COEUR d'ALENE - Coeur d'Alene, which banned hydroplane racing in 1996, is ready to provide $3,480 in emergency response time and equipment for the Labor Day weekend races outside city limits.

The plan is for the city to get reimbursed for its trouble, however.

The Coeur d'Alene Fire Department is offering one fire engine staffed with three responders, an ambulance staffed with two others and one command officer as backup for Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, the agency in charge of manning emergency personnel for the holiday weekend event.

Race organizer Diamond Cup Regatta has a contract with KCFR so Coeur d'Alene would be reimbursed for providing additional staffing for KCFR.

"If they have something that goes big, we're there to back them up," said Glenn Lauper, Coeur d'Alene deputy fire chief. "We're restricted in how we operate with this whole thing."

The H1 Unlimited event will feature sanctioned races as well as exhibition runs Aug. 30 through Sept. 1 at Silver Beach off East Lake Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive. The race course is outside city limits.

But Coeur d'Alene Fire Department officials said an event of the hydroplane race's magnitude would likely require city involvement inside nearby municipal boundaries anyway. Some racing organizers have said they're shooting for the event to draw 40,000 visitors in its inaugural return.

"Having this contract assures fair payment for our services and gives a heightened protection for that area of the City during this event," staff reports state.

The city's General Services Committee recommended the City Council approve the contract agreement earlier this week, but it will go before the City Council for approval at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

A public vote in 1996 banned hydroplane racing's return, 7,899 to 4,554. The ordinance lists specific sites, such as Tubbs Hill, where racing would no longer be allowed. It doesn't mention Silver Beach, or its vicinity.

City Councilman Steve Adams, also a GSC member, said the agreement didn't violate the ordinance that bans the races because the races are outside city limits. He said the contract would reimburse the city for what it might have to provide anyway.

"It came back to the same discussion: I's not being done on city property," he said. "It wasn't a violation of the ordinance."