Motel, restaurant, spa or public pool? Its permit time!

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If you own or operate one of 400 food facilities in Gila County – or one of the 40 hotels and motels, 27 pool and spa facilities – and nine children’s camps –– watch for a letter this week from Gila County Division of Health and Emergency Management.

From Pine-Strawberry through Rim Country and down to Globe, Miami and Hayden-Winkelman, notices are issued each October giving business owners more than two months’ notice before they need to renew operating permits.

“In Gila County, all permits to operate are effective through the calendar year, so they start Jan. 1 and end Dec. 30,” said Michael O’Driscoll, Director of the Gila County Division of Health and Emergency Management. “Our staff makes a big effort to get the word out well ahead of time so all restaurants and commercial kitchens, motels, pools and spas renew their permits ahead of the deadline – and to share a friendly reminder that they’re operating in violation of state law, and could be shut down, if they haven’t renewed before Dec. 31.”

To paraphrase the statute: “On Jan. 1 of each new calendar year, any establishment that has not submitted an application, and the annual fee payment is out of compliance and is considered to be operating without a license. To avoid this, please be sure to submit your application and payment before the Dec. 30 deadline.

Establishments that have not renewed their application by the deadline will incur a late fee. Additionally, in early January the health department director will review establishments operating without a license for immediate compliance.”

Gila County Division of Health and Emergency Management oversees county-wide environmental health and food safety; promoting health and preventing food-borne disease through education, training, and regulation.

“Our system is designed to work in partnership with the people who make the day-to-day decisions that actually determine food safety: the owners, operators and employees of all food service establishments,” said GCDHEM Director Michael O’Driscoll. “That’s why we’re proactively announcing this – failure to pay means a late fee of $50, and we send reminders as that New Year’s Eve deadline approaches – but every year we have businesses that fail to renew on time.

Why wait? Why face an additional $50 late fee? These are popular businesses and we want them all to avoid an unnecessary fee, and even more importantly – we want to avoid any possibility of their business being closed, even temporarily, due to noncompliance with state law.”

Questions? Contact the Gila County Division of Health and Emergency Management staff in Payson at 928-474-1210 or in Globe at 928-402-8811; please call ahead if you need to pre-arrange to meet with staff.

Read more about staff and programs at http://www.gilacountyaz.gov/government/health_and_emergency_services/health_services/index.php.