Town council discusses food trucks, local rules
The Nashville Town Council didn’t grant a request to close part of Main Street during the 12th annual humane society Chocolate Walk because Chocolate Walk organizers were planning to park food trucks along the street. A town ordinance prohibits for-profit businesses from selling on the “public way,” which includes streets and sidewalks.
More than 1,200 people buy tickets for the Chocolate Walk each November. It’s one of the biggest fundraisers for the humane society. Society member Jane Weatherford said that Chocolate Walk participants had commented for several years that it was hard to get a quick lunch in town because the wait at restaurants was so long. Their solution was to bring in three or four food trucks and park them right in the middle of downtown, plus have some live music and set up a merchandise tent to benefit the humane society.
The event itself wasn’t a concern; the selling of items on the street was, because that’s not allowed by town ordinance without “express written consent” of the property owner, which would be the town. Some council members said that allowing it for one organization would be opening up a big can of worms; other council members said they didn’t see the problem with allowing food trucks in once in a while.
Weatherford said she’d asked a restaurant owner in town if they’d care if food trucks came in on that day and the answer she got was no; it’s one of their busiest days of the year anyway.
Often, there’s a line out the door of the Hob Nob.
“The intention is not to take business away from restaurants; it’s to help people who come to the Chocolate Walk to have an enjoyable time,” Weatherford said.
Audience members and council members shared ideas with Weatherford about how to get around the current restriction. Andrew Tilton, who owns the Foxfire parking lot across from BP on South Van Buren Street, offered the food trucks a spot to park, but Weatherford said they preferred to be in the middle of the action.
Tilton also suggested that the humane society basically rent the truck for the day or pay the operator so that a for-profit business wouldn’t be running the truck; the humane society would be. Town Attorney James T. Roberts said that if the humane society was getting a cut of each sale from the food trucks, maybe the town could look at it as a not-for-profit venture.
Another idea was to not bring in food trucks, but to ask other not-for-profit organizations like the Scouts if they wanted to sell food to Chocolate Walkers.
Council member Anna Hofstetter proposed allowing food trucks to come in and sell on town streets at certain times of the year. The council plans to discuss the idea at its July meeting.
Pine Tree Hills getting speed limit of 20
The Pine Tree Hills subdivision is officially getting a speed limit.
At the June town council meeting, homeowners association President Mark Williams asked the council to set and post a limit in the neighborhood of State Road 135 North. The council wasn’t sure why that neighborhood never formally had speed limits or signs. Williams said a limit was needed because the neighborhood was “growing rapidly” and construction was making traffic much greater.
Utility Coordinator Sean Cassiday suggested it be set at 20 mph because it’s residential.
The limit will take effect after the change is published in public notices in the newspaper.
Court date for water case likely to be later
The long-running federal lawsuit between the Town of Nashville and Brown County Water Utility is tentatively scheduled to go before a jury in October, but that date might not stick.
Town Attorney James T. Roberts gave the town council an update on the case at a special meeting June 14. Other unrelated items of business also were covered.
At issue is whether or not Nashville Utilities had the right to serve the Hard Truth Hills development with water. Brown County Water Utility and the town both are claiming that the land on which this development was built is in their exclusive water service area. BCWU sued the town in the summer of 2017 after the town signed a water service contract with the owners.
A jury trial is what the town wanted, Roberts said, because he thinks the town’s position is “readily explainable to a jury and very sympathetic.” But there’s a good chance that the trial won’t actually happen in October because the town’s hired trial attorney has another jury trial scheduled for the same day, Roberts said. He thinks it might get pushed to January or February 2020.
It’s also still possible that the case could be decided without a trial. Roberts said that a settlement conference has been scheduled in August with a federal magistrate.
New member appointed to town redevelopment
The Nashville Redevelopment Commission has a new member: local entrepreneur Tyra Miller.
Miller, the only applicant, was appointed by the Nashville Town Council at its June meeting. She is the owner of Robinwood Inn and the Bird’s Nest Cafe. She replaces Torrie Birkemeier, who resigned from the commission after she moved out of town limits.
The Nashville Redevelopment Commission advises the town council on matters related to economic development, such as business growth, retention and attraction.
Miller has had to go before the RDC to get riverfront liquor license renewals for her cafe. RDC adviser Ed Curtin said that Miller and the commission would have to be cognizant of that when other, similar businesses go before the commission for those licenses, so that it wouldn’t appear that Miller had a conflict of interest.
