The proposed license fee is $50, an amount intended to cover the cost to police of doing the background check.
NORTHAMPTON – There is no summer music sweeter to the ear than the sound of an ice cream truck rolling into a neighborhood. On Thursday, the City Council will vote on an ordinance to make sure the people in those trucks have background checks.
The ordinance before the council seeks to regulate ice cream trucks by mandating that they be licensed at a fee to the vendor. As part of that process, police will do background checks on vendors and their workers to ensure that they do not have criminal records.
City Councilor David A. Murphy, a member of the Public Safety Committee that is recommending the ordinance, said the measure is an effort to comply with a recently passed state law.
“The state wants to license ice cream trucks to make sure there aren’t drug dealers and child molesters selling ice cream,” he said.
Although ice cream trucks have been a common sight in Northampton, some come from as far away as Connecticut. Police Chief Russell P. Sienkiewicz said it does not matter under the new ordinance where the truck originates.
“You have to get a permit to sell ice cream in Northampton,” he said.
The proposed license fee is $50, an amount intended to cover the cost to police of doing the background check. Permits must be displayed on the vehicle. Violations result in a fine of $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second offense and $300 for a third offense. Sienkiewicz said the intention of the state law is to prevent criminals, notably sex and drug offenders, from interacting with children and seniors, the most vulnerable part of the population.
“Under no condition will a sex offender be given a permit,” he said.