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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/13/1988, 4-G - PROGRAM STATUS REPORT: SAN LUIS OBISPO CRITERIUM SAN LUIS OBISPO RECREATION DEPARTMENT TRIATHLON ��i��►I�II�I�� �u�►I�� city of San Luis OBISPO ME� �A COUNCILAPENDA REPORT M FROM: Recreation - Stockt SUBJECT: PROGRAM STATUS REPORT: San Luis Obispo Criterium San Luis Obispo Recreation Department Triathlon CAO RECOMMENDATION: Receive, comment and file. BACKGROUND: The San Luis Obispo Criterium and the San Luis Obispo Recreation Department Triathlon are programs of very different design but also very similiar in the manner in which the community derives benefit. It is estimated that over 25,000 spectators and participants are drawn to this community annually by these two events. The average stay for those commuting to San Luis Obispo from out of the immediate county area is one night and two days. Apart from the economic benefit derived from these visitors to our City, the same amount of people are here pursuing the recreation outlet of their choice, a choice shared by many residents of San Luis Obispo as evidenced by the numbers who volunteer to assist in the program operations. This ends the similarities between the two events. The SLD Criterium is one stop in a nation wide annual bicycle program that begins on the East Coast, goes from Texas to the Canadian border and ends on the West Coast. The Criterium is a highly competitive event that draws many professional bicycle racers from the USA and foreign countries. The 1988 SLO program had 370 cyclists entered which included 30 local riders. Visiting cyclists brought with them a support staff of over 1000 persons. Cities that host the stops on this circuit form local committees who are responsible for all local arrangements. The SLO Local Committee has applied for non-profit status which will offer them organizational status and the ability to act on their own. Over 100 San Luis Obispo residents volunteered to assist the Local Committee with the 1988 program. The Recreation Department is involved in the Criterium for four basic purposes: 1. To offer program organization expertise; and 2. To serve as a known clearinghouse for receiving information, and 3. To assist in recruiting and training volunteers to patrol and monitor the bicycle course during the race; and 4. To assist in making the course safe for both participant and spectator alike, e.g. spectator fencing, corner padding, crossing guards, et cetera. The San Luis Obispo Recreation Department Triathlon, unlike the Criterium, is planned by the City Recreation Department as a local recreation program that allows participation from outside, a feature of other recreation programs that requires an additional "out of town" fee. The SLD Triathlon is one of many Special Events sponsored by the Recreation Department with program costs recovered through participant fees as required by the Council Fee and Charge Policy. The Triathlon is �����►�►►�Illllll�p��u►q�Ipl city Of sal AS OBISPO 1WHiMs COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT rigorous but not competitive. Participation rather than competition is stressed with no trophy or prize awarded for having the quickest time. Of the 661 people entering the 1988 SLO Triathlon 472 participants were from the City of San Luis Obispo or central SLO County. As in any program hosted or sponsored by a public agency, a given degree of liability exposure is the rule. In planning a recreation activity, this liability is foremost in the planners mind and all steps possible are taken to lessen the degree of liability. Two major areas of concern in lessening the degree of liability to the City are: 1. To make the physical area in which the program is to take place as safe as possible for the participant and the spectator and for the staff and volunteers that are conducting the activity; and 2. To spread the liability over the widest possible base, usually by requiring participants and sponsoring organizations to furnish insurance naming the City of San Luis Obispo as additional insured for the event. Both the Criterium and the Triathlon have national sanctioning bodies that offer insurance for participants. These sanctioning bodies also offer additional insured policies to cover any agency assisting in the event, e.g. , City of SIA, County of SLD, Highway Patrol, et cetera. Both 1988 events were covered by this insurance including all the agencies listed above. In addition, rules for entry into the Triathlon included that each participant become a member of the sanctioning body and be covered by their personal insurance policy. The cost for this additional coverage was a portion of the entry fee for the Triathlon. Concerning the physical areas in which the Triathlon was conducted, the largest improvement was accomplished when other local agencies responded to to the Recreation Department's request for assistance. The County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that allowed limited closure of county roads for bicycle events, a request that has been made each of the previous 8 runnings of the Triathlon. The Highway Patrol worked closely with Department staff to determine the safest possible bike course and furnished patrol of the course during the event. The SLOPD, who has offered and furnished assistance in all previous SLO Triathlons, assisted Department staff in redesigning a new running course which lessened runners opportunity to encounter automobile traffic and the SLOPD provided traffic control at all intersections during the event. In addition to these course safety improvements, 230 San Luis Obispo residents volunteered to assist the Recreation Department so that the 1988 Triathlon could be conducted. These volunteers were trained and during the event served as assistants to safety personnel at each lane of the swimming pool, they assisted department staff in keeping the course transition area free of pedestrians and spectators and they were posted at each driveway and intersection of the bicycle and running course to alert both participants and motorists of oncoming traffic.