Norwood food-truck permit fee jumps; committee seeks state spreadsheet and potential truck-park sites

The Norwood Small Business Committee reported this month that the city’s mobile food-vending permit fee rose to about $317 from roughly $87–$97 in prior years and said it has requested the state spreadsheet and previous-year figures from the Board of Health to determine why.

Committee members said the Board of Health used a state-provided spreadsheet into which local figures are entered to calculate recommended fees. The committee said the board held a public hearing on the change — notices were mailed Dec. 5 and the hearing took place Jan. 13 — and that no members of the public attended that hearing.

The committee has asked for the 2024 spreadsheet it received and for the 2023 data to compare changes year to year. Ms. Hoover submitted and copied a records request for the 2023 materials, the committee said, and had not received a response at the time of the meeting.

A committee member said she spoke by phone with the Board of Health’s environmental health director, identified in the meeting as Mr. Kolbinski, who told her the office has been translating documents into Spanish and that he has spent extra time this year addressing housekeeping issues left by the previous staff member. According to that account, additional staff time included locating some food-truck operators who had not reappeared to renew permits.

Several food-truck operators at the meeting pushed back on the characterization that the health department had to “find” many trucks. “I don’t think that’s true,” said Sumberto, a food-truck owner with Tacreados Coniadas, who said many operators renew their licenses in person and that he had his inspection that day. He and others told the committee they generally want to remain in Norwood and are open to solutions that make permitting and inspections simpler.

Committee members discussed possible ways to streamline inspections and reduce friction for truck operators, including creating a designated food-truck park or reserved parking area where multiple vendors could be inspected in one location. Potential sites mentioned during the meeting included an open lot near the former Lisonbee school site, a space near Factory 52, and property connected with upcoming Uptown/Wausau Way development. Members noted each option has logistical or ownership hurdles and that pedestrian and traffic safety on Montgomery Road will be relevant; the city’s planned Montgomery Road improvements include traffic-calming and pedestrian-safety measures, the committee said.

Operators and committee members also discussed inspection fees charged by other agencies: the meeting record cited a $150 sticker fee and a $250 charge for a propane pressure test (the propane check was described as valid for two years). Committee members emphasized that the Board of Health is a separate entity from the City of Norwood and that the committee lacks direct control over the Board’s fee decisions.

The committee said it will continue to pursue the 2023 and 2024 fee spreadsheets from the Board of Health, to better understand what inputs drove the fee increase, and will explore possible centralized parking or a truck park to ease inspection logistics and pedestrian-safety concerns. The group penciled in a follow-up meeting for Monday the 30th at 6:00 p.m. to continue the discussion, pending confirmation and availability.

The committee did not take any formal votes during the meeting.