Staff Writer

LACONIA — After making sure that the city is protected if something goes wrong during the event and that taxpayers won’t foot any costs for it, the City Council on Monday gave provisional approval for vintage motorcycle races in the downtown next month.

The council gave the race organizers until June 1 to prove to the council’s satisfaction that lingering questions about insurance coverage, cost and logistics have been resolved.

The races, which would be held in the downtown from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, June 13, are being promoted by a group of local businessmen, the Laconia Motorcycle Rally and Race Week Association and the U.S. Classic Racing Association.

While all three parties would work to put on the races, the USCRA would be ultimately responsible for making sure that the city was not liable in the event of any kind of incident during the races and also for picking up the final tab, said Rally and Race Executive Director Charlie St. Clair.

USCRA officials did not attend Monday’s council meeting.

The vintage races had been previously held at the Gunstock Recreation Area, but earlier this year Gunstock officials decided not to host the event due to logistical problems and declining attendance.

Last Friday, the council’s Public Safety Committee voted 3-0 to allow the races, said Ward 4 Councilor Jim Cowan, who chairs the committee, but Mayor Mark Fraser pointed out that the city’s insurer urged the city to secure a second, even higher insurance policy because the $5 million race supporters proposed was not sufficient to protect the city in all cases, including negligence in how the race course was set up.

The race organizers, not the city, would be setting up the race course, said Ward 1 Councilor Judy Krahulec.

She wondered why the city’s general liability policy would not be sufficient for claims not covered by the race organizer’s policy, saying the city covers against accidents at the Laconia Municipal Airport.

"We’re liable for any planes that might fall asleep and land," Krahulec said, although City Manager Eileen Cabanel later explained that the city does not insure the airport.

Cowan wondered why all special events in the city, including parades, also didn’t require special insurance coverage and Cabanel told him that "a race downtown is entirely different from a parade."

Fraser, who is an insurance adjuster, added, "I don’t think you can just lump every special event" into the same category as a motorcycle race.

Later, Fraser said that the $5 million coverage might be sufficient, "as long as the negligence goes with the promoter" — the USCRA.

Ward 6 Councilor Armand Bolduc said St. Clair and Black Cat Cafe co-owner Kinney O’Rourke were lining up sponsors to fund all of the race costs except for a city vehicle to install and remove street barriers.

The mayor added that cost and insurance were not the only reservations that city departments had about the races.

He read from a memo that Police Chief Tom Oetinger wrote in which the chief expressed concerns about not only the effect of the races on his budget, but also on his officers, many of whom have the Sunday off prior to the full week of Bike Week which this year runs from June 12-20.

Ward 3 Councilor Fred Toll added that noise, street closures and other quality of life issues were raised by some of his constituents who are worried about having the races downtown. He said that some of them asked "why downtown? Why not go to Loudon?" where the New Hampshire International Speedway is located.

"One Sunday, long after church gets out" and for just several hours, is not going to adversely impact anyone, replied Cowan.

The council later voted five in favor, one against (Toll), to allow the races.

In other Bike Week-related business on Monday, the council gave its unanimous support to the first-ever City of Laconia Bike Show and also to rejoin the Rally and Race Board of Directors. The council also considered additional Bike Week traffic control measures.

Bolduc, who has been a representative to the Rally and Race board since last fall when the city withdrew from the organization due to concerns about its accounting practices, said Rally and Race has improved how it keeps track of money and has also committed to providing a year-end financial statement to the city in July.

With no discussion, the council then voted to rejoin the Rally and Race board and to appropriate the $2,000 annual membership fee for 2003-04.

Equally well received was the proposal to hold a "people’s choice" motorcycle show at Opechee Park on June 18.

The event is the brainchild of City Code Enforcement Office Michelle Bonsteel and would be an official city event, but be operated in conjunction with Rally and Race, explained Cabanel.

St. Clair said Rally and Race would do all of the work to set up the event and would also collect the vending and admission fees and turn them over to the city.

In addition to approving the event itself, the council on Monday approved a special rate of $75 for commercial vendors and $25 for non-profits and also gave Rally and Race permission to use the city logo on awards that it will distribute during the bike show.

Finally, the council agreed to reconsider, at its May 24 meeting, Oetinger’s request to prohibit all but exempted vehicles from being able to access Roller Coaster Road from both Parade Road and Route 3 on June 18-20 during designated times as well as for discretion to restrict vehicles traveling on Watson Road.

The chief said those routes had become "choke points" that cause traffic on Route 3 to back up.

Krahulec suggested that the Police Department get input about the traffic plan from residents in The Weirs and noted that the Police Commission’s May 20 meeting, which will be held at 5 p.m. at the Weirs Community Center, would be a great opportunity to do so.