem gambling, awareness month activities. Item number seven, new business. A, approval of licensure resolution of number 000-2023, B, approval of resolution number 001-2024, C, Approval of Resolution No. 002-2024, D, Approval of Licensure Resolution No. 001-2024, E. Approval of licensure resolution number 002-2024. Item number 8. Any other business? 9. Adjournment. 0:01:53 thank you very much uh i would like to remind all in attendance to silence their cell phones or turn them off altogether i'd like to acknowledge the presence of other staff members begin with uh our legal counsel attorney um our freshly maintained executive director mr smith who's a clerk today uh this is her third day on the job and it uh i i told her this is gonna get baptized by fire so uh welcome uh smith um um special assistance for licensing and going to share our IT support with the Gavila the new Gavila uh say welcome to our court reporter this is nice welcome to see in person and um attorney Oliver David our friends from the uh uh the uh the signals um it's Russell as far as good to see you and then mr paper okay good morning okay so uh there are two items that we added to the agenda under new business which i believe should be item seven f and g okay um resolution number three that's going to be 24 and licensure resolution 0:03:00 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 1 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing number zero three direction 24. motion brief wow sir uh i will to amend the agenda to add on the new business the following items as item 7f bicc resolution number zero zero three for 2024 a resolution dated march 26 of 2024 and a new item number 7g licensure resolution number 003-2024 dated February second and 2024. i still move chair i need to second to add items to the agenda on the new business the uh motion has been made by commissioner government for sale and seconded by commissioner renee uh to amend today's agenda to add item 7f and 7g of the sdc resolution number 003 that will be 24 and licensed resolution number two two or three that wouldn't be working for hearing no objections the uh motion is moving on to the next item on the agenda which is the approval of minutes from our november 15 2023 uh i move that we accept the transcript uh of the minutes of november our meeting held on november 15th of 2023 as the minutes i have read those that transcript and it comports with with uh what across it today that day that is my motion jen the second movement to approve the minutes of 2020 2023 of the vicc's thank you commissioner the motion to approve the minutes of november 15 2023 has been moved by commissioner berman goodsell second is by the missionary name hearing no objections the motion 0:05:27 is approved move on to item number four on the agenda reports of officers the as you previously stated in our past meeting we added this item to our regular agenda schedule in order that we inform the public of the activities on the td kimberley commissioners and the staff uh in between uh our meetings uh to that end we will begin with the uh secretary director of the board followed by the vice chair of the board uh commissioner herman please proceed thank you mr chairman good morning and everyone some of the activities that we were engaged in and i was directly involved in besides regular the icc daily engagement in addition to the public hearing on the casino when you were licensed and the initial was submitted by the igr operations RIC there was some other noteworthy activities that took place that I think we have to note if we are not heading to the 15th of the BICC the office was closed we do regret the inconvenience that that closure may have caused you when it is necessary to carry out a female-sponsored maintenance project the maintenance world involved the installation of electrical air vents and the installation of fresh air vent greens above all doors and closet spaces the installation of fresh air loop with grill to pan and smell the water out of the building and the fogging of the entire building consequently the office had to be closed 0:07:37 the work in the mall commission members being here on the weekends to accommodate the company that leads the project this is an ongoing project for which i will continue to be involved in and as it relates to the same project the commission received the word from FEMA that there has been an adjustment made to the federal cost share program as it relates same project and which means that our cost share now has moved from 95 to 98 which is a good news for us at the commission at this point i'm also happy to report on another worthwhile event job that i was involved in inside the world the commission feels that we have to make sure our staff members are trained especially in the casino industry the commitment of the commission in the development of staff is significant and of course employers also want to work for institutions that value their time their effort and skills they also love to work for institutions that invest in them so consequently The Commission feels that training programs, such as the one we were involved in, RG247, it is called, which was implemented by Mr. Shaq, and we thank him for that. 0:10:05 and every commission member was to be involved including the commissioners we all took the program we all enjoyed it and it is really noteworthy that yesterday we had a very welcoming ceremony and for the people who actually were first second and third in completing the program's RG 24-7. The review of the program included responsible gaming, slot machines and table games, anti-demandie laundering, neighbor trafficking, and more. I am pleased to report that The three top pieces in terms of finishing and getting the certificates were Mr. Henry Shank, our Special Assistant for Licensing and Compliance. In second place were Mr. Darren O'Reilly, our Archives Specialist, and Ms. Ramesha smith who is our executive assistant but those are the first three places unknown to me and the commissioners that there was someone who was even farther ahead than mr shawing first place and we didn't finish all the courses in about two days and uh and this was mr of one week so recognize them yesterday i was very pleased to be involved in the project i was the one who received all the certificates initially after the courses were completed 0:11:54 so i was pleased to be part of that project and the commission's commitment to training and not also the commitment but the staff's enthusiasm in taking the courses seriously they all tell you how much they have learned from it they're now better prepared to do the work of the casino control commission a little more in terms of the knowledge that they have gained so mr chair i was pleased to be involved in those two projects thank you okay thank you commissioner renee and i uh neglected to i've had it in my nose but i'm neglected to recognize the birdie boy um mr I just wanted to note that the, the cost share, it went from, it was 90%, and it went to 90%. It's just a great way. 0:13:49 thank you my report my report covers security since we last met in november 