City develops procedures for food trucks

The discussion began during the Chadron City Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3, when the council passed, on third and final reading, an ordinance on fees for the 2024-25 fiscal year. The ordinance sets fees for mobile food vendors at $250 per year, $100 per week and $50 per day. The ordinance goes into effect Oct. 1.

Previously, such vendors were designated as attorneys, with fees of $200 per year, $50 per week and $20 per day. The meeting emphasized that attorneys’ fees had been increased to $250, $100 and $50 to bring them on par with mobile food vendors and fireworks stands.

However, a lawyer’s permit is subject to the restriction that the practice of the profession may only be practiced between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

During the Sept. 3 meeting, On the Spot Catering owner Brenda Fritzler expressed opposition to the new mobile food vendor category, often referring to the app that requires information she doesn’t feel comfortable providing. It was later pointed out at the meeting that the app in question was an example received from another community and is in no way a finalized form for Chadron.

Fritzler said the city is imposing the fees to “level the playing field” and she wanted to talk about it. She noted that there are no fees for a new brick-and-mortar business, such as a restaurant, and asked if there are any. Mayor George Klein said restaurant owners pay property taxes and utilities, and Fritzler noted that she pays taxes on her trailer and the truck to pull it, as well as the same permits and licenses that restaurants have.

“If you want to level the playing field,” she asked, “then why do you charge local small businesses, which are simply food vendors, an additional fee that you don’t charge restaurants?”

Klein said he thinks a $250 fee for a year-round operation is reasonable. Fritzler, however, argued that Chadron residents with addresses in Chadron should not have to pay to operate a food truck, but she did not oppose charging people coming from out of town and out of state.

Fritzler later added that in surrounding towns the fees are lower or not introduced at all.

Clay Anderson said the city needs to do a better job of showing how it treats local businesses, and that the fee increases are like a little rip-off for food truck operators. Anderson also questioned why the safety issue was brought up, and Councilman Mark Graves said it was to make sure all food truck owners are following the Department of Agriculture’s regulations.

Dave Miller, who manufactures, sells and operates food trucks in Chadron, said he has no problem with the fees because he pays fees everywhere he travels the country in his food trucks. He offered to help create rules for food trucks when the city gets to that point.

Miller supported the city’s decision to create a new “food vendor” designation, saying the $50 increase for an annual permit is “peanuts” and equals five food orders.

Councilman Mark Graves noted that aside from the fee increases, nothing has been decided yet, and many of the issues raised at the regular meeting are cases of “putting the cart before the horse.”

City attorney Adam Edmund said this is an evolving area and the city is committed to doing the right thing and encouraged dialogue with everyone, whether they are food vendors or brick-and-mortar businesses.

City Clerk Donna Rust said the previous ordinance regarding food vendors is very outdated and that there have been attempts in the past to use it for different types of sales in Chadron. The city takes it very seriously, she said, and is looking for some consistency and fairness in how food vendors are treated.

Rust also shared that the original attorney ordinance was put in place to keep citizens safe from fraudulent activities that occur outside of the city without proper inspections. The original ordinance was used to cover mobile food vendors because nothing else was in place. She explained that the word “attorney” in the city code encompasses much more than door-to-door vendors.

Discussion on the issue continued at a 90-minute meeting Thursday morning, Sept. 5. City Manager Tom Menke said the purpose of the meeting is to gather input from food vendors to develop a food vendor ordinance that would address issues such as hours of operation and areas of operation, as well as Nebraska state mandates. Menke wants food trucks to succeed and would like to see more in Chadron because small businesses help fuel the community.

Also representing the city were Secretary Donna Rust, Mayor George Klein and Building and Zoning Officer Janet Johnson.

Johnson said the Planning Commission began talking about mobile food vendors about six years ago, when the Nebraska Legislature started talking about it. Although discussions were ultimately shelved, Johnson said brick-and-mortar businesses in Chadron wanted the Planning Commission to put some regulations in place. However, the city attorney advised against doing anything until the Legislature did.

Johnson later added that running food trucks is a good way to make money and she would like to see it grow in the local community.

Mobile vendors at the event included Willie and Maria McCarter of Kingdom Grillers, Isaac Glanz of Jimmy L’s BBQ and Catering, and Isaac Ballard of Panhandle Kettle Corn. Also present were food truck builder Dave Miller and concerned consumer Lacy Troester.

Miller fears that enforcing any ordinance would be difficult without a code enforcement officer unless people “snitch” on each other. Maria suggested not implementing the ordinance until it can be enforced.

Troester noted that it is unfair for local food vendors to have to comply with the ordinance when a “bush” can come in, set up shop, make some money and then leave before being reported. She added that as a taxpayer, she does not want to pay someone to go out and enforce the ordinance.

Miller also shared information about the different enforcement practices he has seen during his travels, and Menke noted that it appears that enforcement could be handled by city employees, not just police.

“We can’t have everything at once,” Menke said. “We either have to enforce it all the time or not enforce it at all.” He added that people calling neighbors is a big part of the complaints that are already coming in.

Another topic discussed was the difference between setting up a food truck on private property and public property. Maria asked if she needed a permit to sit on her private property. “I don’t think so,” she said, since she already pays property taxes. Troester added that when food trucks are set up in business parking lots, the company should charge a fee, not the city.

As for assuring people that businesses are following the rules, Johnson said that when “bush” businesses pop up, the city gets dozens of calls from people asking if the business is reputable. Without a licensing and permitting process, they can’t answer those questions. “We can’t tell our constituents if they’re doing it right, if we’re policing them or not.”

Troester said that no matter how many rules the city puts in place, there will always be people who don’t follow them. “All you’re doing is making life harder for people who are trying to do it right. You need to think of legitimate complaints instead of coming up with these arbitrary situations.”

Johnson said she has noticed some issues with food trucks, and while she doesn’t want any regulations, she knows the city needs to do something about it.

Miller said they need to figure out what works best for food trucks, including where to dump trash, grease and gray water, and where to fill the tank with fresh water. Because of regulations about how long gray water can be stored in the tank, that could lead to the city creating a dump station that RV and travel trailer owners could also use.

Menke said the meeting provided some good information and he plans to take a closer look at enforcement, fees, private property versus public land versus private business property, trash and waste removal and drinking water. He emphasized that the city wants input from everyone, and the Sept. 5 meeting was just the first to better discuss everything.