The Ceres City Council cancelled its regular meeting set for last Monday – spending most of the day instead interviewing candidates for city manager – and has cancelled the meeting set for Christmas Day.

The council is planning to meet Monday, Dec. 4 in closed session to discuss the hiring of a city manager. Interim city manager Doug Dunford is among the applicants for the permanent position to replace Alex Terrazas who was released earlier this year.

That means the council has only one open meeting left for the year, the one set for Monday, Dec. 11.

At that meeting the council is expected to approve the second reading and adoption of an ordinance that will expand mobile food vending operations.

The ordinance, which survived through the first reading and introduction when the council last met on Nov. 13, modifies existing rules and will allow double the 10 taco trucks and other mobile food vendors allowed in Ceres.

The ordinance:

• Increases the limit of 10 stand-alone food trucks to 20. This number does not include food trucks servicing breweries, bars or pubs or special events or grub hubs;

• Keeps the minimum distance of 1,000 feet between stand-alone food trucks, 350 feet from schools, parks and restaurants;

• Incorporates the existing food truck policies in the Ceres Municipal Code;

• Clarifies the definitions used in the new recommendations to align with the California Vehicle Code;

• Creates two-year food truck permits instead of one year, unless the process can be automated;

• Prohibits tables, tents and seating at stand-alone food trucks but would be allowed if a grub hub is developed and does not apply to trucks which solely service breweries, bars or pubs;

• Prohibits amplified music from stand-alone food trucks, except at approved special events;

• Requires lavatories within 200 feet for all food truck for employees to wash their hands;

• Clarifies that the property owner has the ability to revoke authorization and cause the permit to be revoked;

• Prohibits individual food trucks in downtown Ceres during the Ceres Street Faire unless they have been permitted by the Street Faire Committee.

On Nov. 13 Councilmembers James Casey and Rosalinda Vierra supported tabling the whole matter until the subcommittee can review the matter of permitting tables and chairs but were outvoted by Lopez, Silveira and Daniel Martinez. When a motion was made and seconded to accept the entire proposed ordinance yet further explore the issue of tents, tables and chairs on private property, Casey and Vierra voted “no” and it passed 3-2.

Both regular meetings of the Ceres Planning Commission slated for November were cancelled for a lack of business.