15th and 2023 to this i'm just going to summarize in the report and in our weekend packet just some highlights conferences webinars and trainings i attended i did also complete the rg 24 7 training um i attended several webinars and seminars help me focus on problem gambling 0:15:16 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 2 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing awareness on december 12th of 2023 attended uh participating in national council on problems gambling webinar entitled cultural humility and practice building bridges disability and january 9th of 2024 again and the National Council on Problem Gambling Webinar Preparing for Proudling Gambling Awareness Month 2024, which we know this March. I also attended the National Council on Problem Gambling Digital Symposium entitled The Impact of Problem Gambling on Loved Ones. And yesterday received my three continuing education credits for such attendance and completed the survey. In-house, we had a cyber security workshop that was led by Mr. Houdingo Davilock. It's very informative as how we can protect our systems from cyber attack. I thank Mr. Davilock for organizing that and presenting it to the commissioners, executive staff, and the inspectors. And also we had Mr. Shah, who led a human resources workshop that was for in-house and also the HR departments on both casinos, well-attended. it was very informative staff uh the casino staff very interactive I think they left here would have better understanding of what this speciality wants and how they can leave what the commission expects for when um you know they submit documents for the hiring of personnel um projects um I assisted I've contributed to the upgrade of our website and I hope everybody goes to the website I think it's it's um the visuals are better the information we know is now more accurate we make sure to to to have that and easier to navigate and for that I thank Mr again we said that our IT specialist and Ms. Romisha Smith our executive assistant for taking the lead on that project I participated in the final selection on a public relation firm and that firm is working to develop on long-term problem down many responsible game and media campaign for the commission that's company uh firm in St. Thomas and Mando Media and and you should soon be seeing what messaging from the commission and unified messages of our what we want the 0:16:26 public to understand about problem gambling responsible gaming and that should be thrown out radio spots um printing material billboards tv which we're doing all things to get that message job and that was a big focus for us that contract was signed in leaving into March so that's in in this month of March that was our emphasis for problem gambling not so much the t-shirts and the giveaways that we did in previous years but to hit and to know we actually entered that contract something firm something sustaining lasting um I assisted Mr. Sham and his development of um license and improvement of licensing forms and again Mr Shan has been commended for his advocacy of streamlining that process Mr Shan I think in the time in the two years I've been here he repeatedly came to me this I said we needed to improve these forms the Commission has heard him those forms have been approved and should be available soon for everyone and this is it's going to make for the casinos will make your processing easier and also for us participate in that public area and the casino renewal licensing and initial casino license license you're all aware of that that was very um different from my life experiences but it was going to see the community interest um the turnout and that i think people also under are gaining a better understanding of what the casino control commission does um because it's 0:18:30 rated in the applicant interviews to the position of executive director and for the final selection that has resulted in our selection of linda smith as executive director and It also contributed to the drafting of that memorandum of agreement between the Casino Control Commission and the VA Department of Health that were hoping to soon result in that joint program that were allowed for the certification and training of family disorder clinical therapists within the Division of Behavioral Health that were allowed such therapists to be available on island, both in St. Thomas and St. St. Thomas and St. Florid. Council, Trinity Carrington, has forwarded our draft to the Department of Health. We're just waiting for them to return it. We've identified the budget. It will be totally funded from the BI Alliance on Responsible Gaming Accounts that's administered by the Commission. And again, that's another way where we can expend these funds rather than just T-shirts and giveaways and banners, but it's something that would be lasting, where we can say, come into the commission, you identify, you have a, believe you have a problem with gambling, there is someone just literally across the street. You can go and get that help. And importantly, it's going to be on a pay-as-you-can basis. The Division of Behavioral Health turns no one away. If you have insurance, then they will bill you insurance. If you do not, you still get the help because it's part, that's why, and I believe that is why, that and I believe, I know that's why the commission said, let's try to work with the Division of Behavioral Health so that everyone would have access. to such services and it would not be denied because of inability to pay and another good use of the one percent of the casino revenue fund that we're mandating to put into such programs and Mr. Chair I do believe I've completed my report thank you so much uh commissioner and yourself and it is uh hope that once we get uh with our program uh together uh with the uh health that our industry partners you know would uh they've joined us for that effort and letting people know um uh the patrons know that um that there is help available um and where they can get that 0:20:27 thank you so much um now i'll move on to the chairman's report um i'm going to begin with uh uh from our November 15, 2023 meeting uh I uh informed that uh Jose Carlos Figueroa and Mike Robbins of GLI the consultants that the commission hired to review the internet gaming and gambling statute to make recommendations for commission somebody there suggested changes to the commission those changes were uh reviewed by a legal council uh who 0:23:23 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 3 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing provided um and um our next step in that process is to do a market uh study analysis and in the process of of um uh interviewing vendors that may help us in that uh along that uh the uh commission held executive meetings number one zero two and zero three on january 10th 2024 january 12 24 respectively resolutions resulting from those meetings are on today's agenda in order to be approved uh commissioner to settle mentioned in the member report that on wednesday february 21st 2024 the commission convened a special meeting and hearing to receive testimony