The Valemount Village office and Visitor Information Center may be getting an outdoor electrical box.
A last minute addition the Council Agenda of July 9 was a letter from David Grant, the first holder of a business license under the Village’s Temporary Mobile Vendor Bylaw.
Grant runs the Funky Goat Eatery, a gourmet food truck, and his preferred location of the four available to him under the bylaw is next to the Visitor Center. He requires electricity to run his equipment, and has been using a generator, but he has gotten complaints about the noise, especially during the Valemount Farmers Market, which uses the green space next to the Visitor’s Centre.
Grant’s letter was a request to install a power box so that he could plug in instead of using a generator. He says, as a side benefit, it could be used for community events like the Farmers Market. Grant included an estimate of just over $3,500 for the electrical, equipment and labour cost to have an outdoor electrical box installed, and an estimate of how much electricity his food truck would use per day. He also provided a number of options for payment of the installation where he would pay for all or part of the installation, and some repayment deal in usage of power, or in no-charge business licenses and vendor fees.
The box could potentially be used by other local businesses as well. Right now, the Farmers Market is run by extension cords strung from inside the Village office building. Manager of the market, Mike Lewis says that he is working hard to bring artisans, crafters and performers to the market, and if they need power to make or show their craft, it helps the draw of the market to have that available. And it is not just for the Farmers Market.
“Anything you choose to do for an activity outside that visitor center could be better facilitated by putting a power box there,” Lewis says.
A resolution was passed that will allow Grant to install the electrical box, provided all conditions, standards and requirements of the Village are met prior to the start of the installation. The Village will ensure the Community Charter is not contravened, and no insurance or legal issues are forseen before laying out the conditions, standards and requirements. The terms under which Grant and any others would be able to use the service would also need to be negotiated in good faith.
As a temporary measure, the Village intends to grade the grounds so that the mobile vendor can park in such a way that the vehicle can block some of the noise of the generator during the Farmers Market.
During public comment section of Council meeting, Grant thanked council for reviewing his letter on such short notice, and says he is certainly not opposed to other vendors using the power box.
“It encourages small businesses such as myself, the farmers market, and other vendors,” Grant says. “Thank you for supporting small business and the community.”
By: Korie Marshall
