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REGULAR MEETING September 14, 2015 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Councilmember Dieter asked what will be the fees, as there will be a lot of capital going into <br />this. <br /> <br />Councilmember White stated he can come back after the public hearing to address those <br />questions. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dr. David Varner – Whenever people embark on a new endeavor, there is on <br />occasion an unexpected consequence. Most of the issues have been dismissed as though they <br />won’t happen. Is the ownership in regards to the sponsorship that you won’t be looking at <br />changing when situations occur? <br /> <br />Councilmember White interjected so the question is will you be willing to make adjustments as <br />we move forward? <br /> <br />Councilmember Oliver Davis answered we don’t have to wait a whole year if issues come up. If <br />something comes up since this is brand new that needs adjustments I don’t have a problem let’s <br />address it right away. <br /> <br />Councilmember Ferlic added the Department of Community Investment has done a lot of <br />research and based this on best practices from surrounding communities, but if something comes <br />up we will revisit it right away. <br /> <br /> Councilmember Scott stated whenever there is something new there are a lot of what ifs that <br />paralyze an organization. He expressed his willingness as a co-sponsor to address the what-ifs <br />for something better as that would be the next step for this. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dr. Varner stated he just wants to make it clear that sponsors are willing to go <br />back if and when there is a problem. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dr. Fred Ferlic – What percentage were favorable for this, and how many <br />restaurants did you poll? <br /> <br />Ms. Adams responded we don’t have numbers per se, but we reached out to the downtown <br />dining alliance and mailed out letters to every restaurant in South Bend and encouraged them to <br />reach out to us for concerns and clarification. At this point we have had no restaurants with <br />negative comments, rather positive feedback and excitement. <br /> <br />Councilmember Valerie Schey – Like many of my colleagues I have a concern for restaurant <br />owners who pay all the components that go in to the brick mortars specifically to the restaurants <br />downtown as we don’t want to do anything detrimental to those businesses downtown. Can you <br />address the businesses that spoke in support? <br /> <br />th <br />Chris Fieldings, Department of Community Investment with offices on 14 floor of the <br />County-City Building, the ability for food trucks to have a commissary kitchen allows for <br />businesses such as LaSalle Grill to rent out their kitchen in the mornings and offset their property <br />taxes. We have other individuals such as the owner of Linden Grill who is very excited about <br />the commissary kitchen as it hard with the setup in there. There are two (2) opportunities to <br />make more money and even the possibility of their own food trucks to reach sporting events and <br />their product outside of their four walls. <br /> <br />Councilmember Schey asked what is the licensing fee if you have a brick and mortar restaurant <br />do you need to get a restaurant permit and if so what is that for South Bend? <br /> <br />Ms. Adams responded the restaurant permit is actually $95, it would cost more for the food truck <br />than a brick and mortar to cover clean-up cost and enforcement. <br /> <br />Councilmember Henry Davis, Jr. – Because of the significant cost for developing a food truck as <br />you are paying out rent are there any programs that are in place to support the new growth for an <br />entrepreneur and if so what are they? <br /> <br />4 <br /> <br /> <br />