At its August 21 meeting, Parks commissioners agreed to allow Diane Stull to set up and operate a food truck in Lake Leatherwood City Park for the remainder of the year, while commissioners will work with Director Justin Huss to develop a policy on food vending. Stull intends to begin operation by mid-September.
Stull first approached the commission at the July 17 meeting with her idea of converting a small building beside the bathhouse into a food concession site. At the August 21 meeting, she told commissioners she was ready to set up a food truck and was just waiting to hear from them.
Chair Bill Featherstone told her it was not a simple issue, plus Huss had a heavy workload at the moment. Huss said his primary concern was with being fair to others who might want to put a food truck there.
Featherstone said he was less concerned than Huss on that point because Stull had stepped up and no one else did. He pointed out the commission has no obligation to strike a long-term deal, and if Stull was ready to go, he was ready. He acknowledged, however, the commission needed a policy for having a food vendor there, but was not seeing a downside to the concept.
Commissioners agreed they would finish work on guidelines they drafted at the August 7 workshop by the end of the year. Stull said she understood she has the rest of this year to operate and the commission will then assess the intricacies.
Commissioner Christian Super read from minutes of their recent workshop the bullet points they established as a basis for developing an agreement with a food vendor:
- Two trucks to start with
- Application process: $100 fee and mandatory background check (near playground)
- Selection process: Score applicants with a scoring spreadsheet
- Monthly rent of $400 includes electric, does not include trash
- Grey water can be connected to existing system
- Six month contracts to start, see how it goes
- Set days and hours
- Sizing considerations to be copied from Fayetteville policy
Featherstone reiterated he wanted to have food service at LLCP this year. Huss commented he was more comfortable with a trial arrangement than he was earlier, and committed to working out an agreement with Stull. Commissioners voted 4-0 to authorize Huss to negotiate the deal based on the bullet points but not limited to them, and indicated Stull would start within 30 days.