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South Pasadena City Council Questions Costs Associated with Amgen Tour

Published on Wednesday, September 23, 2015 | 3:32 pm
 

Questions about how much support it will need, the route bicyclists will take, the impact to local businesses and total cost, has put the city’s participation in the 2016 Amgen Tour of California on hold.

The world class cycling event could be coming to South Pasadena, but City Council members are seeking more answers after being asked to waive permit fees, provide the cost of street closures, personnel for safety and security, and assist with hospitality and third party rental agreements.

“We need to know more about those costs and the impact the event will have on our local businesses,” explained the city manager. “There are still a lot of details to be worked out.”

The City of South Pasadena was approached about three weeks ago by race officials to be a host city for the event, the launch point for the start of the second stage to Santa Clarita.

“It’s an honor and gives the city an opportunity to showcase how special it is to the world,” said South Pasadena City Manager Sergio Gonzalez. “This is an event that is aired live on NBC Sports and it will bring a lot of people to our city.”

Street closures and staging of the event will begin on Sunday, May 15, with the race scheduled at 11 a.m. the following day.

“The organizers would love to have the second stage start in South Pasadena,” stressed Gonzalez.

Details are still forthcoming regarding the exact starting point should the council give its approval, but discussion took place during last week’s City Council meeting about beginning the race east the Gold Line light rail tracks.

Gonzalez stressed that the council is in support of events of this nature, noting that the city is a “very bike friendly community” and the Amgen Tour of California is something it will seriously consider.

“But the council is concerned that the event will tax our resources in terms of staff support that is needed,” said Gonzalez.

The City Council directed the city manager to return to the next meeting on October 7 with more details on the exact route out of town, the potential impact to the Mission Street business district and to the city resources.

“The council wants to know the approximate cost of being a host city,” explained Gonzalez. “It starts on a Monday, so we will have public works staff here, we have police staff here, so we plan to divert certain resources to get the event off the ground. As an appropriate body, the City Council wants to make sure that we’re not committing to something that is not going to cost us more than the benefit it’s going to yield.”

 

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