SNOW HILL– Concerns about the cost of the Sea Gull Century have prompted county officials to begin exploring a special event permit process.
The Worcester County Commissioners this week agreed to have staff begin developing a special event permitting process. The decision came after the Department of Emergency Services reported that the Seagull Century had agreed to provide just $3,000 of the estimated $20,000 cost of fire and EMS services during the bicycling event.
“I don’t want to see the citizens of the county suffer because of this event,” Commissioner Jim Bunting said.
The Sea Gull Century Tour, a bicycling event that includes a 100-mile course and a 63-mile course, is held each October. While the event is based in Wicomico County, about 60% of the course is in Worcester County, according to county officials. Director of Emergency Services Billy Birch told the commissioners Tuesday that after reviewing numbers from years past, his department determined that the event was having a significant impact on local emergency services. Last year, call volume doubled the day of the event.
Birch said he’d been in contact with the SU Foundation and the organization had agreed to provide partial funding for the cost of fire and EMS response. While negotiations are ongoing, at this point the foundation has reportedly offered to pay slightly more than $3,000. The quote provided by local fire companies, however, assesses the cost of the service provided during the event at about $20,000. Fire company representatives present confirmed that they have to upstaff in order to be able to provide EMS service to the nearly 5,000 bicyclists participating in the event as well as area residents.
Wicomico probably gets the lion’s share of the event’s economic benefit, if not the entirety of it. Actually it’s probably the city of Salisbury that gets most all those dollars. Not many of the cyclists stop and shop while they’re cruising through Worcester on their bikes. If that’s correct, then Wicomico and Salisbury shouldn’t burden Worcester with the costs.
Wicomico and Salisbury are not burdening Worcester with the cost 11:46 Am. Place the cost where it fully belongs, SU and all the participants. No other organization or people are responsible for one penny of emergency standby or emergency care in either county, Wicomico or Worcester.
Bunch of arrogant a-holes that do not obey the rules of the road and think their privilege excludes them from acting and riding properly and safely.
I had one jerk veer off to the middle of the lane I was in so she could take a drink of water from her bottle. Didn’t look and didn’t care.
A massive, inconvenience and financial burden to the community.
I can do without it and their rude, arrogant attitudes.
The bicyclists are actually a nuisance on the roads built for motorized vehicles. Lots of times they take up the hole lane for long stretches and refuse to form a single file line to allow cars, trucks, and farm equipment to safely pass.
Send them to Martha’s Vineyard.
Why not spend the $20,000 on bus fuel to drive all these riders around the routes, thereby eliminating the need for all those RMS services altogether and keeping everyone safe from injuries?