GALVESTON — The Lone Star Rally’s promoter is threatening to take the event, which brings thousands of motorcyclists and their dollars to the island each year, elsewhere if city leaders don’t agree to a three-year contract by Jan. 15.

“I’m fed up,” Ron Limbock said. “If I don’t see an earnest effort and some kind of contract by Jan. 15, we are finding a new city.”

The city council is expected to vote Thursday about whether to authorize city staff to enter into a long-term agreement with the Lone Star Rally, as the relationship between Limbock and City Manager Steve LeBlanc runs a little hot.

Limbock’s deadline, and assertions that the city manager had been dragging his feet in delivering an agreement was news to LeBlanc, who said working with the promoter over the years hasn’t been easy.

“I’m a little taken aback by his comments,” LeBlanc said. “But I guess it fits his character to some degree.”

But Limbock, who said LeBlanc is slow each year to grant permits for the event, said the issue had nothing to do with personalities. And larger issues loom for the rally, which saw post-Hurricane Ike attendance plummet and event expenses soar.

“There’s more than personal anxiety between Steve and I,” Limbock said. “There’s a whole bigger picture. It was a tough year.”

Lone Star Rally Inc. needs a long-term commitment in order to negotiate contracts with vendors each year, a process that begins immediately after an event, Limbock said. The organization already is behind in securing vendors for next year’s event because it doesn’t have the guarantee of permits, Limbock said.

“Without permits, we are out of business,” he said.

In the seven years the rally has been in Galveston, it operated under a special events permit.

Limbock made public his discontent with the city and LeBlanc in particular on the Lone Star Rally’s Web site. The organization, in talks with several Texas cities, would prefer to stay in Galveston, Limbock said.

“We don’t really want to (leave) but they give us no choice,” Limbock said in an open letter on the Web site. “We didn’t have to return to Galveston after the storm. We did so at great risk as the ‘Rally to Rebuild.’

“We donated thousands to the cause and, most importantly, generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in TV news time telling the world Galveston was open for business.”

The city council would have to approve a long-term contract, LeBlanc said. But Lonestar Rally Inc. would have to create the contract, LeBlanc said.

“We’re not in the business of drafting contracts,” LeBlanc said. “We are recovering from the worst natural disaster since the 1900 Storm; I don’t have time to sit down and write a contract for him.”

But Limbock was under the impression that the city’s attorney would draft the contract, he said.

“We were told by (LeBlanc) that the city attorney would write up the contract,” Limbock said. “It’s another stall tactic.”

But even if the city council authorizes LeBlanc to enter into a three-year agreement, the event faces problems, Limbock said.

Revenues for last year’s four-day event, which was in early December, were down, though figures weren’t immediately available, Limbock said.

Last year, the Lone Star Rally sold about 112,000 parking passes. This year, it sold only 7,200 passes, he said. Because Hurricane Ike, which struck Sept. 13, delayed the event, Limbock was forced to send $90,000 in refunds to vendors. Because of the storm, lights are still out in parts of downtown, where much of the event is staged. Lone Star Rally Inc. spent more than $20,000 providing lights to downtown for the event he said. Many businesses along the downtown’s Historic Strand District are still struggling to reopen.

Because the storm knocked out the emergency room at the island’s John Sealy Hospital, the city had to take extra safety measures to accommodate such crowds, billing the Lone Star Rally more than $20,000. Emergency medical service cost about $7,300 the year before, Limbock said.

Limbock also accused some hotels of quoting unreasonable prices to participants.

More than 400,000 motorcyclists attended the rally in 2007, compared with about 90,000 in December, Limbock said.

The hurricane has posed major problems, he said.

“Our venue was smacked; there’s all these problems,” Limbock said. “I personally chose Galveston because it was the pearl of Texas; you have to admit the situation is not the pearl of Texas.

Despite problems with Limbock, the city benefits from the rally, LeBlanc said. But whether the city council would give him the latitude to enter into a three-year contract was anyone’s guess, he said.

“I deal with a lot of abrasive people; it doesn’t bother me personally,” LeBlanc said.

“It’s a good event for the city, and I’d certainly like to work with him.”