Council tables food truck issue

Regulations regarding food trucks still aren’t quite on the menu for the City of Custer after the Custer City Council at its July 3 meeting tabled the first reading of an updated ordinance that would include the regulation of mobile food vendors into its ordinance that also regulates peddling and transient merchants.
The tabling came after 40 minutes of discussion regarding the issue and a failed vote to pass the first reading as presented. The motion that eventually passed was made by alderman Todd Pechota that tabled the issue “until an adequate job has been done to address mutual concerns of both parties and a new draft ordinance is brought back.”
That motion passed via a 4-1 vote, with alderwoman Peg Ryan voting against the motion and Pechota and alderwomen Jeannie Fischer, Nina Nielsen and Dixie Whittaker voting in favor. Alderwoman Julie Jenniges was absent from the meeting.
Four downtown restaurant owners were on hand at the meeting, including Janet Boyer, owner of Mt. Rushmore Brewing Co. and The Begging Burro. Boyer said that those who own “brick and mortar” food businesses in Custer presented what they felt was good compromise suggestions to the city’s Legal and Finance Committee while discussions were being held about the ordinance, but that there was little of what was proposed in the ordinance set to be passed.
“We were wondering if we could meet with the government committee to discuss the ordinance itself,” Boyer said. “To me there is a lot of things in this ordinance that are missing. That’s why we would like to visit with you.”
Among the sticking points brought forward was that there was no mention of fees in the ordinance, and there was no set amount of food trucks that could be in the city at any one time.
Fisher said any fee schedule would be passed via resolution instead of ordinance, which would make it easier to change for future councils if it were deemed appropriate to do so.
As far as capping the number of food trucks, alderwoman Peg Ryan said the proposed ordinance would see only one truck allowed per property, and a total number of trucks was not listed due to what the Legal and Finance Committee felt was a small amount of commercial properties in town (the trucks would have to be on commercially-zoned property) that would be large enough to meet all the requirements for a food truck to set up in town.
“I know you wanted to limit the number of days anyone could operate, but we felt that wasn’t necessarily fair to someone who is trying to run a business,” Ryan said.
The ordinance proposed at the July 3 meeting would see food trucks able to acquire a one-day, three-day or yearly permit. However, it would be the business at which the truck is located that has the responsibility to purchase the permit, with the business owner and food truck owner working out any other deal in terms of rent, etc., for the food truck to be on the business’s property.
Costs of the permit were not set in stone, but the costs being considered were $75 for a day, $200 for three days and $1,500 for the annual license.
Among the rules the trucks must follow is that there must be a primary structure on the property, all state and local regulations must be followed, they can’t set up where they interfere with rights of way, etc., they must provide their own trash receptacle and provide their own water.
“Think about it,” Ryan said. “There aren’t that many lots in the city that would accommodate that.”
Ryan added the reason a certain number of trucks wasn’t included in the proposed ordinance is because the city did not want to “pick and choose.”
“Do what want to do it by lottery? Did we want to do it first come, first served? (By) what they are serving? That leaves it up to staff to have to choose between a bunch of applications,” she said. “We just felt that wasn’t going to be fair.”
Boyer said the restaurateurs would like to see the fees be more equitable to what a business owner pays in terms of property tax, with Fischer saying the fees, if set as mentioned, came from the suggestion of the restaurant owners.
“What we are most concerned about is the number that be allowed per day, and the fees that you charge,” Boyer said. “We feel the city is leaving a lot of money on the table.”
Ryan said the committee called around to other towns in the area and that the city’s proposed fees are higher than any others that were contacted.
Boyer also asked the council to consider the employees who live in the town who work for the brick and mortar businesses.
“As good business owners we really do need to bring the point before you,” she said. “In a way, we wish the food trucks would not have equal representation or considerations as the folks who live in this town (do).”
Fischer said city council members aren’t getting pressure from food truck owners to allow the food trucks in town, but rather, from citizens who approach council members and say they want food trucks in town, whether it be because they want more options, want to grab food and go or don’t want to wait a long time to be seated at a restaurant.
“It’s not the first time we’ve been asked,” Ryan said. “It’s come up several times over the past few years. That’s why we felt we had to give it serious consideration with the number of times it’s been brought up.”
Boyer said she doesn’t believe there is a restaurant in town that has a long wait.
“We’re down. Our percentages are down,” she said. “Until you have the numbers in front of you I would greatly appreciate that you not assume we cannot accommodate more customers.”
Cherish Baker, owner of Baker’s Bakery, questioned allowing a food truck to be in town year-round, saying it would hurt restaurants that are open year-round. It was said restaurants do feel less business during special events when food trucks are allowed downtown.
Baker said the council should consider limiting the food trucks to the summer, saying the wintertime is when many groups and school children come to the business community seeking donations, saying while the restaurants always give, she doubted the food trucks would do the same.
Fischer asked the restaurant owner group to submit in writing their suggestions, which she said the Legal and Finance Committee would take as the group’s “final input.”
“Otherwise, we just get into these long, convoluted discussions where we may not ever totally agree,” she said. “We want to get this done. We’ve been talking about this since February.”
Fischer said it may very well end up being one of the times where people agree to disagree.
“Quite frankly, we could go round and round about this,” she said, saying the factors that could limit the amount of food trucks in town will be property, business owners will to make arrangements with food truck owners and fees to be charged.
“If we can agree that would be our limiting factor for now, otherwise we’re going to get to the end of the seasons and go round and round about the same issues,” she said.
In the meantime, council will do a count to determine how many businesses would be adequate to host food trucks.
In other news from the July 3 meeting, the council:
• Watched as Fischer, Nielsen, Ryan and Mayor Bob Brown all took their new oaths of office for two-year terms. Ryan was voted council president with Nielsen elected vice president. Terri Williams was appointed as city attorney and also took her oath of office.
• Approved allocating $347,000 to Custer Cares for operation of the nursing home for three years beginning in 2025, after the annual stipend to be paid to Monument Health in that same amount expires at the end of 2024.
• Approved Corr Construction’s low bid of $633,318 for the south 4th Street bridge replacement and approach grading. The bid was nearly $400,000 less than the second-lowest bid and was also under the engineer’s estimate.
• Approved appointing Rick Hudson to another three-year term as the three mile extraterritorial jurisdiction representative on the city’s planning commission.