Issues Addressed at Farmers Market Review Meeting

They say the devil is in the details and members from the met with Village merchants Wednesday to address them in a discussion for the formation of a Wednesday .

Among those who attended the meeting, FORPD recreation supervisor Katy Albers, district administrator Maureen Zamarripa, recreation coordinator Sabrina Bernardo as well as local Home2roost merchants Steven and Nan Danford. Other members included FORPD board members Brandon Rose and Ralph Carhart as well as Fair Oaks Village Enhancement Committee (FOVEC) chair Greg Vincent.

The 90-minute meeting covered a number of issues, concerns and topics, including:

• Increased foot traffic could negatively impact park turf and grass; upkeep and maintenance will be needed for the weekly event. The increased foot traffic would likely require increased irrigation and water as well as changing sprinkler time settings.
• Street closures during the evening event could increase car traffic along other available thoroughfares.
• Additional lighting during the evening hours of 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. will need to be available in accordance with Sacramento County ordinance, Rose explained.
• Parking displacement and the need for parking is an aspect that has been addressed a number of times, said Vincent.
• Unauthorized vendors potentially taking advantage of the event as well.

The issues were addressed one by one with a number of potential solutions being considered. Among those solutions, consideration is being given to the idea of taking a certain percentage of proceeds made to maintaining the grass and park areas, Steven Danford said.

The local non-profit training company BeMoneySmartUSA will help clean up after each week's event, said Bernardo, as well as collect the $20 merchant booth fee, maintain security as well as help train the student employees who are employed. The non-profit's founder Don Hall is also responsible for procuring the proper food and health permits for the event as well as permits for patrons' dogs to be allowed in the market.

Rose stressed it would be required that Market members include all potential District responsibilities by the final board meeting.

Annual financial requirements are expected to stay below $1,000, which would help pay for many of the aforementioned issues. The monthly fee would likely vary during certain seasons according to weather.

Members are anticipating as many as 40 vendors could be allowed to participate in the weekly event and Hall is proposing 25 for the event's initial run. During that initial run FORPD will consider a one-year contract and reevaluate its success after six months.

Carhart stressed unforeseen issues could present themselves as the Market's formation continues to develop and it would be important that public input be included. Though the Fair Oaks Farmers Market would be modeled after Carmichael's Farmers Market, Carmichael Park is a larger park than Plaza Park and will likely present its own set of inherent obstacles.

Cost analysis of the issues will be required in the final board meeting scheduled March 21, Rose said. If approved the Farmers Market is slated to being as early as June.