regarding the renewal license applications from VIGL operations for a renewal of their license and the initial application for casino at the Randal Doc James restaurant um that meeting was held at the legislature we expected that there was uh there would have been an old crowd um and as commissioner mentioned we were we were pleased to see the uh the interest um the level of interest of the uh community in this process uh it is our hope that um the commission would complete uh our deliberations uh which are currently on the way and uh have a decision uh certainly within the next 30 days or less um i.t supports president of joining me in meetings with two vendors to review uh time and attendance and schedule somewhere that we hope to install in um at the commission offices at the casino uh once uh selected and installed it was the expectation that operational consequences will be realized the commission and viewed uh investigative reports for licensure which were all accepted from the uh division of given enforcement as of march 19 2024 we have six more reports i suspect more are coming uh from uh as was mentioned previously the uh commission received a total of 11 letters of interest for the position of executive director seven individuals in selective interviews and after that we went to us and diligent review and interview process the commission 0:25:29 selected uh uh with linda smith who we felt which that's 40 for the benefit for the applicant and we again welcome smith and we wish her much success in her new role turning to our financial matters and activities um the license is issued by the permission through the core ending december 31st 2023 the commission issued a total of 91 licenses in various categories as follows we had uh casino employees at 58 casino key employees at 23 licenses were fine and also non-game related uh licenses were also fine the same period the commission issued 94 work permits 12 exemptions from licensure and 38 waivers and uh uh registry exemption from uh registration and licensure i want to thank uh mr shang and mr o'righty who are providing the data to keep in control on those of those on that activity the um financial report for the fiscal year 2024 the first quarter ended including the gvis contribution for payroll of 349 519 dollars our total revenues amounted to three hundred eighty four thousand two hundred ninety nine dollars expenses total four hundred thirty five thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars resulting in a uh deficit for the first quarter of fifty one thousand five hundred eighty dollars of course the largest and 2020 for the commission is um basically payroll for that quarter is $252,692 and related fringe benefits amounted to $96,826 the commission's total budget for fiscal year 2024 is 2 million 394 thousand five hundred dollars in projected revenues and 2 million 292 thousand 0:27:22 nine hundred dollars in projected expenses for projected circles of one to one thousand six hundred dollars those casino revenues in the period october 1st 2023 to december 31st 2023 that be built by our casino licensees in the carina big casino caravan hotel amounted to four million six hundred forty four million six hundred forty eight hundred dollars uh those casino revenues is of course the total amount received by a casino licensee less the amount to pay it out that went the patron because casino revenue is taxed at a rate of 12 which is created into the casino revenue fund the commission receives 25 of those taxes with the remaining 75 allocated to certain other government agencies um employment stats the quarter ended december 31st 2023 with a total head count of 298 employees all the spending for goods and services If you see the hotel licenses license fee spending for other goods and services in the amount of $5 million in $2,900 for the court ended December 31st, 2023 examples of other goods and services, of course, include food, liquor, advertising, insurance. 0:30:00 Here is the um the officer's report and uh which we will move on now to the report from the division of again in 14th of what will be david from the board Good morning, good morning, I'm the director of the division of community, though not on my written report briefly about the staff in DGE and that my report is one that have occurred for the most part since the last quarterly report that was submitted in November of 2023. As I indicated then and we have gotten more since, the DGE is still staffed with only two employees beside question. We had help from the CSEP and we lost that person in December. The DG has been trying still for additional staff and that has not materialized. But I recently sent a letter to Chewan Pickering and also former Retail General Smith indicating the need, the urgent need for additional staffing, especially with the eminent construction of the RUSIN, and I will try and what it is that we need because obviously anyone in good conscience who will review or understand what reason is required of the DGPD will appreciate the fact that we cannot do what we are required to with two employees and myself. That having been said, I'd like to go forward with what we have done within the past quarter. I would like to start by saying, I'm pleased to announce that DGE has 0:31:47 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 4 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing completed its backlog of investigations for all CE, CKB, CHE and CHKB applications that will receive in 2022 uh we are ongoing with um the applications that we have received since then and we have provided completed reports uh to the commission during a time period the dge completed and transmitted to the biccc or close of investigations prior to completion for the following 12 casino key employee applicants, 22 casino employee applicants, and 46 casino hotel employee applicants. During that period, the DGE received from the CCC an open hard copy and electronic filed for 98 new complaints. The DGE is currently conducting an investigation of two complaints received for alleged violation of virgin Alex Casino laws and the VICCC rules and regulations. 