Although summer is about half over, there may be time for vendors to bring their wares to Washington’s downtown waterfront.

The Washington City Council, during its meeting Monday, unanimously approved the contract that will govern the sale of food and beverages on Stewart Parkway and amended the City Code to allow peddling on the waterfront. Although the council thoroughly discussed the matter during previous meetings, there was no such discussion before the vote was made.

The approved contract reflects some concerns and suggestions made by council members during those previous discussions. Council members voiced concerns with items proposed in the draft contract, including how vendors would dispose of trash and that insurance requirements might be too harsh.

Several downtown business owners opposed allowing vendors on the waterfront, saying allowing such vendors undermines their businesses and fosters unfair competition because such vendors don’t have the overhead costs that the downtown businesses have.

The contract requires food and beverage vendors to refrain from driving on sidewalks or other non-vehicular areas when delivering or removing the vendor’s cart or other equipment. Vendors also must sell items only in the areas assigned to them. Vendors are required to keep their areas clean and dispose of any and all trash and refuse produced by operation of their carts. Vendors also will be required to pay a monthly licensing fee. Vendors may not sell items to people in parked vehicles.

In other business, the council formally amended the city’s rate schedules for some of its power customers.

Last month, the council voted to reduce electric rates by 6 percent for customers in specified service classifications. The new rates apply to residential services, small general service, church service and recreational general service.

The new rates took effect Aug. 1.

As for reductions in other rate categories, those won’t happen — if they happen — until a cost-of-service study (looking at how much it costs the city to provide power to its various types of customers (residential, commercial and industrial) and a load-management study are completed later this year so city officials have the latest information to consider when deciding what to do with existing rates.