Imagine being sued by the Fudgy Wudgy guy. That’s what Margate is facing as a threatened lawsuit looms from a beach ice cream vendor.
Was there ‘willful misrepresentation’ by the City of Margate? That seems to be the claim by Paul Van DeRijn of Jack and Jill Ice Cream of Egg Harbor Twp. He paid the city $93,000 for exclusive rights to sell his ice cream treats on the beaches of Margate last summer.
Listen to Paul Van DeRijn of Jack and Jill Ice Cream address Margate Commissioners from JUNE 2017:
To put things in perspective, Van DeRijn paid Margate $111,000 for the 2016 season. For Summer 2018, he’s paying Margate about half of that. Just $54,000. But Van DeRijn wants more.
The ice cream vendor is asking for financial relief from the losses he sustained during summer 2017. The disruptive dune & beach work hurt almost all Margate businesses.
Van DeRijn claims the Margate dune project cut his ice cream sales in half.
Margate accepted Van DeRijn’s $54,000 bid to sell ice cream on the beach from May 1 through Oct. 1. 2018. That’s $39,000 less than he paid the city in 2017.
Margate Beach Ice Cream Revenue
- 2012 – $40,000
- 2013 – $67,000
- 2014 – $88,000
- 2016 – $111,000
- 2017 – $93,000
- 2018 – $54,000
In Ventnor, they only raise a total of $825 for beach ice cream licenses. 15 Veterans handle the chore of selling ice cream on the beaches of Ventnor. Each Vet pays a $55 fee to hawk frozen beach treats.
Van DeRijn paid Longport $36,300 for beach ice cream rights.
Sounds like the City ripped him off pretty good and now they got caught…