Restaurateur who refused to install grease trap loses fight
A Wolseley restaurateur who refused to install a grease trap has lost a fight against an exemption that allows him to operate without one.
For two years, Bill Fugler of Westminster Avenue's Neighbourhood Bookstore & Cafe owner has chafed against a City of Winnipeg order to install a grease trap if he wishes to operate as a food-service establishment.
In the fall, the city granted him a grease-trap waiver, provided he use disposable plates and cutlery and assume all liability for grease damage.
Fugler signed the waiver but appealed it in January in an effort to remove the condition to use disposable plates. He appeared before council's water and waste committee this morning to argue his business generates less grease than other restaurants.
Fugler claimed he wasn't aware of the conditions of the waiver. His signature appears on the document.
City staff told the committee food-service establishments either have to install grease traps or obtain a waiver that requires them to use disposable plates.
The water and waste committee — Couns. Brian Mayes (St. Vital), Scott Gillingham (St. James-Brooklands-Weston), Ross Eadie (Mynarski) and Matt Allard (St. Boniface) — voted unanimously to reject the appeal.
"I don't see where the harm is in using disposable material," Eadie said. "This doesn't sound like this is a major takeout place."
Allard and Mayes said they're concerned about the city-wide implications of allowing food services to operate without measures to prevent grease from winding up in the sewer system.
Fugler said he will use disposable plates from now on.
