MATTHEW BURNETTE, Staff Writer

A new food truck policy was approved unanimously 6-0 by the Manchester Recreation Commission at their Jan. 8 meeting.

“The idea behind it is to free up our ability to contract with mobile food units to provide a service outside of our concession stands and also generate a small little bit of revenue for us,” said Parks and Recreation Director A.J. Fox.

A $25 day-use fee will be charged to any food trucks for a six-hour block of time during Recreation Department events such as Youth League games and tournaments. Operators can also pay a $35 double-book fee to stay an additional six hours past their first six.

A “special use” agreement is included in the policy that states food trucks can only sell to attendees of the event that they are contracted to sell at.

The agreement also says that if someone rents a Recreation facility such as the Ada Wright Center and wants to bring a food truck, then the food truck doesn’t have to pay the $25 day-use fee if the Parks and Rec Department is notified that the truck is going to be there.

“The basic framework for it is actually the city’s policy,” said Nick Gonder, a Recreation Specialist with the Parks and Rec department. “It stays within all of the city’s requirements for food trucks.”

Food truck owners are required to have insurance and a license with the City to be able to contract with the Parks and Recreation Department.

The presence of food trucks will not take away from the income the concession stands take in during these events, according to Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Becki Johnson.

“We’ve asked that if they have food trucks come for a big tournament that they try to offer a different variation than what we’re offering, but we’ve found that there’s more than enough business to go around,” she said. “It’s hard to get enough staff and we won’t have to overbuy product because we’re guessing.”

The policy should go into effect since it was approved by the Commission, but Fox says they are going to run it through the City first.

“We’ll cross our T’s and dot our I’s by taking it through the city attorney… just to make sure everything’s covered,” said Fox.