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Council asks staff to negotiate Saturday market fee proposal, pulls permit item for later action
Summary
City staff and council discussed whether to continue waiving fees for the weekly Saturday market; staff was asked to negotiate a reasonable, one-time fee with organizers and return with a recommendation; council pulled the permit item from consent.
Council members and staff discussed the status and fees for the downtown Saturday market during the May 13 work session, focusing on whether the city should continue waiving permit fees for what staff described as a for-profit market.
Jay, a city staff member overseeing events, said the market has been an economic driver downtown but that charging the normal per-event fees could make operating the weekly market infeasible. Jay told council the standard fees include $100 for road-closure barricades and $10 per trash can drop-off; staffing and deployment also carry labor time. He estimated typical weekly operating costs could reach “$500 maybe a week” if the market used city services and standard fees for every occurrence.
“Last year, council had waived the fees entirely,” Jay said. He recommended negotiating a single, reasonable fee rather than charging the market the full per-event fees every week. Jay said he would talk with the market organizer, identified in staff remarks as Ms. Farrah, to seek an agreeable amount and return to council.
Council members signaled support for removing the market permit item from consent to allow staff and the organizers time to negotiate. The mayor and council asked staff to work on a proposal that would keep costs low enough to avoid discouraging the weekly event while treating for-profit and nonprofit events equitably. Council members suggested the city could consider a sponsorship model or a one-time annual fee rather than per-week charges.
Public commenters, including Vernon Compton and Teresa Messick, urged keeping the market running because of its benefit to downtown businesses; others said a modest fee was reasonable to cover city costs. Jay said the market typically draws about 20–30 vendors on many weeks, though vendor counts vary.
The council pulled the market permit item (item 20253290) to allow staff to negotiate and return with a recommendation; two other special-event permit items were left on consent.
