Farmer's Markets Relegated to Short Year, If County Health Wins

St. Louis County Council put on hold a measure that would oversee the operation of farmers markets in the county, after a meeting Tuesday in Clayton.

Market masters argued vendor fees are prohibitively high and the application process lengthy.

But a bill introduced by County Councilman Pat Dolan (D-Richmond Heights) and written by the county Department of Health held some surprises for the markets.

Market masters from Clayton, Webster Grovesand Maplewood said the bill makes some fixes but leaves concerns.

The bill would limit markets to seven months a year, a component of the bill that apparently surprised even council members. Maplewood market master Brian DeSmet told the council the Maplewood market has been open throughout the year for more than five years.

“They’re redefining a market into something limited, putting it more at a place, as opposed to being a time where people meet with a certain person organizing it, which is how farmers markets are usually defined,” DeSmet said before the meeting. “There’s no way I could support it with that clause in there.”

He also said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture already defines a farmers market and that the bill as written would override that definition.

Kori Thompson, market master for Kirkwood, said she’s been working with County Councilwoman Colleen Wasinger (R-Town and Country) for two years on streamlining the process. She said she’s happy to have a more reasonable fee structure but finished by asking the council to make the necessary changes to protect famers and small businesses.

Webster Groves market master Angela Foley said the market managers met with the county’s Department of Health in January 2011 to talk about their concerns.

“However, when the proposed legislation was drafted, the health department never called another meeting to see if our concerns were met,” she said. “After reading through it, I don’t feel all of our concerns were met.”

Clayton market master Deborah Henderson agreed.

“I think it’s unfortunate that after some of our previous group discussions, they went behind closed doors, and we were not included in those discussions,” she told the council.

The bill would have been on track for a vote at the Feb. 7 council meeting.

What's next

The process will now be on hold until it is discussed in a public committee meeting. Dolan said it’s important for Dr. Dolores Gunn, director of the county health department, to be in attendance. 

“We have to have Dr. Gunn there in order to answer any questions,” Dolan said. We need “clarity, transparency, everybody on board,” he said.

He said that the committee meeting will be scheduled as soon as possible but that he doubts it will happen before next week’s council meeting.

DeSmet is confident that with all the stakeholders present at a meeting, everyone will be happy with the final result.

“It’s a good starting point, but it’s not ready for prime time,” he said.