Now, JT’s BBQ, next to U.S. Highway 101 in Winchester Bay, is being directed to connect to sewer service with the Winchester Bay Sanitary District.
“They’ve contacted me a few times,” John Teller said.
It’s his first year of bringing his mobile business to Winchester Bay. He spends the some of the year in Arizona, although Teller was born and raised in Oregon, mainly Roseburg and Yoncalla.
The family actually ran a produce stand at the same Winchester Bay location in the early ’90s.
The sanitary district board meets tonight, Wednesday, July 17, at 6 p.m. Among the agenda items is “consideration of Ordinance 1-2013 Mobile Vendors.”
He said, however, he hasn’t heard a reason for wanting to require him to hook up to the system. He, however, could speculate.
“They built that new plant and now there’s a huge fee,” he said. “I don’t know what the reason is.
“They came in and said, ‘We want you to be hooked up. We want you to spend the $4,000’ or whatever it is.”
He speculated that fee was all for paperwork. He also said an inspector would probably also be called to the site.
“Then you have to pay for an inspector to come out here with a tape measure and figure out, you know, square footage,” he said, “estimate what I’m going to be using.”
Teller and other employees use the restroom facilities across U.S. Highway 101 in Winchester Bay so, he said, there’s no need for a bathroom. There is also no sit-down seating for customers.
Business, Teller said, has been good.
“Excellent,” he said. “I’m getting more and more repeat customers. I’ve got people stopping here who wouldn’t even stop in this town. I have people that will stop just for pictures and they end up walking out with food.”
He said, when folks stop, he directs them to other places in the area.
“I promote other businesses,” he said. “That’s a daily occurrence. I have no problem networking at all.”
However, Teller said, if the sanitary district requires him to hook up to the system, that’s it.
“I’ll leave,” he said. “I’ll find another spot.”
Teller has gone through the state licensing process and has undergone a health inspection.
He sells items such as chicken, pulled pork, brisket, ribs, as well as grilled vegetables and other barbecue sides.
“I don’t have any public seating,” he said. “It’s pretty much take and go, or you eat in your car or take it back to your camp.”
He says he could, if he wanted, have seating for eight people at the site.
Even if he did that, he couldn’t add portable restrooms.
“I can’t do that,” he said the sanitary district told him. “So, in order to do a bathroom here, I’d have to build it. That’s my only option.”
