Birmingham City Council OKs incentives for promoter of Grand Prix

The Birmingham City Council at its regular meeting on April 18 approved a three-year package of financial incentives worth nearly $1.5 million for Zoom Motorsports LLC -- the firm that hosts and manages the annual Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama racing event at Barber Motorsports Park.

The race, now in its eighth year, is scheduled to return to the Barber facility this weekend, April 21-23.

However, two council members expressed strong misgivings about the arrangement, especially since the city has also helped support the event in the past.

Patricia Abbott asked Terry Burney of the mayor’s office and two representatives from Zoom how long it would be necessary for the city to continue to use public money to help support the event.

And Council President Pro Tem Steven Hoyt lamented that the event needs a higher level of participation from minority vendors.

The measure -- after being tabled early in the meeting while event organizers scrambled to obtain a copy of the event’s budget for Hoyt -- passed 4-1.

Abbott, Marcus Lundy, William Parker and Sheila Tyson voted yes, while Hoyt voted no.

The event was attended by about 85,000 fans in 2016, according to the Barber web site.

The race also has an economic impact on the city of about $27 million, Burney told the council. “It has a huge benefit for our city,” he said.

But Abbott was skeptical regarding the level of city funding requested. “It seems that after years of success, we could back off on putting public money into it,” she said.

Public money should be “a spark,” not “an ongoing resource,” she said.

John Bochnak of Zoom responded that public money now represents only about 15 percent of the event’s revenue, and that the race’s private revenue is increasing.

“Our goal as we move forward is to reduce the need for public money to offset the franchise fee we pay,” Bochnak said.

Hoyt asked how many minority vendors take part in the event, and company representative George Dennis said that they use a local, minority-owned maintenance firm as their ecology group and to handle all paddock operations.

He told Hoyt, who asked about the distribution of marketing dollars for the event, that promoters are buying ads from only one African-American radio station.

Dennis also told Hoyt that Zoom needs a multi-year agreement with the city because such an arrangement is required as part of the promoter’s agreement with the INDYCAR race sanctioning body in Indianapolis, Ind.

“They require that we fulfill a three-year obligation so we can remain on their schedule," he said.

When the item was taken up again later in the meeting -- after the council was supplied with a copy of the budget -- Hoyt noted that $300,000 was being spent on ads but that little went to minority-owned outlets, and that there was only one minority contractor.

“You cannot ask for the city’s help and then not embrace inclusiveness so that it benefits the minority community,” Hoyt said.

Abbott supported the measure but warned that she will not support it in another three years if the promoters of the event do not then ask for fewer public dollars.

Zoom, which is the exclusive management team and promoter for the Barber facility, will receive up to $1,496,250 in incentives, in three payments not to exceed $498,750 per year.

At the Bruno Event Team web site, Zoom is described as a "turnkey motorsports marketing and event management company."

Pedal buses

The council voted to amend the city code regarding taxicabs and vehicles for hire to allow companies to provide pedal bus services in specific areas of the city.

The vehicles will be slow-moving pedal buses with an electric assist for use on hills, according to Julie Bernard of the city’s legal department.

They would be used to provide a tour service for visitors in areas near breweries or in restaurant and entertainment districts.

Because the vehicles are slow-moving -- much like the golf cart-type low-speed vehicles, or LSVs, recently approved by the council for use in certain areas of the city -- their routes will be approved by the city's traffic engineers, according to Bernard.

The service is currently offered in Tuscaloosa, and that company is one of several interested in providing the pedal buses in the Magic City, according to Bernard.

Help for the Carver

As part of its consent agenda, the council approved a fee of about $460,000 for Studio 2H Design to provide architectural design services related to the renovations of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and Carver Theater Building on Fourth Avenue North downtown.