Bishop City Council Hears Main Street/U.S. Highway 395 Issues, Microenterprise Kitchen Operation Plans

Bishop City Council Hears Main Street/U.S. Highway 395 Issues, Microenterprise Kitchen Operation Plans

Bishop’s Public Works Director Nora Gamino provided City Councilmembers with some grim statistics at Monday’s meeting. Approximately 700 big rigs drive through downtown Bishop on a daily basis, according to Councilmember Stephen Muchovej.

While everybody apparently whips through Inyo County communities as if they’re in contention at Monte Carlo, Bishop and Big Pine see the worst of it. The one potential traffic slower in Big Pine is at the corner of Hwy. 395 and Cornell St. Pedestrians who push the button get a message that traffic “may not stop.” Vehicles usually don’t. 

The question was put to Bishop’s Police Chief Nate Derr regarding who officers gift with speeding citations: are they locals or out-of-towners? His answer: the egregious speeders are out-of-towners. The department hands out approximately 2,000 citations annually. 

Gamino shared the distance it takes for a vehicle to come to a full stop at speeds ranging from 25 mph to 65 mph. At the low end, it takes 55-feet to come to a full stop for vehicles going 25 mph; 135-feet if the speed is 45 mph and 316-feet at 65 mph. That’s 10-yards, or a down in football. 

The current plan is to launch a “Slow Down in Town” campaign. If the campaign will be announced with banners or billboards, there will probably be an issue of vehicles going too fast to notice. Years ago, a Bishop by-pass, to the east of town, was proposed for the highway. The fear, at the time, was a negative impact for retail businesses and restaurants. The assumption was tourists would take the quickest route between Mammoth Lakes and Southern California communities rather than stop for a meal in Bishop. 

The California Transportation Commission, the organization that controls highway funding, will be holding a town hall meeting at the Tri-County Fairgrounds’ Talman Pavilion September 26, providing a perfect setting for public comment. 

The Microenterprise Kitchen Operation (MEKO) discussion was brought to the Council by Inyo County Environmental Health Director Jerry Oser. The issue is relatively simple: to allow people to prepare food for sale in their home kitchens, which are unlikely to be up to commercial requirements. Oser told the Council the answer is to limit what they can do. His examples included limiting the home operations to 30 meals a day or 90 meals a week and gross less than $100,000 a year. He explained people are already selling food on the Internet. 

One obvious issue, Oser said, was an increase in fats, oil, and grease in septic systems, beyond what would expected from a residential kitchen. He cited the fact the Big Pine Community Services District requires grease interceptors for restaurants.  

Questions from the Council: Jose Garcia and Stephen Muchovej asked how the City could enforce the 30-meals-a-day limit. “This is great in theory,” said Jose Garcia, “but in reality, it could be a nightmare.” Muchovej suggested the City wait and see how the program worked out in the County. 

Deb Murphy