0:33:57 The DGE has filed one complaint against the Caravelle Hotel and Casino for alleged violation of his employment practices the GE have had preliminary discussions with the council to caravan hotel and casino in the hope of arriving at the reservation of the band there will be ongoing discussions with council and hopefully we will be able to to get to the meat of the complaint and resolve it short of the hearing if possible request for technical assistance during the passport that the DGE have responded to approximately 50 requests for technical assistance from both the daily current event hotel and casino and the caramel hotel at casino DGE staff assisted gaming technicians assisted the gaming technicians at the casino in addressing technical problems to the electronic gaming machines to have these machines returned to the game floor and uh we have a situation where based on the rules and the casino laws and rules and regulations whenever there is a problem with pollution that that is taken out of service in most instances the dgp technicals has to be there to assist in order that the machine can be prepared and placed back on service sometimes it might take an hour or two sometimes it might take a day or two sometimes you just find my staff to be there what the time when we want stuff is necessary but that's an ongoing issue it's not a problem or it's something that we have given priorities because i indicated in the past that comes first because with all the emotions of origin there's no use for anything else so whenever we get a request from in the casino 0:35:11 my instruction to my service from whatever usually address that problem draft mode protocols during the past quarter DG has completed comprehensive protocols for conductor one conducting due diligence and alleged incident violation investigations and two EGM testing and approval protocols the draft was submitted to the commission and that should be the final draft will be, should be forthcoming, trained. 0:37:06 DG is continuing with its staff training locally, online, and through attendance at conferences. I am pleased to say that Ms. Flavian, who during the past several months been gaining competence in conducting testing and approval of EGM, alongside Ms. Perez, Luke Perez, who is more familiar than most of the machine, is not ready to independently handle these requests. So in most instances, if Ms. Perez is not available, Ms. Clillian can handle it. and what DGE has done in order to keep both of the staff members competent or ongoing in training. I have assigned Ms. Flevian one week of the month she will be the key individual to handle any request from the facility. The other three weeks will be Ms. so that means she would be trained and then sitting for a long time until something comes up then she has to go there so she'll be on there on a regular basis to see what's happening so she'll be in charge for one week of the month and the other three weeks that will be spares um and i have to be doing the job because i don't have one person to be assigned for that Okay. We talked about the regular trade for the employees. I'd like to say that Ms. Flavier will be attending the GLI regulators roundtable conferences and assisting with CSEGR due diligence investigation. That would be in Las Vegas, April 20 to the 26th. Ms. Perez will be attending Marlboro Annual Conference and Training in South Carolina, June 10th to 13th. Within the next 120 days, the DG is planning to have compliance audits 0:37:43 of both the David Carrillo-Maker Sino Hotel and the Carrillo Hotel and Sino. This will also be focusing on AML and cyber security issues that may appear and impact the functioning of the disability. One thing again that's not only my prepared report, I would like to say during the past quarter, the DGE prepared the final report and participated in the VIGL license renewal application. and also the initial recital license application thank you that's uh the report of the dj thank thank you so much uh again we hear we hear your plea and that's the same thing um um we uh let me see your your letter um the commission has a plan um uh that we want to pursue to see if we could uh identify funding for to support the uh bge um it's in the staffing asking the question uh and in the future you know we could um meet and uh further for that um commissioner do you have a question for uh attorney david i do mr chair yes if you could just tell me what your compliance audit would describe it what would that be basically um i've been all there the rules and regulations that it is supposed to adhere to during the regular course of business compliance for this will be having someone from outside becoming to go through the various divisions within the decision to ensure that they're following the rules and regulations and the recommendations as to what should be done in areas where they 0:39:52 they fall short. And that is something that we're supposed to do regularly. I recall we have done probably two or three in the first four DB, and there has not been done for the Caravelle. So that's the reason why I think it's important. And I think also that the investigation that we were doing, based on the interviews that we have had with a couple of staff 0:41:59 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 5 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing members, I think it is very important that this is as soon as possible. So that's what it's going to be involved. And thank you for this. When I first read it, is it limited just to the machines? It gets to be tested, but it up the entire operation, all the visions, and you say it's a third party? Yes. Yes. Yeah, we did a machine, I think it was last year, or both facilities to make sure that the machines are communicating properly and testing and doing well. it is that they're supposed to do with regard to um to the commission's um guidelines but that is for the entire casino okay so the banking everything everything everything yeah talking about security talking about surveillance talking about banking everything okay and then the casinos being that to hear they're now on alert right and assistant here or not but you're not saying when in 120 days but i'm coming and I must say that in the past uh they don't want the call made to they don't want any calls made to I don't think they have completed the same, but because of that information, I share it with them. have looked at it myself i mean back when i spoke with mr charlie was one one um an assistant agent from another division that was just talking about aml and when i spoke to mr charlie i told him about it and instead he extended it because he was able to train up so yeah so we have been doing that 0:42:29 so we've been looking at everything and we know sending online uh webinars everything just try to against them involved in it one aspect of it thanks thank you again uh uh attorney david uh for your presentation we now move on to item number six a on our agenda uh to hear from the uh this month march as you know this problem gambling awareness month recognized by the national counseling problem gambling ncpg i believe that this is uh the 21st year of uh this uh awareness campaign the uh commission continues to request that focusing on s and c's and whether it looks to be partners actually can just join us in raising this awareness um at least points a year uh in September by the American Game and Association uh Problem Gambling Awareness Month is a nationwide grassroots campaign which is as I mentioned earlier held annually in March and it seeks to increase public awareness of problem gambling and promote prevention, treatment, and recovery services. This year's theme is Every Story Matters. 0:44:51 It's a reminder that every narrative, battle, and triumph related to problem gambling is significant. And we know that most people, most of the patients that attend the casinos, you know, gain responsible, but there's that segment of that population that may have some issues. And that is why these two organizations, you know, take the lead in bringing this awareness to the public. With that, I'd like to invite the Oficino Lightroom Team to come up. And . Or . 