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Stevensville vendors and council spar over new event fees as organizers say mayor-approved permit cannot be retroactively repriced
Summary
Vendors and market organizers urged the Stevensville Town Council to reverse or clarify steep new special-event fees, arguing the Harvest Valley Farmers Market’s 2026 permit was approved by the mayor on Jan. 13 and so new fee schedules adopted Feb. 12 should not apply retroactively; the council said it would review fee impacts and followed procedural business including adoption of a park advisory board resolution and tabling a contract for further legal review.
Jess Bunder, a representative of the Harvest Valley Farmers Market, told the Stevensville Town Council on Feb. 26 that the market operates as a Montana nonprofit and that vendor fees historically covered community-serving costs such as insurance, porta-potties and cleanup. She said the market’s application for a 2026 special-event permit was submitted Jan. 9 and signed by the mayor on Jan. 13, and argued the Feb. 12 fee resolution could not be applied retroactively to increase the cost for an already-approved permit.
The market organizer said the group had paid a flat $100 seasonal fee under Resolution 4-91 and that the newer fee schedule (Resolution 5-48/5-40 referenced in testimony) appeared to split or add charges the market had not anticipated. “We have been paying $100 for five years,” Bunder said, and about a $5,050 Father’s Day contribution the market…
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