Robbinsville – The possibility of food-truck regulations for Robbinsville came up during the Robbinsville Town Council meeting Feb. 3.
Alderman Debbie Beasley said some food truck operators had asked about Robbinsville’s rules on food trucks entering the vicinity on a daily basis. She expressed concerns that allowing food trucks freely into Robbinsville would have a negative effect on Robbinsville’s existing restaurants.
“If they bring their food truck in, they’re taking business away from the ones that are in the town that pay their water bill, that pay their sewer bill,” Beasley said. “They’re coming in and taking their business away from them.
“We just need top look any is there any kind of a fee to charge them for setting up inside the city limits.”
Alderman Brian Johnson said that he agreed that food truck operators wanting to set up in Robbinsville should have to pay a fee of some sort to the city. However, he said to his knowledge, the town had no laws on the books pertaining to food trucks.
He said in the past, food trucks had paid a fee to the town.
“It would be up to the property owner and that they are certified by the health department as far as I know,” Johnson added.
Johnson also suggested reaching out to Bryson City, which has dealt with food trucks to further discuss the issue.
“We may be able to adopt a similar policy to what they have,” Johnson said.
RTA appointment
The board also unanimously approved waiting until its next meeting to make an appointment to the Robbinsville Travel and Tourism Board.
At the January Robbinsville Tourism Authority meeting, the seat was left vacant with the official resignation of Robbinsville Alderman in absentia Shaun Adams from the Robbinsville Tourism board.
The Board of Aldermen brought 15 possible names to the board, with Beasley suggesting one more to for the list.
The board voted to postpone the vote, in order to further determine who would be interested in taking on the role and determining who was eligible to serve on the board.
“We can put it on hold for another month, and speak to these people to see if they’re willing to serve,” Johnson said. “I’m fine with that. They’ve been working with one board member short for a while now.
“We’re not going to appoint them if they don’t want to serve on the board.”
The Board of Aldermen will meet again Wednesday, March 3.