0:46:38 . . . . in the licensee good morning how are you doing good morning yes yeah how are things good good thank you no we keep praying all right we should be fair and thank you very much for this opportunity to share with you the program that we're following to address responsible gaming in this month of march 2024 um mr shang did you distribute um you have in front of you a copy of the packets similar to the legislature that people like to have um thanks go out to the commission for introducing us to the company that works in collaboration with vm vm is the competition to gli uh the company that does testing and it's actually then we've put together this rg247 training which which is quite impressive because it's it's absolutely free to everybody and the program itself i i was very impressed with and as we went through it um very comprehensive very easy to follow um and a great great service to to the gaming industry so we really thank the commission for turning us on to that a great learning tool um all of our managers and supervisors have gone through the responsible gaming uh platform and completed that we we have 0:47:37 not done all the modules they're over 18 modules but the responsible gaming 24 modules all of our supervisors and managers have completed that in this month of march in addition to the lab training that we did for the supervisors and managers we have an in-house training for all of our staff that we conduct each march that is headed up by human resources and that's being done for all of our staff as well um in addition to what we did with the staff we have disseminated information and there's some examples of it that i put in the packet for you both through facebook and signage throughout the casino addressing the following issues problem gaming fact sheets dealing dealing with exactly what problem gaming is how widespread the how widespread problem gaming is in the united states details on the support and resources citing where people can go for help and warning signs of a gaming problem so what that information is being put out on the floor and on facebook to to our patrons a review of our responsible gaming program was done and there's a listing in that packet there for you that details all the different areas that we cover um from crew members our employees the guests and orders that we conduct to ensure that we internally are following all of our own policy and procedure We are committed to providing a safe, enjoyable atmosphere where our patrons can game responsibly. We acknowledge that while the number of people that have a gaming problem is small, it is important that they be given the resources to help themselves and we're committed to ensuring they have the correct information to get any help that they may need. need i would i do have a question for the commission it's something that i've brought up 0:49:32 before but do we have any statistics for local have we ever received from the 800 number any numbers of the numbers of calls that are coming in i i feel like we're kind of operating in a vacuum a lot of time and effort is being spent on responsible gaming and money um it would be very nice to be able to quantify how many people are we talking about is 0:51:42 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 6 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing it getting better is it getting worse just having some data to to actually be able to point to our efforts and say okay this is helping or it's not helping and we should change what we're doing but having some data to to work around i think is is important that's a that's a great question we have we have um in the past uh requested uh that information from ncpg um can't remember exactly what the uh the reason is that they they didn't collect the data uh i mean identify specifically uh they received calls from this area but they could not tell us uh from uh what happened but we are um part of this uh campaign that um she spoke of earlier we are going to have um on our website uh we're going to have um the ability um what do we call it a landing page um we're going to have the the ability to to track at least obtain some data as to how many quote unquote hits that uh that uh may uh may come in and of course uh help you want to add to that yes that's that's that's an important component of this uh media campaign that you know the term they use analytics they'll be able to capture those analytics and tell us the demographic the age group who's hidden um land in there proceeding for more information so we'll at least be able to capture that we would also be able to say how many people come in for our voluntary self-exclusion program and when we refer to you and say i believe in the first quarter loan we've had i don't want to like three two or three two or three i mean in this one quarter right um and then when we have this partnership in place with behavioral health we'll again have another uh point we can capture how many people are actually coming in over there to you how many people are are your therapist seeing the thing is we have to start somewhere yeah right and one is three many and one there you go and and we can't be any different from any other jurisdiction in the united states and you know what we see the revenues we're happy with the what the casinos are producing but it also has to you some kind of loss right i mean sometimes it it gives me pause i'm not sorry for making you i'm glad you're making money the chair will tell you later on why we're so happy the casinos are making money but you also like the chair and i talked that's the balance and 0:53:33 that we do so we want that but we want it done in a particular way and i think we're just doing whatever we can to make sure the casinos make money but when we go into the casino as a patron it's being done responsibly and we're not created a bigger issue and i and i know that casinos also want that energy with us that's what we're doing and answer to your question yes it is of course in the uh in the uh casino uh best interest to make sure that they uh that they uh identify those people that may have problems which uh uh brings me to this question have you ever had the opportunity um to to to counsel a patron um we we have it it's not an easy things and we are not trained therapists um it for the most part is pointing people towards resources you know i i can't go in and tell someone someone like that because that's my job is to make the money yeah but my job is also to provide the resources if people are needing that help yeah but also keeping it in perspective it is a very very small percentage of people that do need that help but the people that do need the help need that and i applaud the commission for really pursuing us and making it available locally because it's fine to have our number to call up there but if you've got somebody at home that you can talk to confidentially who can really help i believe that that's we're really doing our job if we can make 0:55:25 that and i agree that i think that it