For the past 11 years, the Kelloggsville Heritage Committee has sold hot dogs, chili and baked goods at the Root Road covered bridge during the Covered Bridge Festival.

The hot dogs roasted over an open fire, the decorated bridge and baked goods offered by vendors who set up under the approval of the committee drew hundreds of visitors to the bridge. The money raised by the committee was used to purchase flags and other amenities for the community.

“We put the money back into Kelloggsville; we did it for the community,” said Skip Kister, who chairs the heritage group.

Last week, the committee voted not to participate in this year’s fair because of a new vendor fee and the burden of health department permitting. The Covered Bridge Festival Committee recently advised bridge chairmen that a $20 vendor’s fee must be charged for any seller who sets up at a bridge during the festival. And, if any kind of food other than pre-packaged items is sold, a temporary food service license must be obtained from the Ashtabula County Health Department.

Health Commissioner Raymond Saporito said the permit costs $70 and is good for five days. It’s not just a simple matter of making application and getting a piece of paper, either. The applicant must submit a menu, a layout of the space where the food will be prepared, information about food handling equipment/procedures and provide a three-tub system for washing, rinsing and disinfecting the utensils used to prepare the food. There must be hot water available for washing hands, and the gray water from these operations must be carted off the premises and disposed of through a proper sanitary sewer system.

“You’re not supposed to be throwing it in the woods.  It’s gray water, it’s got detergent in it,” he said.

The regulations are part of the Ohio Revised and Administrative codes, Saporito said. While there are some exemptions — schools, churches and fire departments, for example — they apply only to food prepared on the organization’s property. Taking the operation to a covered bridge is a whole different game.

For the heritage committee, the regulation is logistically onerous. Cooking hot dogs over an open fire makes it difficult to meet the handling and cooking-temperature issues. The chili has always been prepared by volunteers at home and then kept hot in crock pots.

“They technically cannot prepare food at home and finish preparing it on site,” Saporito said.

The food can be prepared “in the field” under the conditions of a temporary license, but the safe guards for proper handling must be observed.

The only way to get around the regulation is if the organization does not charge for the food, Saporito said. It can accept donations, however, it cannot display a sign that suggests the amount of the donation.

“Everything in the food code is driven around what you charge,” Saporito said. “When you charge a fee for the food, there  needs to be an appropriate license.

Kister said the committee voted down the idea of accepting donations.

“We weren’t sure about that. Somebody could give you $1 for five hot dogs. We worked hard to get what money we got now. We don’t want to lose what we got,” he said.

The group also sold cookies, cake and other baked goods made at home. Saporito said groups can sell these prepared items as long as they do not contain any potentially hazardous ingredients, such as a cream filling that must be refrigerated. However, each item must have a label on it indicating all ingredients in descending order of quantity.

Regardless of whether the vendor charges or asks for a donation, the health departments will provide information and food safety training to any vendor.

“We still want you to be educated on how to avoid food-borne illness,” Saporito said.

The permitting issue is not isolated to just the Covered Bridge Festival vendors. During a tourism-focused Common Sense Initiative Forum with Lt. Governor Mary Taylor last month, the temporary food license issue was brought up by local tourism leaders as a deterent to attracting vendors and buyers to festivals.

A statement presented to Taylor by the group noted that the fee was too high and it severely cutd into non-profit organizations’ ability to make money on their endeavors. Further, the participants called upon the state to re-address the regulations regarding food “sold by donation or actual price.”

Saporito pointed out that many food vendors who go to fairs and festivals purchase an annual mobile food operation license that is good throughout the state. That license, which costs $117 for the year, also requires filing a menu, an inspection and documentation of the proper equipment.