Title
Supervisor Parlin recommending the Board make findings that food trucks are not needed nor appropriate at Henningsen Lotus Park and amend Agreement 7980 with Mikey’s Kilted Kitchen to remove the use of Henningsen Lotus Park for mobile food vendor services.
FUNDING: N/A
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On the May 16, 2023 Consent Calendar, the Board authorized a Request for Proposals (RFP) for food truck vending activities on County property at Henningsen Lotus Park (HLP) and Chili Bar Put In, and authorized the Purchasing Agent to negotiate and sign food truck vendor license agreements with the top-ranked respondents resulting from the RFP.
In June of 2023, Supervisor Parlin was contacted by a Coloma business owner who had contacted other business owners in the Coloma-Lotus Valley that did not support the use of food trucks at HLP. Supervisor Parlin was asked to discontinue pursuit of this RFP. Supervisor Parlin reached out to staff and was advised that no bids had been received at that time and the Board could reject any bids to provide food truck services at HLP when the agreements went to the Board for approval. Unfortunately, the agreements were not required to go to the Board for approval as the Purchasing Agent was authorized to negotiate and sign the agreements. As such, there was no further notification to the Board and a bid was received and an agreement was executed.
On March 1, 2024, Supervisor Parlin was contacted again by the same Coloma business owner and asked why a food truck vendor was recruiting people to work in a food truck in HLP. It was then that Supervisor Parlin discovered the miscommunication with staff in 2023 and asked the business owner to resubmit letters of support to terminate the agreement for a food truck at HLP. Those letters are in Attachment A. The businesses in the Coloma-Lotus Valley rely on park users and tourist traffic during its short summer season, and therefore having a food truck at HLP to draw awa...
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