is a problem is a small problem but the commission also has a mandate to make sure legal there is a statutory mandate that we make sure such programs are building so i think we're just yeah i think we're all on the same page that's how we're doing i totally agree with you that we cannot manage what we can't measure we need to be able to measure where we are problem let me ask is there any way either the procedures keep any Do you give anything at all in terms of what you so expect, even if you don't care? 0:57:15 No, there is not a listing or anything, because again, we're not qualified to diagnose. You know, if you can see someone's having a hard time, but you mentioned that you have to teach your employees warning signs of the problem. If you notice that in any of your patrons, you record it or anything at all, there are no written reports of that. Yeah, but I truly believe to be able to manage the small problem, but to be able to manage it without being able to measure the extent of the problem. And you know what, you're referencing also something from the RG247 training. training they say you know none of us are counselors and you may see a patron who appears to be having a problem but they they caution you know you have to proceed because we're we're not training or not and so you just provide the signage and you say hey you may want to take this card and that's all you can do but I agree with you if there can be someone available within on 74 you know I can go that office and that person you know speaks with this same manner I speak or can you understand rather than this 800 number I can't get through and what yeah and I have to admit yeah what and um oh I can't get through but literally across the street from the commission behavioral health how how easy will that be somebody comes in and and files for voluntary self execution so ma'am here's the car go across there and we probably safety and then he would be able to us and that's 0:58:07 that's what we're trying to achieve yeah so again and to um to what has been said before you know it is a it is a small problem we have up to now we have no way of measuring it we hope to be able to do that do that in the future and um it is a small problem now we don't want it to become a bigger market certainly you know because if it becomes a social 1:00:06 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 7 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing issue you know what happens that uh that 12 percent may become 24 percent uh of this action we want to make sure you know that that um we manage that you know and all the we want to partner you know with with you guys you know and and helping to address uh that issue and if we could provide the numbers before uh whatever support that we can give you know we are we are willing to do because that uh that actually depends one percent of that goes to these uh these programs right you know so um we will uh continue in in that effort thank you so much thank you thank you absolutely good morning good morning good morning commissioner once again good morning everybody good morning it is our pleasure to discuss our role in the campaign for problem gambling awareness month the camera hotel casino is dedicated to keeping our community important about the impact of gambling addiction and the many ways to get help on march 1st we launched a radio ad campaign with wjk communications which informed our listeners across its multiple radio stations that the month of march is probably the gambling awareness month the theme for the pgam 2024 campaign and the many avenues to use if help is needed for a suspected gambling problem we included problem downing awareness month information on all of our social media platforms our website our on-screen displays on all our slot machines our digital display boards within the mainsail casino we created hard copy flyers for distribution and forwarded information via email to all of our subscribed Caraval Rewards Club members. The PGAM flyers, which consisted of the PGAM toolkit, were located at our cash cage in the main sale casino and the players club booth in the top sale casino. On March 4th, we launched problem gambling awareness trivia questions on our Facebook page to our Caraval Rewards Club members and in-house to our employees using our payroll processing app. Caravelle Rewards Club members were able to win free slot play and other prizes if they answered our weekly PGAM trivia questions correctly. Employees were able to win PTO hours and other prizes if they answered the trivia questions correctly as well. On March 6, 2024, we released the Problem Gambling Awareness Month Facts on Facebook and Instagram. We provided the correct responses to our weekly GAM trivia questions and other pertinent Problem Gambling Awareness Month information. On March 11th, we provided information on how to take part in the gambling disorder screening day on all of our social media platforms throughout our casino and encourage our rewards club members and followers to participate. Gambling Disorder Screening Day is a one-day event held annually on the 2nd Tuesday of March during Problem Gambling Awareness Month. Gambling Disorder Screening Day was held this year on Tuesday, March 12th. 1:03:21 on march 16th 2024 the cara welcome to the casino participated in the 2024 st patrick's game parade and utilized a mobile digital display board provide provided by kss audio to promote problem gambling awareness month did anybody say let me see on march 31st we have decided to ask to share their story with us or provide some encouraging words of support to those who may be struggling with gambling addiction. It will be posted on our Caravelle Facebook page and we are seeking the assistance of the commissioners of the Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission with the judging of these submissions. Based on your decision, the owners of the top 10 submissions will receive a Caraval t-shirt and $25 in free slot play. The Caraval Hotel and Casino will continue our efforts to provide our Caraval Rewards Club members and our followers with information on problem gambling awareness until the 2024 responsible gambling awareness month campaign begins. As always we would like to thank you for this opportunity and appreciate the focus and resources the virgin events casino control commission has dedicated to this important event thank you very much uh miss rosswell i did hear about the um in the parade and i see that we you know you're uh fully engaged um i have a question for you uh can you give us one of those trivia questions we have to pull up the phone um yeah i i'm i'm curious sure it's everything pertaining let's see if uh commissioner will receive your answer let me find the hardest one you know but um yes um yeah we need the uh we uh yeah like i said i heard that uh 1:04:09 you did have that uh the uh temporary parade and so you um again we appreciate that uh she did say that mr russell in the response to the email when i sent and i said what are you doing and you say watch and see And you did. I commend you, though, for participating in