Super Boat races to stay in Key West

 

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Swayed by promises of millions of dollars to be spent in Key West by racing boat enthusiasts, city commissioners voted unanimously July 1 to sign a five-year contract with Super Boat International Productions, Inc., locking in the annual eight-day race event after threats it would be moved to another city.

 

Super Boat International owner John Carbonell told city officials last year he was considering offers from other Florida cities to host the event after the Tourist Development Council cut its contribution to the Key West event from $120,000 to $100,000. But under a new agreement hammered out, the event, which runs from Nov. 2-9, will stay here until at least 2018.

 

“If you look at the statistics, there are two large events in Key West. There’s Fantasy Fest and there’s the world championship off-shore powerboat racing,” said Larry Bleil, president of the Conch Republic Off-Shore Powerboat Racing Association. “We bring in over $30 million into this community.”

 

Bleil didn’t give a breakdown of the $30 million estimate but said that Key West hotels and restaurants are full during the event, which takes place during a traditionally slow time of the year in terms of tourists.

 

“This works. It’s a proven fact. It brings in money,” he told commissioners before they voted to approve the five-year contract.

 

Some commissioners were concerned about the cost to the city of providing police, fire and community services to the for-profit event, as required in the contract. Super Boat International estimated that the public service cost of the event will be just under $60,000 this year, of which the company will pay $35,000, with the city contributing the remaining $24,000. Super Boat International will also pay for all clean-up costs and reimburse the city for any damage to Truman Waterfront. Still, Commissioner Billy Wardlow worried that there might be additional, unplanned costs including overtime that individual departments in City Hall have not budgeted for.

 

“I just want to protect the different departments that are down there [on race days] so that when they come up at the end of the year and they don’t have money in there for overtime, we understand where the overtime money went to. It’s happened to me personally when I was the fire chief. I know it’s happened to [Police] Chief [Doni] Lee,” Wardlow said.

 

City Attorney Shawn Smith recommended that commissioners ask each relevant department head whether money had been set aside for race services during their budget workshops starting on July 21. But mayoral candidate Margaret Romaro implored the commission not to approve the contract during her public statement, referring to a recent salary survey of Key West government employees, which found that at least 20 percent of them are paid less than the market minimum for their position.

 

“How you folks can possibly pass this to subsidize a for-profit organization in view of the salary information you just got… would be abominable. Don’t do this and especially don’t tie us up for five years,” she said.

 

Romaro also complained that the contract called for Super Boat International’s reimbursement to the city be capped at a three percent increase each year, while there was no cap for the city. She referred to cost reports from Super Boat that showed costs going up 4.2 percent in 2009, 10 percent in 2010, 8.2 percent in 2011 and 27.2 percent in 2012, yet the company is projecting only a three percent annual increase in costs going forward.

 

But the economic benefit of the races to the city was enough to convince commissioners.

 

“We are literally bringing in $30 million worth of business for a trade-off of $60,000,” said Commissioner Teri Johnston. “A $30 million infusion into the community is difficult to ignore.”

 

Super Boat International has held powerboat races in Key West for the past 33 years. This year, as in the past, there will be three separate days of races during the eight-day event, as well as a boat parade down Duval Street on Nov. 2. The boats can reach speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.

 

 

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