Chestertown Farmers Market rules and procedures were the subject of discussion at the April 16 meeting of the Mayor and Council.
Monika Philips, who until recently sold dog food at the market, came before the council to appeal a decision by farmers market manager Owen McCoy that she was ineligible to sell at the market because her products were not locally produced. Farmers market rules require all products sold at the market to be produced in Kent or northern Queen Anne’s counties.
Phillips said she had been a vendor at the market for about three years until last September. She had added some dehydrated products to her line, including some from Deer Valley Danes, a Delaware-based company of which she is a product development and sales team member. McCoy saw that the products were packaged outside the state and ruled that she could not sell them.
Phillips said that despite the label on the products, she does produce them personally. “I love the farmers market. I think it’s a jewel, and I’d love to come back,” she said.
Councilwoman Linda Kuiper, whose ward includes the downtown area where the farmers market is held, said she had checked out Phillips’ display and saw that the Deer Valley products are prepackaged and that the label said they are made in Pennsylvania, not Kent or Queen Anne’s.
Phillips said she researches every farmers market she attends. She said she had never seen the contract for the Chestertown market, though she has asked to see it several times. She said she was willing to drop the out-of-area product and stop displaying the Deer Valley banner she had been showing. “There are no prepackaged products on my table,” she said. “I apologize for any infraction. You can check me out any time you want.”
Mayor Chris Cerino said the town had not made the process clear for vendors. “We need a link to the regulations and the contract,” he said. “It’s a little bit confusing.” He added that the mayor and council don’t vet the products sold at the market.
Town Manager Bill Ingersoll said McCoy was correct to refer Phillips to the council, which is the de facto appeals board for farmers market issues.
Cerino said it would be a good idea to formalize the process with some sort of written agreement the vendors could sign. He said if Phillips provided a list of the products she sells and certified that they are all locally produced, he’d be glad to let her return as a vendor.
Ingersoll said there was a draft contract, put together around 2010, which had never been officially adopted. He said the contract didn’t specify dog treats as a permitted product, but the market had evolved a good bit since the draft was compiled. “There are a lot of things we didn’t foresee,” including sales of beer and wine at the market.
Kuiper said she had the draft contract for the farmers market and another for the crafts market, which is actually in use.
Councilman David Foster said the council should commit to updating the draft. He made a motion that the council send Phillips back to McCoy with the recommendation that her re-entry into the market be approved, provided space is available, and that her products are all locally produced. The motion was unanimously approved.
Also at the meeting, Ingersoll gave an update on the reopening of the local movie theater, which is being financed with the help of a loan from the Kent County government. The town has agreed to repay the loan from proceeds of the entertainment tax, and the movie theater has agreed that its projection equipment will stand as security. Ingersoll said he had been at the theater and work to prepare it for a Memorial Day weekend opening is going forward.
The council approved an arrangement for a line of credit with Chesapeake Bank and Trust, to be applied when the town needs cash flow to meet short-term expenses. The money is to be repaid at 60 percent of the prime rate, and the line has a cap of $2.5 million — “I hope we never reach it,” Ingersoll said. Councilman Ellsworth Tolliver requested a change in the language of the resolution approving the agreement to clarify that the funds are available for any town project. The original draft restricted the use of the line to the marina upgrades.
Cerino announced that the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate have approved a $500,000 bond bill for the marina upgrades. He said the funds would primarily be used to complete the marina store and visitor center, but might also be applied to current work on the bulkheads. He said there might be one more round of fundraising to complete the project, but he expected the work to be substantially complete by the end of September.
Kuiper said people are asking local business owners about the availability of marina slips this summer. Cerino said that because of work on the piers, there will be no slips available until the work is complete. Ingersoll said short-term visitors could possibly use the kayak and canoe floating dock on the Cannon Street side of the marina, but he agreed that the status of the marina while work is going on needs to be announced more widely.
Cerino announced a vacancy on the Historic District Commission. He said the town has received one resume, but he asked others who might be interested in the position to submit resumes before the next council meeting, May 7.
The council approved permits for the Tea Party Festival parade Saturday, May 26 and the annual Memorial Day parade the following Monday. Kuiper announced that the Budweiser Clydesdales will be taking part in the Tea Party parade this year.
Patricia Holland says
I think it is important to support the local farmers market and to assure the customers that the produce is locally grown.
ann miller says
Admittedly I don’t visit the farmers market that often, but recently I looked up their website to see when they open, and check out the events. I’d like to get downtown soon, but don’t know when it opens for the season. Unfortunately it looks like it hasn’t been updated in a few years so you can’t tell if the vendors are current, nor dates/times. The link to the National Music Festival worked, however the dates were incorrect.
I did look up this Deer Valley Danes website….I hope she gets to be a vendor again, her products are those I actually buy elsewhere (gasp, yes I need to leave the area to buy something not usually available here. Shocking I know…..) Good luck to Ms. Phillips.
In the meantime, perhaps someone more knowledgeable can inform us as to the dates the farmers market is in operation – I’m presuming it is not year round – but again, can’t find that info.