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A Warsaw city ordinance requiring a permit fee for itinerant merchants and peddlers will be discussed by city council next month after allowing time for public input.
Council members are interested in input on how city merchants feel about the 1984 ordinance that requires transient merchants to buy a license for $25 per person per day.
The license fee is waived for anyone who lives in Warsaw and/or pays taxes in Warsaw. It also does not apply to the "sale of products grown in the county."
City attorney Steve Snyder said similar ordinances have been upheld at the state level. "The question is, to what extent do you really want to impose it?"
Trish Brown, director of the Warsaw Community Development Corporation, asked the council to table discussion of the ordinance for a month so she could talk to downtown merchants.
The ordinance became an issue recently because of a request for a hot dog stand on wheels in downtown Warsaw. Council members said they were hesitant to approve something that would compete with established businesses that pay rent.
Council also approved asking the state for a grant to do a feasibility study for bus service from Warsaw to other cities.
Greyhound Bus Lines is interested in establishing routes between Warsaw and Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, South Bend and Chicago, but must perform a feasibility study first. Indiana subsidizes inter-city bus routes, but must have a feasibility study before giving out any money, Snyder said.
The feasibility study would cost Warsaw approximately $2,000, which Greyhound would donate, said Mayor Ernie Wiggins.
Warsaw city council meets at 7 p.m. the third Monday of each month in the council chambers.
