More changes proposed for food vendor laws

TIFFIN — Tiffin City Council continued discussions Monday about regulations for mobile food truck vendors. At a recent Law and Community Planning Committee meeting, members voted to amend the food truck ordinance. The changes would have reinstated the original $25 weekly fee that council voted to remove in June. Other proposed amendments included creating a 100-foot buffer between food trucks and brick-and-mortar establishments selling similar food, as well as changing the permitted duration of food truck operations from three days to 24 hours, according to Councilmember John Hays. The committee also proposed an effective date of April 1, 2026. Later Monday, council voted to remove amended Ordinance 24-54 from the table for a formal reading. After the reading, Hays made a motion to add the proposed changes to the ordinance. The motion passed. Following that vote, Councilmember Cheyane Thacker introduced a motion to remove the $25 weekly fee and instead increase the license filing fee to $100. That motion also passed. As it stands, the ordinance would change the license filing fee to $100, eliminate the weekly fee, establish the 100-foot buffer for similar food vendors and allow 24-hour operations. Council voted to send the revised legislation back to the Economic Development and Downtown Planning Committee for further discussion. The committee is scheduled to meet at 5:15 p.m. Aug. 14 at City Hall, 51 E. Market St., in council chambers. In other news Tiffin City Schools Superintendent Jerry Nadeau addressed council with updates from the district. He said the district is guided by four pillars: teaching and learning, school culture, success and fiscal responsibility. "We take all of those pillars very seriously and they drive the decisions we make," Nadeau said. "That goes down to the very heart of the Department of Education and Workforce, which means we are bound by an obligation to fill out a plan." The district's plan outlines its goals and how it intends to spend its funding. The four pillars are included in the plan as measurable goals tied to student success. The district's top two goals are improving student attendance and providing high-quality instruction, Nadeau said. "Our main goal is to eliminate and minimize barriers for students so they get to school," he said. "They can't learn and they can't access our great staff without being at school." Nadeau also addressed the district's projected deficit spending, which shows the district could run out of funds by 2028. "We looked at that very seriously, the board (of education) was engaged with discussions and we made some changes," he said. "We know that we have limited financial resources when you look at the long term and the board directed we need to provide the best education for our students." One strategy has been reducing expenses through attrition. When staff members leave, the district evaluates whether those responsibilities can be absorbed instead of rehiring. "In the last 18 months, we have saved $650,000 through attrition. We also project that going into this year, we are going to be able to save at least another $350,000 by allocating." Nadeau also highlighted student success in extracurricular activities, including athletics and the visual and performing arts. "I know that all of us up here and everyone in this room wants Tiffin to be the best possible community that we can be, and to be the best possible community we can be, we need good schools," said Mayor Lee Wilkinson. Council approved the following ordinances: • Ordinance 25-62: Amends the 2025 Budget Ordinance 24-94 to appropriate funds into the Fire Capital Budget. • Ordinance 25-64: Amends the 2025 Budget Ordinance 24-94 to transfer $120,000 within the Capital Improvements Fund and declares an emergency. The next city council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 18 at City Hall, 51 E. Market St., in council chambers.