Warwick holds vote on food-truck contract after vendors and council raise fairness concerns

The Warwick City Council on the floor of its meeting held action on a request to award a one‑year revenue contract for city‑sponsored food‑truck events to Ocean State Concessions LLC after an extended discussion about bidding rules and fairness to local vendors.

Parks and Recreation matters were presented to the Finance Committee by Bill Vicente, chief of staff to Mayor Picozzi, who said the administration sought a single contractor to organize food trucks at 13 city events and estimated the award would generate $8,260 in revenue to the city for the season. “This is the first year we’re doing this, and I ask that we are given a 1 year trial to see how it works,” Vicente said at the committee hearing.

The request drew sustained objections from council members and multiple public speakers who said the procurement process disadvantaged long‑standing Warwick vendors and lacked clarity on responsibilities, minimum bids and placement decisions. Councilman Matthew Lattice and others pressed the administration on bid language, apparent discrepancies in minimum bid amounts and a provision that would allow the contract to be extended by “mutual agreement.”

Business owners who testified said the process felt exclusionary. “This is a monopoly,” said Robert Lombardi, owner of New England Lemonade, who described bidding for seasonal locations over decades and said his firm previously paid $18,500 for a package of locations. Local vendor Rick Leandre said he was “totally against this bid” and complained the structure required food truck operators to join an association to compete.

Administration officials and the parks and recreation presenter said the contract does not stop any properly licensed food truck from “driving through” and selling on city property outside the 13 listed events, and that the sample vendor agreement (included in the RFP pages 14–16) spells out requirements for participating trucks. Vicente told council members the 13 events were scheduled and that the first event is June 20, with another on July 9.

Council members raised two recurring concerns: first, that the RFP did not include an explicit preference or protections for Warwick‑based vendors; second, that the award would give the vendor discretion to assign which trucks attend which events. Vicente said the vendor would recommend a lineup but that the administration would set placement limits and that the city would have to approve any contract extension under its purchasing rules.

After debate at the full council, a motion to approve the award resulted in a 4‑4 tie and failed. The council then voted 8‑0 to hold the item and take no further action until the next meeting, scheduled June 2, so members can revisit bid language and allow additional input.

The contract under consideration (bid 2025419) would cover business coordination of food trucks at 13 predetermined city events; the bid term as written in the RFP runs January 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026, with a possible one‑year extension by mutual agreement. The administration said last season’s coordinated events produced $4,350 in revenue versus the $8,260 figure estimated under the current proposal.

The council directed further review of RFP details — including minimum bid inconsistencies raised on the bid pages — and invited additional information from the purchasing division and Parks and Recreation ahead of the June 2 meeting. The council did not approve any contract or authorize staff to execute an award at tonight’s session.

Looking ahead, the administration said it will treat this as a one‑year trial and that any contract extension would require council approval. The council signaled interest in stronger protections for local vendors, clearer role definitions in future RFPs, and clearer, documented attendance and revenue projections.