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Originally Posted by Descant
In the past, Laconia used revenue from vendor licenses to offset police overtime and other expenses. Now they've given up the revenue and promise strict enforcement of harder to enforce rules. Now, the people who made August reservations will find lots of closed restaurants, and people hanging around with "nothing to do". A perfect set-up for the city council to eliminate Bike Week 2021, which is what they have really wanted for many, many years.
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I don't believe that the majority of the City Council wants to eliminate Bike Week. They are aware that the early season cash infusion helps many Weirs area businesses get through the summer.
In a traditional year, the June Bike Week patrons fill motels and restaurants when many businesses need the revenue badly. As Bike Week attendance has declined over the past 15 years the impact on full time residents has declined substantially. The positives such as increased rooms and meal taxes and all of the money that comes in to the area and the whole state during Bike Week help the economic picture.