North Battleford city council decided on Monday night that they liked ice cream.
More specifically, they liked the proposal of a young entrepreneur to set up an ice cream-vending business in the community and are directing administration to create a new bylaw that would allow for modified all-terrain vehicles, or ATVs, to be used for that purpose.
The entrepreneur, Micah Poynting, wants to sell novelty ice cream and drinks on mobile vending units. Poynting was in attendance at Monday's meeting.
According to his letter to the mayor and council presented at Monday's meeting, the units will be modified to include all the standard road and safety regulations including a horn, turn signals, rear view mirrors and a windshield, among others.
He also stated that he had spoken with SGI who confirmed that his ATV insurance will cover the units and all liabilities if the city approves the use.
The problem, however, is that modified ATVs aren't allowed to be operated on the residential streets of North Battleford. Poynting requested a bylaw be put in place that would allow a modified ATV to be used to operate his business.
Administration, however, had recommended the request be turned down. Among the concerns cited in an April 20 memo from city clerk Debbie Wohlberg was that allowing the operation could open the door to other ATV applications. There were also liability and insurance concerns.
Councillors, however, were impressed that Poynting was interested in starting a business in North Battleford. Councillors Grace Lang and Trent Houk were particularly encouraging and willing to accommodate the request to use a modified ATV to sell ice cream.
Lang compared the business venture to the Dickie Dee's ice cream vendors in Saskatoon, which are cycle-driven.
But the councillors also wanted to make sure that the door was not opened to further unauthorized ATV use in the city. It was suggested that perhaps the way to go was to issue some sort of special business license that could allow use of ATVs for a specific business.
In the end council voted to turn down administration's recommendation to deny the ice cream vending business, and have directed city administration to start preparing a bylaw that could give the green light to Poynting to allow him to operate the ATV ice cream business.
A draft bylaw could be before council at their next meeting, but it seems likely that final passage may not happen for a few weeks as councillors consider the wording such a bylaw would have.