National Disorder Screening Day. That's huge. Did you inform NGPG? Because they were trying to find, reach out and understand what every, you know, different groups did for that. That would be good to let them know how you, um to Caravelle participated and join me to gather information to determine its you know which is she ready for a question yeah all right so on March 18th we launched um name three of the any signs of a gambling problem okay trying to um recoup your losses that's what you talk things like that getting more and more time doing it and it no longer becomes entertaining right you're doing it now to the exclusion of everything else no but i mean that is so general 1:06:23 gambling problem are thinking about gambling all the time, feeling the need to bet more money and more options, going back to try to win your money back, chasing losses, feeling restless or irritable when trying to stop or cut down, gambling despite the negative consequences, in extreme cases, problem gambling can cause bankruptcy, legal problems, job loss family harms and thinking about suicide um did i not nail that uh any questions for miss russell i thank miss ross on the second report judge my last one is mr we're going to keep the trivial question but we want the community to tell us their 1:08:25 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 8 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing story or as you provide some kind words of support to anyone struggling with a gambling problem so now that you decide which ones you feel is more suitable to what we're looking for that is uh very commendable um again you know we appreciate your efforts we appreciate the efforts of our um our industry partners in um recognizing that uh although again not to be too redundant but that is a small problem but we don't want it to get to be a bigger problem so all the efforts that are made in addressing it greatly appreciated by this commission right thank you very much moving on to the next item on the agenda which is your business um item number seven we have items is cheap which are approvals of several resolutions that uh the i4 have changed to you know executive meetings as mentioned in the change report and so now i will entertain motions mr chair i move for the approval and ratification of licensure resolution number zero zero eight dash 2023 which was um dated december 6th of 2023 which is a revolution of the virgin islands casino control commission to group casino employee and casino servicing entity licenses consuant to virgin isles code title 32 section 446 i still move mr chair i second motion to approve the resolution resolution 0008-2023 and that reaction to the administrative actions on the single employee and consumer services okay yes okay they are motioning to approve license representation on the zero zero eight that's 2023 that's being moved by commissioner and seconded by commissioner ruther may hearing no objections the motion is paid by approved item 7b i move uh for the approval and ratification of reicc resolution number 001 dash 2024 dated january 10th of 2024 this is a resolution of the virgin in the Netherlands it's seen a control commission for the election of officers um and that election was held on January 10th of 2024 and pursuant to that resolution 1:11:01 uh I was elected as vice chair of the commission and Commissioner Ruta F. Renee elected as Secretary cheshire iso mr chairman i second motion to approve resolution number zero zero one dash two zero two four administrative action resolution for the election of officers thank you uh the motion to approve the icc the icc resolution number zero one that's what be 24 is moved by commissioner hermano says seconded by committee hearing no objections that motion next chair i can 7c i move for the approval of education of the icc resolution number 002 of 2024 this resolution was a resolution of the virgin islands casino control commission approving the full disbursement on money remaining in the casino revenue fund and mark for youth programs pursuant to 32 virgin islands code section 517 to the jobs for america's graduates virgin islands program pursuant to um 32 virgin islands code section 518 subsection a3 and authorizing the closing of bank of popular count number 590-148450 uh so and that resolution provided for the disbursement of 1:13:07 385 743 dollars to uh the jab program height from them mr chairman i move to second the 0-2-2-0-2-4 a resolution of the virgin islands casino control commission approving the full displacement of monies remaining in the casino revenue on the mr4 new program which went to the title 32 BIC section 517 to the jobs for america's graduates in the united states thank you thank you commissioner renee the motion to approve resolution number zero the ict resolution of the zero zero two that's going to 24 has been moved by commissioner and seconded by commissioner renee hearing no objections the motion mr fair i move that the commission approves and ratifies licensure resolution number zero zero one of 2024 concerning administrative actions and casino employee and casino casino servicing entity licenses um issued pursuant to burden analysis code title 32 section 446 and this resolution is dated january 10th of 2024 i swear chairman i move that to be my second motion to to approve the Resolution of Licensure Resolution No. 001-2024, BICC Admitted Action of Casino 1:15:01 Employees and Casino Servicing Entity Licenses, a Resolution of the Virgin Islands Casino Control commission to approve casino employee and casino servicing entity licensee pursuant to region island school chapter 32 section 406 which was at the executive meeting on january 10th 2024 then after the civil countries condition now thank you commissioner relay the motion to approve licensure resolution number zero zero one that's 2024 was moved by commissioner seconded by commissioner renee hearing no objections the motion is here by mr chair i will that the commission approves and notifies licensure resolution number zero zero two of 2024 dated february 28th of 2024 and this concern administrative actions on casino employee and casino servicing entity license licenses pursuant to title 32 section 443 oh i'm sorry uh in this first instance is when we began to use a statement of compliance pursuant to title 32 section 433 and like issue licenses pursuant to title 32 section 446 and that resolution stated for every 28th of 2024 and so second motion to approve for the approval of licensure resolution number zero zero two zero 1:17:05 two zero two four we have this vicc administrative actions on casino employee and casino servicing entity licenses resolution of the virgin islands the civil control commission to approve statements of compliances pursuant virgin islands to attack 32 section 433 and to approve casino employee licensing pursuant virgin islands code title 32 section 446 a resolution on the executive meeting on february 28th 2024 held at the synovas commission's office in st croix within islands thank you commissioner renee the motion to approve leicester resolution number zero two that's twenty