Travis County commissioners on Tuesday postponed a vote
until next week on whether to lease the banquet hall for the Travis Central
Appraisal District to host meetings instead. The $150,420 lease would be from
May to August, making the banquet hall unavailable for the Republic of Texas
Biker Rally, which is scheduled for June. The lease also would overlap with the
Heat Wave car show, which would be in July.
Thousands of bikers enjoy the ROT Biker Rally every year.
Bragg said that not having access to the banquet hall could be a deal-breaker. “If you had an aerial view of our event, you’d see there’s absolutely no room,” Bragg said. “We can’t eliminate any of the buildings and still put on a reasonable event. ... We’re squeezed for space as it is.” County Judge Sarah Eckhardt made it clear Tuesday at the Commissioners Court meeting that she does not think the biker rally and Heat Wave deserve preferential treatment.
"I don't think it's the business of county government
to make sure that things like the ROT rally's pole dancing contest and the Heat
Wave's bikini contest get a better deal than anyone else who's going to rent
the Exposition Center," she said. Travis County spokesman Hector Nieto said he could not talk
about the status of the county’s negotiations with Heat Wave, but he said
negotiations with the biker rally have stalled because organizers no longer
want to work with the county staff and are now only communicating with county
commissioners.
“In order for us to negotiate a contract with them, we need
them at the table. ... We still have options available to them,” Nieto said.
A staff-written summary of the commissioners’ agenda item
says that they have not heard from the rally organizers since they got the
proposed license agreement, because “ROT did not like the rates.” County
officials proposed that the rally pay about $50,000 to rent the Expo Center
next year. The contract previously had been just under $30,000 a year.
“The proposal they sent was ridiculous,” Bragg said, adding
that Expo Center officials are now charging them as much for setup days as they
do for event days, which leads to a substantial price increase. However, Bragg said he would dedicate the rest of the week
to pursuing a solution. Heat Wave owner David MacDonald also said he would
"find a way to make it work," though he said Monday that Heat Wave
organizers have considered moving the show to Circuit of the Americas as an
alternative to the Expo Center.
Randle Jackson, the Expo Center's division manager, said the
venue did offer the biker rally a reduced price because it is a longtime
customer that has held its event there for multiple years. "If we charged the ROT rally as we would a normal
event, it would be well over $100,000," Jackson said.
Rates have gone up to reflect the market, Nieto said. “Like everything else in Travis County, market value is
going up, and we have a responsibility to the taxpayers to operate the facility
in the black,” Nieto said. The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated in 2011
that the annual biker rally brings an estimated $36 million into the Austin
economy.
"There are a lot of people that enjoy the ROT, and I
know the city enjoys them," Commissioner Gerald Daugherty said Tuesday.
"We've benefited from them because it's one of the largest events we get
revenue out of." Bragg said the rally organizers don't have time to find
another location to host their event next year.
SOURCE: My Statesman
