A few Montezuma County residents are excited by the possibility of hosting the Iron Horse Motorcycle Rally in 2002. Others are disgusted, and still others are frightened.

It’s obvious that the temporary influx of up to 30,000 people would indeed bring some revenue to the county. Cost-benefit analysis of the income potential is complicated by the fact that the income would be accrued by one group of people, while the expenses of hosting the rally would be borne by a larger set — the taxpayers.

Some of the costs are intangible. Peace of mind, for example, should not be undervalued. While cowering in fear of the biker hordes might be unrealistic, some residents would certainly feel less comfortable during the rally.

In addition, the revenue projections might be ambitious. Reluctant as we sometimes are to admit it, Montezuma County simply does not offer the opportunities to spend money that La Plata County has. We don’t have the lodging, the restaurants or the retail outlets. The amount of cash that flows from the Rally into Ignacio and Durango is not likely to be diverted completely in this direction; many bikers will still spend money in towns to the east.

Beyond the math, we need to make a philosophical determination of our limits. Are we willing to do absolutely anything for money? Of course not, but we tend to make those decisions on a case-by-case basis. Instead, we need a set of comprehensive guidelines that show very clearly what’s acceptable to citizens and community leaders vs. what’s beyond our comfort zone and/or capabilities.

We cannot block the Iron Horse Rally strictly on the basis of disliking bikers. Instead, we need to address the ramifications of having large numbers of visitors descending on us at once and demanding more services than we have the infrastructure to provide. A guest column on this page suggests that a similar number of people might be invited instead for a Christian revival. That might alleviate some of the concerns about law-enforcement, and all of them probably wouldn’t be keeping us awake late at night with motorcycle noises, but the fact remains that we don’t have anyplace to put that many people.