By Dar Danielson (Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission voted unanimously Monday against a request to pause Linn County’s new casino license until a lawsuit against the license decision is resolved.

Operators of the Riverside Casino and its nonprofit license holder, the Washington County Riverboat Foundation, challenged the decision. Patty Koller is the executive director of the foundation. “Imagine if you’re a nonprofit, and they’re wanting to take $1.5 million away from you that helped your local organizations, we feel like we have to fight against that,” Koller says.

The lawsuit says the 2021 Linn County referendum that approved gambling did not have the right language. The Racing and Gaming Commission held a hearing on that argument before the vote to award the license and voted 4-1 to not take any action. Commissioner Alan Ostergren of Altoona, a lawyer, was the only commissioner who voted to take action.

Koller says the Washington County Riverboat Foundation and Riverside operators will continue with the lawsuit. “I think the IRGC has made their opinion clear. We disagree. And so the courts will sort it out, ” she says. Koller says the nonprofit will do everything it can to prevent a Cedar Rapids casino from being built.

Developers quickly broke ground last week after being awarded the license, and construction began Monday.