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Minocqua board moves to broaden food-truck rules, raises fees and allows year-round operations
Summary
The Minocqua Board of Supervisors directed revisions to the town's food-truck policy on Feb. 17, 2026, raising the initial permit fee, moving inspections to an annual process, allowing year-round operation and permitting up to three mobile kitchens per event; final policy will return for adoption at the next meeting.
The Minocqua Board of Supervisors on Feb. 17 reviewed a package of changes to the town’s food-truck policy that would expand when and where food trucks can operate and increase permitting fees.
Chairman Mark Hartzheim presented proposed language that would replace the current $100 per-day fee with a $200 initial annual permit (which includes an annual inspection by the Minocqua Fire Department) and a $50 per-day fee for subsequent dates in the same calendar year. The board also discussed moving required inspections to an annual appointment at the fire department with the option of random on-site inspections if a vehicle changes or for compliance checks.
Krystal Westfahl, president of the Greater Minocqua Area Visitors Bureau, asked for clarifications about vendors at bureau-sponsored craft fairs and the farmers market. The board agreed that only motorized food trucks and mobile kitchen-on-wheels units would be subject to the town’s food-truck policy; booth-style food vendors and chamber-sponsored vendors would continue under the existing approach.
Key operational changes the board discussed and directed staff to finalize include allowing year-round operation (current policy ended Oct. 1), extending permitted days and frequencies downtown from weekdays/once per week to any day of the week and up to three times per calendar week, and removing the six-hour daily maximum while keeping operating hours between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. The board also agreed to allow donuts and baked goods to be classified as meal options and to permit food trucks at the Fourth of July and during Beef-a-Rama between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., with the limit of three mobile kitchens per event.
Nonprofit organizations that use food trucks for their events will be required to follow the town’s food-truck policy. The board instructed Chairman Hartzheim to finalize the revised policy language for consideration and formal approval at the next board meeting.
The changes were presented as policy directions; no final ordinance was adopted at the Feb. 17 meeting. The board’s discussion focused on definitions, inspection logistics, limits per event and coordination with event organizers.
