LACONIA — City councilors want City Manager Scott Myers to furnish them with firm numbers about how much hosting a proposed triathlon would likely cost taxpayers.
Councilors Bruce Cheney and Bob Hamel said they wanted more precise estimates of what the costs to the city would be.
“I’m looking forward to seeing this. I just don’t want to be surprised,” Cheney said.
Councilor Henry Lipman suggested that Myers determine what the maximum cost the city would agree to pay as the host of the event.
Myers said the event would be “a good shot in the arm” economically for the city.
“It would help support businesses in the area after a struggling season,” he said.
The organizers of the triathlon, tentatively planned for August, are asking the city to provide police coverage, a dedicated ambulance, as well as free use of Opechee Park and other city facilities for the two-day athletic event.
The requests are among several contained in a proposal which The Ironman Group formally presented to the City Council on Monday.
In addition, the sports event promotion company is asking the city for a payment of $15,000, as well as defraying the cost for solid waste services and the use of message boards associated with the two-day event, which is planned for the weekend of Aug. 21 and 22.
Plans call for the 1.2 mile swim phase of the triathlon to be held off Ellacoya State Beach in Gilford, followed by a 56-mile bike ride from Gilford to Loudon and then back to Laconia, where the 13.1 mile running course will be set up.
Opechee Park would be the start-finish line for the road race.
Organizers are seeking a three-year commitment from the city to support the event.
The competition is expected to attract 4,000 participants over the two days, Audra Tassone-Indeck, a regional director for the Ironman Group, told the councilors.
The council took the proposal under advisement. A vote on the plan is expected at the council’s next meeting on Feb. 8.
Under the terms of The Ironman Group proposal, organizers are committed to making a $10,000 donation to benefit nonprofit groups in the city, as well an additional $20,000 that will be disbursed to organizations that enlist volunteers who carry out various functions during the event.
The council urged organizers to ask the state Department of Safety if State Police could help with some of the traffic control. They also stressed that the city could commit only one ambulance/EMS unit to the event and that organizers would need to make plans to pay for additional EMS services in the event there were simultaneous calls for athletes needing medical aid.
(1) comment
Doing this in August, the height of the tourist season, makes no sense. It should be after Labor Day.
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