My Health Department Woes

A few months back when I decided that I wanted to become a mobile coffee vendor I had no idea how to do that. What I did know were the basics, you have to have all the proper permits and licenses. So after a lot of reading of confusing and misleading regulations I thought I understood what I needed to do and what to look for in a vehicle to use. I even took the extra step to meet with a Health Department Inspector before purchasing what was then a Sno Cone trailer (now the Mobile Command Unit) to make sure it would pass a health inspection for what I wanted to use it for. The inspector said he didn’t see any reason why it would not pass from the photo’s I showed him and the past permits that were issued for the trailer. So in late january I took the trip to LA, bought the trailer, and hauled it back to Vegas assuming after a few modifications that I would pass my health inspection with flying colors. Well last week that inspection happened and it did not go as planned. Saying that is an understatement, more like the plan decided that it would be better off jumping off the top of the Stratosphere (which happens in Bloodsucking Vegas by JJ Wylie). There were mainly two problems that the Health Department had with the trailer that if I had known about before, I might not have bought it.

The first was that the 3 sinks I have for ware washing does not comply with the regulation that requires a 3 compartment sink with drain boards.

Now if that was all it would have been a pain to replace the sinks but it could have been done relatively quickly albeit not cheaply (the sink above costs about $500). The thing that is going to take a while to do is to install FRP panelling in all area where there are pipes that carry water. FRP stands for Fiber Reinforced Plastic is waterproof and easy to clean, which protects all wood surfaces from water leaks. Turns out that the trailer has a lot of areas that need to be covered and they are not exactly easy to access. So I’m anticipating a few weeks to get everything installed properly before we can try with the Health Department. In the meantime we will still be doing the different events around town to deliver caffeinated happiness.