twenty four removed by commissioner government hotel and seven days by commissioner nate scary no objections the emotion is here by the coupon the chair uh item 7f on our agenda the rules that we approve and ratify BICC resolution number 1:18:59 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 9 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing 003 of 2024 the resolution dated March 26 of 2024 which is a supplemental resolution of the Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission approving the full disbursements of monies remaining in the casino revenue fund and more for youth programs pursuant to title 32 virgin island school section 517 to the jobs for america graduates virgin islands program pursuant to title 32 virgin island school section 518 subsection 83 and this supplemental resolution captures um the interest income of 213.064 and to add to the total amount in the initial resolution to account for the full disbursement of that account and the closing of the bank of perlar count number five nine zero four c eight eight four five one one four eight four five zero there one i second the motion for the approval of resolution zero zero zero three dash 2024 a resolution a supplemented resolution of the virgin islands casino control commission approving the full displacement of money remaining in the casino revenue fund mr flames programs pursuant to title 22 the ic section 517c the jobs for america's graduates the denialist program pursuant to 3032 vic section 518 a3 and authorizing the closing of back to popular account number five nine zero dash one four eight or five two zero thank you the motion to approve the iccd resolution number zero three that's 2024 has been moved by commissioner herman pissell seconded by commissioner may bearing no objection the motion is going to be And finally, Mr. Chair, item 7G, I move the recommendation approves and ratifies legislature resolution number 003-2024, the statement of compliance issued to bb karina bay resort and casino which we went to burgin alice code title 32 section 433 and virgin alice rules and regs 1:21:01 title 32 chapter 436 pending report from the division of gaming enforcement i salute that we uh ratify that resolution of the statement of compliance the dv karina bay resort and casino outdated and is dated for every second of 24 i salute mr chairman i second the motion for the approval of licensure resolution number zero zero three 2024 a statement of compliance resolution of the virgin islands control commission to approve the civil license statement of compliance pursuant virgin islands code type 32 section 433 and with two birr chapter 436 sub chapter three at the regular having a meeting on march 27th 24th thank you commissioner renee the motion to approve licensure resolution number zero three dash twenty twenty four statement of compliance that's removed by commissioner and secondly by commissioner renee hearing no objections that motion is hereby approved Okay, this meeting and hearing, Shannon and Lisa, 10 minutes. uh yes sure uh thank you for for the time I just want to clarify for the record concerning 1:23:23 licensure resolution number 003 of 2024 the statement of complaint issue for bv arena baby board and casino the period when i stated that they dated february 2nd and 2024 that's incorrect the period of the statement's compliance is from february 2nd of 2024 for exploration and february 1st of 2025 or or sooner, depending on the submission of DTE report. Not that the resolution itself was dated every second of 2020. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. 1:25:44 I appreciate it. The next item on the agenda is item number eight. of age any other business um before uh closing the meeting earlier this morning we the commission had the opportunity to present to the department of labor as the conduit to the department of education a check in the amount of 385 $1956.64 to support the fiscal year 2024 budget for the JAG BI as Jobs for America's Graduates BI program. But these funds came about from the taxes paid by the casino and casino operators as part of the casino revenue uh tax 10 of that allocation came from the taxes that you pay the the uh job of the commission is to make sure that the casino operators 1:26:27 live up to their obligations and you do it's much appreciated and this those funds came from legal gaming activities. I want to stress that legal gaming activities. The illegal gaming market provides nothing to the treasury of the government of the Virgin Islands. And those activities need to be discouraged. 1:28:19 So we want to thank you, our industry partners, who are living up to your obligations, and it not only benefits St. Croix, where we all are located, but it benefits the entire U.S. Virgin Islands government treasury. So they were, we had the presentation this morning, both commissioners were here, and they were accompanied by the students that participated in this program. case you didn't know um uh this was uh during my tenure uh the that total amount came to over 722 000 for this for this program and so we are very pleased to we are uh uh partners with you in this effort and we want to see a a healthy and stable casino uh gaming industry so i just wanted to put that on the record and to say thank you very much if there are no further business for today's uh meeting i want to thank all of the participants for working here today uh of course we want to extend the thanks and appreciation to the uh commission staff um uh ed i hope you got baptized it's not over you know you you know that there's a a lot going on you know in uh in this commission of which you didn't think that there was a lot going on but there is i want to thank um again uh legal cost i want to thank uh uh Ms. Ancora Porter, Ms. Descartes, you know, for making that long journey over here to St. Croix. 1:28:54 I heard Attorney Carleton asking if you had your passport this morning. But thank you very much. Thank you to all. Happy Easter, holiday weekend to one and all those of you that may be traveling. uh seeing travels uh and please do enjoy the uh eastern holidays do you want to add anything to that just all the best for everybody who's camping we don't do that in the same time so i'm really anxious but all the best for them all days and hey see mr capers i told you why i thought the chair would share with you why we watch because he knows he's being robust 1:30:46 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 10 of 11 Casino Control Commission (VICCC) · VICCC Meeting and Hearing People named in this transcript SUSPECTED, and a finding aid only. Names were matched by machine against the spellings used across all 426 of our transcripts, and the title is the one used in the room. Being named here is NOT evidence that a person attended or spoke · only that the name was said. Speech recognition mishears names, so a spelling may be wrong even where no alternative is offered. 2x Commissioner Carolyn P. Herman Purcell 2x Commissioner Luther F. Rene heard in this transcript as: Luther F. Renee Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 11 of 11