Future Ice Cream Proposal: Silent Vendors, Carts Only

AVALON – The six ice cream trucks that currently vend products along Avalon streets may not see their licenses renewed next year. Instead, ice cream may be sold from carts directly on the beach.
The Avalon Borough Council used its Aug. 23 work session to hear a new plan for vendors of ice cream from carts moving along the beaches in 2018.
Currently, three companies manage six ice cream trucks that travel in assigned zones in the borough. The trucks can sell products from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the contracted summer season.
The borough collects a fee but the total for the combined years of 2014 to 2017 amounts to less than $17,000.
For that sum, the borough must deal with complaints about the noise caused by the trucks. Also, music and ringing bells are not welcome sounds for many residents.
Add to those the complaints about the behavior of some operators, especially if they cross into unassigned zones, along with competition with the public for prime parking spaces, and the borough seeks to try something new.
One Vendor, Just Carts
Borrowing ideas from a model used in Sea Isle City, Business Administrator Scott Wahl and Purchasing Agent Joe Clark discussed with the council a plan to end licenses for ice cream trucks.
They proposed moving to a single vendor who would pay the borough for the right to sell ice cream and possibly water directly from carts that will move along beaches. The vendor would be selected through a bid process.
Wahl said the service was one the borough wanted to continue to provide for beachgoers, but it was not needed along the community’s streets.
Use Caution
Care needed to be taken, Wahl said, to ensure that the new model did not “upset the integrity of the beach experience.” The borough does not want to transfer annoying noise to its beaches.
Wahl and Clark both said that bid rules could be set so that the successful vendor would have a “silent operation” on the beaches. “You see the cart, and you wave them over,” Wahl said. There would be no hawking of products by vendors.
The borough also wants to be sure that they do not open the gates to hot dogs, newspapers and a variety of other products. “This would be limited to ice cream and perhaps water,” Wahl said.
Owners in Favor
Wahl indicated that he had presented the proposal to the Avalon Home and Land Owners Association, and it had received “100 percent support.”
In Sea Isle City’s first year with this model, the city received $153,000 in revenue.
Both Wahl and Clark said that the borough should not expect that kind of result, although they believe the revenue from the winning vendor would be greater than what the borough currently receives.
Would Trash Increase?
Council members raised concerns about an increase of trash on the beaches even if steps were taken to add more trash receptacles. There was tepid support for the prospect of vending water due to the likelihood that the beaches could be littered with discarded plastic bottles.
“We want to avoid the dominos of unintended consequences – trash,” said Council member Nancy Hudanich.
Businesses Hurt?
Another concern was ensuring that the ice cream sales on the beach would not cut into sales by local businesses.
The plan calls for limiting the hours to the period when beaches are officially open. That would be to reduce the impact on businesses that see more of their sales later.
Forget the Fourth
The beach vendor would also not be allowed to sell in the evenings on holiday event nights such as the Fourth of July.
Clark has dealt with this issue in Ocean City and observed it in Sea Isle. “I really think this is the way to go,” he said.
The council may introduce a draft ordinance at its first September meeting.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.