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SARATOGA SPRINGS – This week, city Accounts Commissioner John Franck announced a minor track exemption would be in effect this summer aimed at “offering entrepreneurial opportunities to the youth of our community,” by allowing kids to continue the longtime practice of selling bottles of water and pencils outside Saratoga Race Course.     

“We’re continuing what we started last year, to encourage minors to become entrepreneurs,” explained Franck, who during his childhood years had sold pencils outside of the racecourse.

The prevailing practice of kids selling water for a buck-a-bottle to patrons outside the entry gates of the Saratoga Race Course faced elimination at the close of the 2017 summer season when the city’s then-Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen said he has fielded numerous complaints connected with the issue. Code Enforcement officer Jack Donnelly supplied a letter that cited numerous complaints involving kids obstructing traffic, older folks – not just kids – selling and refilling multiple coolers of water, and families arguing with one another about their “spot,” to the point where the police had to intervene.

The act was never legal to begin with, with no sales tax charted, and no licensing involved. Vendors are typically required to obtain a license to sell their wares in Saratoga Springs. A 1934 ordinance exempts from the city’s licensing ordinance only the sale of milk, periodicals and newspapers.

“Unless the City Council acts otherwise, this illegal activity is not going to take place in 2018,” Mathiesen said, in late 2017.

A few months later, the council, led by Accounts Commissioner John Franck, worked on a proposal that delivered a compromise to allow the kids to sell water, but prohibit certain areas -  such as the publicly congested sidewalk near the main gates on Union Avenue – where they may do so. Prior to the start of the 2018 meet, the City Council passed a resolution to allow a minor track exemption as part of the city's Peddling and Vending ordinance.

The exemptions specify designated areas and times where water and pencils may be sold and parents or guardians must file an application with the city’s Department of Accounts to register. The city will subsequently issue an ID badge, which must be worn by the minor at all times. For more information on how to do so, visit the city’s offices at 15 Vanderbilt Ave., call 518-587-3550, or go to: saratoga-springs.org.