Nixon Council approves food truck fee waiver, Rancho-Nixon library use

The Nixon City Council had a full table set on their agenda Monday, July 15, as they listened to citizen concerns regarding food truck permit fees and the use of the library by the Rancho-Nixon Historical Association as a viewing room for their new documentary on John Wesley Hardin.

Food trucks

Irma Flores, with her daughter Sandra interpreting, asked the council to consider lowering the cost of permit fees for food trucks in the city. Irma Flores operates a food truck that parks outside Holmes Foods in the mornings for two hours so workers there can quickly grab breakfast tacos when they take their breaks.

Sandra Flores said her brother had come before the council once before on her mother’s behalf about six years ago and presented data about what other communities charge.

She said she had Googled the fees charged by nearby cities of similar size and her research showed La Vernia charges $250 per year; Kenedy charges $258 per for two years; Luling charges $75 per year; Fredericksburg charges $200 per year; and Beeville charges $150 per year. Meanwhile, Nixon charges food trucks a fee of $225 per month, or $2,700 per year.

“When they increased the price … we saw it’s just not a fair price, so that’s why my brother came and presented the data and that’s why I’m here today for you to maybe reconsider charging a price that reflects other surrounding towns,” Sandra Flores said, adding her mother believes a price of $250 per year is a “reasonable price to charge the citizens of Nixon.”

“In six years, she’s paid over $16,000 for a vendor food permit and to us, that seems pretty excessive, so that’s why we’re here today,” Sandra Flores said. “Maybe consider decreasing that price. I means, she doesn’t make that much profit, so that’s a pretty big chunk out of what she makes.”

Council member Justin La Fleur said the permit fee is high “to offset the cost that the city of Nixon would not be getting from brick and mortar businesses that conduct business in Nixon that pay property taxes, that pay for dumpsters and pay for sewer and water.”

“The problem that I’ve always had — not just in Nixon, but in other towns — with the collection of sales tax from businesses that take cash money, charge the eight and a quarter percent and never pay it back to the Comptroller, which everybody up here never receives those funds,” La Fleur said. “So when we're wondering why our sales tax are down, that's because a lot of businesses are taking the cash and putting it in their pocket, and I’m not OK with that.

“So how do we make sure that we try to recoup what we're not getting in sales tax that's taken from our brick and mortar? Now I'm not saying that our brick and mortar businesses are recording all their sales tax and paying it, but we are still getting their sewer and water and their garbage to offset.”

La Fleur called it “the only downfall” of mobile food trucks being that “we have no idea what you are doing as far as reporting sales tax.” He said other cities require food trucks to post a bond ($5,000 in Cuero, for example), which Nixon does not do and that is one of the reasons for the higher food permit cost.

“If we drop it to $50 per month, then how is that fair to our brick and mortar businesses, when you are selling across the street from Taco Ranch, who do pay property taxes and more importantly for Nixon, they do employ people?” La Fleur asked.

He suggested that Nixon has a scarcity of dining options available beginning in the afternoons and going throughout the evening and into the night and suggested waiving permit fees (but still requiring permits) if food trucks wanted to set up at either the post office parking lot or Gladyne Finch Park parking lot from 2 p.m. to midnight, with Interim City Administrator Darryl Becker and Police Chief Miguel Cantu determining which would be the better option.

“There is no place to eat, especially during school, and there's not very many places for people coming into town or that are in town to have somewhere to go late at night or in the evenings because everything's shut down,” La Fleur said. “We're not talking people with barbecue pits wanting to sell stuff. (Food trucks could operate) for free from 2 p.m. to midnight, so it gives people in town options and allow food trucks to make more money, free of charge.”

Council members voted unanimously to waive the permit fees only for the area established by the city for food vendors who will operate from 2 p.m. to midnight. Anyone operating outside that time or in a different area of town will still be required to pay the $225 per month permit fee. Becker, Cantu and City Attorney Eddie Escobar will be tasked with determining which area is best suited for this endeavor.

Rancho-Nixon

Council members voted unanimously to allow the Rancho-Nixon Historical Association to lease the Lions Club conference room at the Aphne Pattillo Nixon Public Library as a viewing room for the new John Wesley Hardin documentary video.

Association chairman Donald Hoffman previously appeared before the council last month to discuss using the library as a place to show the video and possibly having a librarian collect fees for viewings of the documentary; city officials said they could not have a city employee handling money or doing work for any business or organization during city work hours.

Hoffman told council members Monday the Lions Club has given permission for his organization to use their conference room when the Lions Club is not using it. The organization has bought equipment to show the video and has created display items to go in the room along with a brochure about Hardin’s history, including his life in the Nixon area.

“We have quite a cadre of people on Facebook who have volunteered to do volunteer work where there would not be any requirements on the library. We have even investigated and will purchase a QR code where the money goes straight in the bank and there is no money handled,” Hoffman said. “All of this will be handled by volunteers and not by the library.”

Escobar said it sounded like the legal issues he had (making sure the Lions Club had no objection to use of the room and removing the librarian from responsibility of collecting fees) had been resolved.

Hoffman also said he has a $500,000 liability policy which covers the Rancho-Nixon Historical Association for any property they may have under lease, which would also cover any concerns in that area.

Becker said he wants a municipal lease to spell out all conditions and terms to protect both the city and the Rancho-Nixon Historical Association.

Other items from Monday night’s meeting will appear in a story for the July 25 edition of the Inquirer.