St. John committee to facilitate one-day Christkindl market in December

The Town of St. John Economic Development Committee voted to facilitate a one-day Christkindl market in December and will hold a study session to coordinate logistics with parks staff and the farmers market, Speaker 1 announced after a voice vote.

Speaker 4, who introduced the proposal as an economic-development opportunity for small businesses, said the plan is to pilot the event as a single-day market tied to existing Christmas-in-the-park festivities so the town can "draw more people in from out of town to bring money into town." He described the effort as a volunteer-driven initiative with a zero committee budget and said organizers hope vendor fees and a sponsor or two will cover costs.

The committee debated timing and site logistics, noting the park has limited usable space and that a paved parking-lot location would avoid weather-related problems for older visitors. Speakers discussed the park kickoff weekend around Thanksgiving and identified Sunday, Dec. 1, as the preferred single-day test date to avoid conflicting with park programming.

Speaker 2 and Speaker 4 discussed charging vendors a nominal fee; Speaker 4 suggested a fee in the $25 range for planning purposes, while Speaker 3 noted the farmers market has hosted up to 42 vendors recently. Speaker 5 (Anastasia Lowery, Recording Secretary) advised the committee that an existing vendor ordinance sets fees for vendors at "$50" for a half day and "$100" for a full day, and the committee accepted that as a planning number.

Speaker 4 made the motion "for the economic development committee to facilitate a Christkindl market in the town of St. John in the month of December." Speaker 2 seconded the motion and Speaker 1 called a voice vote; members responded "Aye" and the motion carried.

Next steps: committee members agreed Speaker 2 will meet with farmers-market organizers, Bill Clark, and staff in "Beth's office" to outline needs (permits, garbage, porta-potties, police/public-works support) and to schedule a public study session within roughly two weeks to make planning official. The committee also discussed recruiting vendors via the farmers market and town Facebook channels.

The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn that passed by voice vote.

Votes at a glance - Approval of June 12 minutes: motion moved by Speaker 3; seconded; approved by voice vote. - Motion to facilitate Christkindl market in December: moved by Speaker 4; seconded by Speaker 2; approved by voice vote. - Adjournment: motion moved by Speaker 3; seconded by Speaker 4; approved by voice vote.

Next procedural step: study session with parks and farmers-market personnel to firm up vendor recruitment, fees under the vendor ordinance, site selection and staffing.