Revamping the market

Rob Montgomery wants to keep the Chico Certified Farmers Market thriving, and he’s got a wish list to help make that happen.

Speaking on Tuesday morning (May 22) during a city of Chico Finance Committee meeting, Montgomery, operator of Rob’s Natural Produce, said the market used to be one of the top 10 markets in the country.

“But we’ve slipped off that mark,” he said.

Montgomery, along with several other vendors at the market, attended the meeting for discussions on whether to adjust the fees paid for use of the city-owned lot at Second and Wall streets.

The CCFM, which has 50 to 80 vendors depending on the season, currently pays a nominal fee of $164 per year. Each of the vendors in turn pays the organization $25 per week. The Finance Committee was considering implementing an additional 10 percent vendor surcharge, which would generate an estimated $6,250 for city coffers.

Members of the nonprofit came prepared to defend the year-round event and to ask for something in return should their fees go up. Montgomery lobbied for several improvements: permanent restrooms, water and electricity hook-ups, and more space for additional farmers to pedal their produce.

Currently, the organization spends about $6,000 a year on portable toilets. Montgomery said the board has looked into purchasing a pre-fabricated bathroom, which would cost about $30,000. He said the farmers cannot afford that without taking out some sort of loan, and he noted that the nonprofit’s overhead has more than doubled while its income is up by 20 percent. Montgomery also pointed out that the organization’s lone source of income is the money generated from vendors. Those fees pay for the operational costs of the market, along with administrative fees and advertising.

Using a calculator, Vice Mayor Jim Walker pointed out that the CCFM could generate $20,000 for improvements in a year by charging each vendor an additional $5 per week.

Richard Coon, chairman of CCFM’s Board of Directors, balked at mention of raising vendor fees. He also pointed out that the market is on a year-to-year lease with the city for use of the municipal lot. In other words, there’s no guarantee the site will be the market’s permanent home.

“Would you put $20,000 into someone else’s parking lot?” asked Coon, who raises market lambs and chickens at his Wookey Ranch.

He was echoed later in the meeting by former Mayor Michael McGinnis, who suggested the panel lease the lot for, say, three to five years, which he said would enable them to make improvements. “Give them a lease that’s fair,” he said.

For his part, Walker said he thought the CCFM should invest in its own “war chest” to pay for improvements and that $5 extra per vendor wouldn’t be asking too much. “I think there should be a way that we can work together on this,” he said, referring to some sort of collaboration with the city.

And, in fact, there has been some cooperation in that regard.

CCFM members have been working with city staff on ways to improve the market, such as permanent signs. Fritz McKinley, the director of Building and Development Services, said the nonprofit has agreed to pay for the signs, with the city contributing the poles. He said there also have been discussions on the potential of water and electricity hook-ups when the city moves forward on its downtown couplet project.

The meeting was a follow-up to a City Council meeting about a year ago, during which that panel renewed its franchise agreement with the nonprofit. At the time, the council referred the issue of the related fees back to the Finance Committee for review. By the end of discussions this time around, the committee (Walker and Councilmen Mark Sorensen and Scott Gruendl) voted to leave the funding schedule intact and to come back in December with a cooperative plan for improvements.

Previous meetings related to the market the over the last couple of years have at times been contentious, with vendors squaring off against a couple of downtown business owners who contend the Saturday event eats up too much parking. But the members of CCFM’s board of director are almost entirely new, as is the market manager, Liz Gardner, and for whatever reason, there was little talk in that regard this time around.

Most speakers during the meeting said they consider the market an asset to the community. And there were several references to a survey conducted by the classes of Chico State professors LaDona Knigge and Richard Gitelson, which found that a majority of the people who visit the market do not have trouble finding parking. Moreover, the study found that two-thirds of market-goers said the market is what drew them downtown and that they planned on also shopping elsewhere in the downtown region.

The study has only served to strengthen the farmers’ resolve that event serves not only the community, but also downtown businesses.

Chris Copley, a Corning-based farmer who sells eggs from his laying hens, called the market “a gem.”

“We bring crowds into downtown when it would ordinarily be quiet,” he said.