By Dennis Minich
The Harrisonville Board of Aldermen approved a special-use permit for a parade on Oct. 3 and established regulations for food trucks during its meeting Monday night.
The parade is slated to be a replacement for the Log Cabin Festival parade which was cancelled when the Harrisonville Area Chamber of Commerce voted to cancel the festival earlier this month. Angela Bartlett, who signed the application for the permit, spoke to the board and answered questions concerning the event. Bartlett said she is planning the event, but the application named “Let Freedom Ring” as the sponsoring organization.
As planned, the parade will follow a similar route as the Log Cabin parade, except instead of starting at Harrisonville High School, it will line up in the parking lot of the former Cass Medical Center. It will follow Pearl Street to Independence Street where it will turn north to the bottom of the hill.
Police Chief John Hofer said staff conditionally supports the event as it is similar in scope to the usual parade. It was estimated the city would have about $360 in expenses for police and $590 for the street department.
Bartlett said she would be open to reimbursing the city for the expenses if necessary. However, she said some members of the board said the city is prepared to pay the expenses for the chamber event and said this is no different.
The board voted to approve the permit without receiving reimbursement contingent on Bartlett providing the city proof she has permission to use the former CMC parking lot for staging and notifying the city if animals will be included in the parade so street crews can be available for cleanup.
Bartlett said the parade staging would begin at 9 a.m. and the parade would begin at 11 a.m. She said she anticipated about 30 participants in the parade.
Board members were also informed the carnival which had been planned during the festival is still coming to the city. The carnival will be Oct. 1-3 in the grassy area next to the Harrisonville Marketplace on South Commercial Street. City administrator Brad Ratliff told the board the event is being held on private property so no action of the board was required.
The board took up the food truck ordinance after hearing from Roger Kroh, the city’s community development director. “We’ve talked about vending trucks off and on for several months because there is a hole in the regulations concerning food trucks,” he said.
He noted the portable eateries are gaining in popularity and the city studied other city’s ordinances to come up with a plan. Among the rules concerning the trucks are: they must operate in business areas on private property with a few exceptions; and they have to operate at least 100 feet from brick and mortar restaurants. Kroh noted an example in downtown Harrisonville.
“The most popular location in town is at the corner of Mechanic and Independence streets. I went to Bodeez and measured it to the corner and it was 195 feet.”
The board had several questions concerning the rules including distance from restaurants and concerns about how frequently they can operate. Alderman Matt Turner helped end the discussion.
“Right now we have no regulations at all. At least this is a start,” he said.
The board amended the ordinance to require trucks to be at least 150 feet from brick and mortar restaurants.
In other business:
• The board voted 6-2 to hire the Maurer Law Firm as city attorney. Steve Mauer has been serving as the interim city attorney since May of last year. Aldermen David Dickerson and Clint Miller voted no.
• The board voted 8-0 to pass a resolution agreeing to pay a percentage of the cost if the city was approved for a grant to improve broadband in the city. Ratliff told the board this was not allocating any money, simply stating the city would agree if a grant was approved.
• The board took no action on a request to vacate an alley right of way on East Wall Street.
• The board was informed Alderman Matt Turner had been elected to the board of directors of the Missouri Municipal League.