By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE The city is getting ready to offer its annual beach vending license to the highest bidder, but not before some changes to the offering the city hopes will encourage more vendors to submit bids.
Roger McLarnon of the city's Planning and Zoning Department has recommended the city revise the bid offering to eliminate price controls on products sold on the beach and possibly extend the contract an additional year.
In the past, we have provided maximum prices for certain products to be sold on the beach. This could be considered price fixing. We can take it out or have a recommended price range to sell certain products on the beach and not include any specific product names, he told commissioners Thursday, March 5.
He suggested doing a two-year bid to eliminate the need to negotiate every year.
The idea of getting rid of the pricing might attract more vendors to bid on the contract, McLarnon said.
He said the city could include a suggested price range, but market conditions could keep prices in check.
If prices are too high for certain items, people won't purchase them, McLarnon said.
Why don't we leave the sale of the product up to the individual? Commissioner John Amodeo asked.
Other commissioners agreed.
Let them sell, it's a free market, he said.
Veterans are also allowed to sell ice cream at street ends in non-motorized vehicles, Mayor Michael Becker said.
A little competition might lower things, he said.
Paul Van DeRijn of Jack and Jill Ice Cream in Egg Harbor Township has won ice cream vending contracts for years in Margate and in Longport, where the borough's Board of Commissioners March 18 is slated to extend his contract for a second year with a 5% increase over last year's contract amount, which was $25,300.
After receiving a high bid of $93,000 in 2017, Margate saw its ice cream vending revenue nearly cut in half for 2018. Because the dune building project of 2017 severely cut into his profits, Van DeRijn stonewalled and was successful in lowering the bid threshold to $54,000 for the 2018 summer season. After a second round of bidding last year, he won the contract for $33,000.
Bids are due to the Margate City Clerk's Office by 11 a.m. March 31. The minimum bid amount is $50,000.
In other business, the proposed water park along the bay could be before the Planning Board at its April 25 meeting, McLarnon said.
The developers of the water park have submitted paperwork for review by the Planning and Zoning Department but plans have yet to be reviewed by the Staff Committee, he said.
McLarnon said the committee would review the plans before recommending an application fee schedule and when the owners could submit their Planning Board application.
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