A proposed amendment to the city's soliciting and peddling law for the City of Fulton to limit vendors at Bullhead Point was not the only change in the law.

The proposal was tabled to be sent back to the Legislative Committee for consideration at last night's Common Council meeting after opposition from other food vending businesses.

City Attorney, David Hawthorne said to the council, "It was my understanding that some of the changes were urgent. I thought Chief (Mark) Spawn wrote to you..."

Urgent or not, it didn't happen.

The other changes were intended to make the law more flexible, like extending hours for vendors at community events, exempting causal crafters -- those who make items by their own hands -- and farmers who grow their own produce from needing a permit.

Schools, groups or organizations who have fundraising events for their students and those students engage in fundraising for sports, charities, educational purposes or non-profit purposes would have to apply for a permit, but would not be charged for it. And persons applying for the permits would not only have to give a brief description of their business, but also the area they would be working in.

"Some changes needed to be made to the initial law," said Mayor Michael Stafford. "Most of the changes are at the request of the Police Chief (Mark Spawn)."

Stafford said that the law's time limits on how many hours a day a solicitor can ply his wares was too general.

"We want the flexibility to amend hours for vendors as needed- like the Memorial Day Salute that had extended hours," he said.

As it is now, the law says that vendors may not solicit sales after 8 p.m. or before 9 a.m. Ice cream vendors cannot sell after 8:30 p.m. or before 10 a.m. The new changes would allow the Police Chief to amend that for community events like Memorial Day and Canal Heritage Days.

Deputy Police Chief, Peter Franco, said that as far as the police were concerned, the law was working at keeping officials informed who is in the city selling what.

The current law was put into effect in August of 2001, after the murder of Diana Cooper in May 2000 by Matthew Maxson, an out-of-town magazine solicitor who was not registered with the city to go door-to-door.

"It seems to be working, we are keeping track," said Franco. "When we get complaints, we go out and check to see if they have their permits or not. If they don't, we point them to the City Clerk's Office to fill out an application."

He said that the police have been usually just issuing a warning to those solicitors and peddlers they catch without a permit.

"We warn them and if they cease, it's fine," Franco said. "If we find they are still soliciting after we warned them, we can issue an appearance ticket."

The solicitor in violation of the local law can receive a fine of no less than $50 and no more than $250 and/or a jail sentence of no more than 15 days, said Franco.

"It is rare to issue a ticket," he added. "We generally only have to give a warning."

The application asks for the solicitor's license to sell if applicable, the name of their organization, are they not-for-profit or charitable or if they are claiming a veterans' fee exemption.

It also asks for dates; daily, monthly, weekly or annually, who will be selling, the vehicles they will be driving and if they have ever had a soliciting permit revoked.

According to Deputy City Clerk, Mary Earle, after the solicitor has filled out the required paperwork and submitted the forms needed, the permit takes a few days to be approved or denied.

"After they have submitted the list of things we need, the permit goes to the Chief of Police and then to the Mayor's Office and they have to sign off on it," she said.

The fees vary from $10 to $750 for a permit submitted at least three business days in advance based on the length of permit and the type of solicitation. The fees double for applications submitted less than three business days in advance.

Since the law's inception last August, the city has issued 41 permits to various solicitors and peddlers, said Earle.