Four months after Hollister’s largest event blew through town in
a gust of motorcycle fumes, the Hollister Independence Rally
Committee is expecting to pay most of its bill to the city next
week and give $12,000 to local nonprofits, according to
officials.
Hollister – Four months after Hollister’s largest event blew through town in a gust of motorcycle fumes, the Hollister Independence Rally Committee is expecting to pay most of its bill to the city next week and give $12,000 to local nonprofits, according to officials.
HIRC has already paid the city about $180,000 and is hoping to pay another $120,000 on Monday, said HIRC Treasurer John Loyd. The only expense HIRC hasn’t paid is its bill to the Department of Justice, which hasn’t issued a bill to the city yet, Loyd said.
The Hollister Rotary Club and HIRC jointly will divvy up $12,000 to about 14 local nonprofits from money the groups earned at the rally’s beer garden, said Bruce Beetz, HIRC board member.
Checks will be presented at the Rotary Club’s luncheon at Ridgemark Golf and County Club Monday afternoon, he said.
The groups include Community Pantry, Sober Grad Nite, the United Way and possibly first-time recipient Emmaus House, a battered women’s shelter that has yet to open its doors, Beetz said.
HIRC and Rotary gave approximately the same amount of money to nonprofits last year, he said.
HIRC members have been anxious to pay off the city’s bill for months but have been unable to because many other jurisdictions have lagged in delivering their bills to the city, Loyd said.
The city has been waiting on the DOJ to issue it a bill since September, said City Manager Clint Quilter. HIRC is setting aside between $25,000 and $30,000 to pay that bill when it arrives, Loyd said.
“We want to pay it,” he said. “We want to close our year-end books and write off as much of the debt that we can… to this year’s budget.”
HIRC Vice President Dave Ventura said next year’s rally is “a go” and a contract with the city has already been signed. He said rally organizers have signed a beverage contract bigger than any beverage contract they’ve signed in years past and a T-shirt contract three times the amount of last year’s.
This year was the first time that the city required HIRC to pay its expenses, which included law enforcement, clean up costs and the time city staff dedicated to the rally.
In the months leading up to the rally, rally officials and local leaders were uncertain if the Fourth of July event would occur. The city was having difficulties procuring enough outside law enforcement and for the first time decided HIRC had to foot the entire bill.
Once the city was confident it had adequate law enforcement protection, HIRC members assured the city it could cover the costs.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
