Jamestown City Council voting session (August 26, 2024)
A food truck ordinance has been passed by Jamestown City Council.
The city had been operating under a pilot ordinance put into place in 2020.
Council approved an amendment to the ordinance proposed by Council Member at Large Jeff Russell that eliminated a fee waiver for mobile food operators who are acting as distributors and not vendors. Council member Brent Sheldon said the Chautauqua County Health Department had a similar fee schedule that charged fees to all mobile food operators.
Citizen Kim Mason, speaking on behalf of her husband James Mason, said the ordinance will take away from existing restaurants because they “are like a squatter outside your business, trying to take your business.”
The ordinance requires vendors to be at least 150 linear feet from the nearest brick-and-mortar restaurant, unless authorized by the Public Safety Committee.
Council also approved allocating an additional $100,000 in American Rescue Plan funds for the two Splash Pads constructed at Allen and Jackson-Taylor Parks. The total cost of the project is $500,000 with the city originally budgeting $400,000 in ARP funds toward it based on the premise that a $100,000 grant would be coming from State Assemblyman Andy Goodell‘s office.
Mayor Kim Ecklund stated at a work session that grant paperwork had to completed prior to any construction beginning on the splash pads and that this was not done by the prior administration. Construction on the Splash Pads had begun in Fall 2023.
Department of Public Works Interim Director Mark Roetzer said there is about $89,000 remaining in bills to be paid for the project, so the $100,000 will more than cover those outstanding costs.
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