Modesto pays $8,000 to settle eateries’ Grand Prix claims
The city has paid $8,000 to two restaurants to settle their claims that their sales sputtered during the Modesto Grand Prix, the Aug. 1-3 superkart race along downtown streets.
Galletto Ristorante received $7,500, while Harvest Moon received $500. Despite the difference in payouts, their losses were not that different.
Harvest Moon stated it lost $5,000, according to the claim it filed with the city. Galletto did not file a claim, but in conversations with the city estimated it lost $10,000 to $15,000, according to City Manager Jim Holgersson.
While Modesto acknowledges that the restaurants said they were hurt by the Grand Prix, the city compensated them by entering into agreements with them weeks after the race for the use of their parking lots during the event.
Modesto did use Galletto’s 37-space parking lot during the race, but not Harvest Moon’s.
The Grand Prix featured 260 superkarts and drew more than 12,000 spectators. City officials have said the race was a family-friendly event that portrayed downtown in a positive light. But the first-year race posed challenges.
The city closed downtown streets and set up temporary chain-link fencing. That made it difficult to get downtown and for race spectators to move about. While some downtown restaurants and stores reported doing well during the event, others complained that the race harmed them and did not live up to expectations created by the promoter.
Holgersson said Modesto and the promoter – Southern California-based SuperKarts USA – are considering bringing the Grand Prix back in spring 2016. He said there is not enough time to plan for a spring 2015 race. One of the complaints on holding the event in August was that the weather was too hot.
City Attorney Adam Lindgren said Modesto chose to compensate the restaurants through their parking lots because that was a more tangible approach than trying to verify how much they lost because they had fewer customers. He said the payouts were based on separate negotiations with each restaurant.
Harvest Moon owner Mark Smallwood said Monday he would not comment. Galletto executive chef Mike Goularte said Tuesday that owner Tom Gallo would have no comment.
Holgersson said Modesto’s understanding with Galletto before the race called for the city to use the restaurant’s parking lot in exchange for letting Galletto use a city parking garage and for the city to promote the restaurant. He said the promotion did not take place as planned.
The city fenced off Harvest Moon even though the restaurant was not even close to the race course. The city also put up banners along the chain-link fence, blocking the restaurant from view. Mayor Garrad Marsh has said that the city did not need to fence off Harvest Moon.
Holgersson said he is not aware of other claims filed against the city related to the Grand Prix.
Some of the information for Galletto Ristorante came from a California Public Records Act request filed by former Mayor Carmen Sabatino with Modesto regarding the Grand Prix. Among several thousand pages of documents Modesto released was a copy of its Aug. 29 check for $7,500 to Galletto.
Bee staff writer Kevin Valine can be reached at kvaline@modbee.com or (209)578-2316.
COUNCIL WATCH BOX
The City Council on Tuesday approved:
▪ Spending as much as $141,163 for urban planning consultant Jerry Haag to conduct environmental studies for the city’s amendment to its general plan, which serves as a blueprint for how the city will grow and develop.
▪ A policy for the use of city facilities for Neighborhood Watch groups whose members don’t feel safe when meeting in their neighborhoods due to fear of reprisal from criminals and gang members.
▪ An agreement that will let South Modesto Businesses United operate an 18-foot-by-20-foot electronic message board at Crows Landing and West Hatch roads. The sign would provide information about community events. SMBU would be responsible for the construction, installation and maintenance of the sign at no cost to the city.
▪ Authorization of a contract with Boyett Petroleum to provide fuel for the city’s vehicle fleet at an estimated annual cost of $2.359million. The contract is for two years and includes three one-year extensions, bringing its total cost to nearly $11.8 million. Boyett has been the city’s fuel provider for years and beat out a second company for the new contract.
This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Modesto pays $8,000 to settle eateries’ Grand Prix claims."