Farmers market food trucks under new fire code scrutiny

He didn’t know why the code enforcement official showed up out of the blue and didn’t understand why they had to have one, although the inspection focused on fire safety.

At first, Mr. LaMont thought it was a scam and kicked the enforcement officer out of the food truck.

“He was causing a safety concern,” Mr. LaMont said. “He came when we were real busy. He could trip and fall and cause a fire.”

Kayla S. Perry, president of the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce, said she didn’t know about the safety inspections of food trucks until she received an email from code enforcement two weeks before the farmers market opened on May 25.

The chamber hosts the Wednesday farmers market, which runs through Oct. 5.

It was the first time that food trucks have had to be inspected at the farmers market, she said, adding that she forwarded the email to the food truck vendors.

But not all municipalities are doing the inspections, she said.

Mr. LaMont said he never saw the email until he found it in his junk mail folder.

Scott B. Gilbert, who owns Tug Hill Artisan Roasters with his wife Vanessa, also wondered why his coffee trailer had to have an inspection. Two weeks ago, he went to the City Council meeting expressing his concerns.

Food trucks have only had to go through the state Department of Health for inspections, mainly for the food aspects of their businesses, the two businessmen said.

So they questioned whether the city code enforcement inspections were duplication of what the state health department is already doing.

City Code Enforcement Supervisor Dana Aikins said the state building codes changed in 2020 regarding food trucks.

He learned of the changes when he and one of his employees attended a training conference in Lake Placid. The changes are similar to what are required from restaurants for fire safety, he said.

“They’re basically mobile kitchens,” he said. “They can go anywhere. They can park anywhere.”

Ms. Perry said she hopes to get the city and the food truck vendors to work together on the issue.

They have to make it safe for the vendors, their employees and the public, she stressed.

During the inspections, the two businessmen were told they needed fire extinguishers, so they each bought one.

They also gave the code enforcement officer $20 for the cost of the inspection. They asked for a receipt and still haven’t received one.

During his inspection, the code enforcement official told Mr. LaMont that he needs to install an ANSUL fire suppression system in the truck’s kitchen exhaust hood.

Mr. LaMont said the ANSUL system would cost $15,000 to install.

“If we have to get that, I’m gone,” he said, saying will no longer come to the farmers market.

“We don’t make $15,000 in a season.”

Another food vendor, Pink Taco, has a new truck, so the truck was already equipped with one and doesn’t face the same expense, he said.

Mr. Aikins acknowledged there’s been some confusion over the hood issue. He finally got clarification from the state on Wednesday afternoon whether kitchen hoods would be “grandfathered in” and allowable.

He finally got word from State Department of State officials, who told him that existing food trucks will have to comply with the new regulations.

That means Mr. LaMont will have to install the fire suppression system in the truck, Mr. Aikins said.

He plans to contact Chamber of COmmerce officials and Mr. LaMont as soon as he can to notify them about what he’s learned.

He’ll also said he will give Mr. LaMont some time to decide his course of action.

But Mr. LaMont criticized the state for its decision.

“You go through two years of COVID and you start to come out of it and make it and be able to pay your bills,” he said. “Then they do this (expletive).”

Tug Hill Artisan Roasters and Johnny D’s food truck, which prepares food outside of the truck, are not impacted by the regulation.