More food truck troubles
Councillor and mayor at odds over bylaw amendment
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, May 29, 2014
INUVIK
The furor over the Town of Inuvik's proposal to amend its highway traffic bylaw continued May 26.
The move to force street vendors onto private property was front and centre once again at the regularly-scheduled committee of the whole meeting.
The town is moving to amend the bylaw to prohibit street vendors such as the Ready Red's food truck from using public parking spots to sell their products.
Ready Red's, which is owned and operated by Josh Tyler, is in its second season of operation in front of the Mad Trapper bar on Mackenzie Road. Tyler taps into the bar's electrical system and other infrastructure to provide services to his food trailer, which uses two public parking spots.
The current bylaw permits vehicles to remain parked for 72 hours at a time, so Tyler moves the trailer periodically and then returns it to the same location.
The town's intention to amend the bylaw has created a public uproar that has spilled into the council chambers. Terry Halifax is the only councillor to consistently oppose the bylaw, and he and Mayor Floyd Roland have been at loggerheads over the issue.
That continued May 26 when Halifax suggested the town's actions were "heavy-handed, ham-fisted and unfair." That irritated Roland, who told Halifax his "language was inflammatory."
Halifax was hardly intimidated by that suggestion, and retorted "I'm sorry you feel it's inflammatory," and repeated his comment about the amendment being unfair to Tyler.
He went on to suggest that he believed Tyler would have a strong case to sue the town over the issue.
During the public question period, Helena Katz grilled the council on the issue, asking how much research it had carried out and whether it considered whether the amendment discouraged small business.
She suggested under the wording of the bylaw, the town's popular Arctic Market that operates out of Chief Jim Koe Park would be in violation if someone wants to sell products from a vehicle.
Roland disagreed with that interpretation of the bylaw, and said the vendors there wouldn't be affected.
Roland, as he has from the start, said the issue isn't one of discouraging small business or trying to shut down the Ready Red's food truck. Instead, the town is trying to grapple with its downtown parking problem.
Later in the meeting, as council further discussed the bylaw, Tyler attempted to interject in the meeting. Roland told him he could be removed from the meeting if he continued, provoking another exchange with Halifax, who noted council will often solicit comment or information from audience members during a meeting as needed.
Tyler said he merely wanted to point out that two other similar businesses in past years had tried to operate on private property as council was suggesting. Neither one was able to stay in operation, he said.
A few days before the meeting, Tyler said he is hoping to move his operation across the road to a private location if he could have his power hooked up properly if the council passed the bylaw.
He was hoping to hire McDonald Bros. Ltd., the town's main electrical company, to do the work, but hadn't heard back at that point.
The electrical company is partly owned by deputy-mayor Jim McDonald, who declared a conflict of interest over the issue at the committee of the whole meeting. Up to then, he had argued strongly in favour of the proposed amendment.
Roland and Coun. Alana Mero said they had been receiving positive feedback on the amendment from the public and next to no disapproval.
Third and final reading of the bylaw is set to happen May 28.
