STURGIS, S.D. – Around two dozen people spoke to the Sturgis City Council Monday night in favor of and opposed to a full fledged motorcycle rally this year.
The council is faced with a difficult decision next week — whether or not to go ahead with the rally as planned, or tone it down and prepare for the crowd certain to come regardless.
The city council held a public meeting last night to gather more input on what residents and business owners think.
Those opposed worry about the COVID-19 pandemic, and the possibility the rally will infect a lot of people. Others worry the area’s medical community will be stressed to the limit because of the virus.
But others say people will come anyway and the city can’t stop them from visiting the Black Hills.
Veronica Grosek is director of the Sturgis Chamber of Commerce, and says most businesses they have surveyed are in favor of the city hosting a rally.
“Our survey was non-scientific and was sent by email to our entire chamber membership totaling 327 addresses. Based on the information from that survey, and in keeping with our mission statement, the Sturgis Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau supports the city of Sturgis hosting the 2020 Motorcycle Rally this year. We also found from the survey that not officially hosting the event will have a significant impact on our community and our economy.”
The city earlier this spring also sent out a survey to some 3,300 residents. Of the 1,816 that came back, nearly 63-percent said they would like this year’s event to be postponed because of COVID-19.
But, Sturgis City Manager Daniel Ainslie says if the city decides to postpone on their side, the county and area campgrounds are preparing, and the city will have to do that too.
“There’s a lof of different things to consider. The easy one is, not that it’s easy, is to prepare for the rally anyway, blocking off the streets, increase staffing for sanitiation and emergency services. The council wants to ensure there’s as many preparations as possible to try and keep the community as safe as possible and with that, how do we have as safe interactions as possible with the people that are coming.”
Ainslie says the decision is incredibly complex as it has a multitude of impacts within Sturgis and throughout Western South Dakota.
The council will decide June 15 as to how to handle this year’s event.
