Boone market’s vendors like locale

For some Boone County Farmers’ Market vendors, the parking spaces behind Marketplace Antiques and Collectibles will continue to serve as a home well into the future. Others, however, might soon begin to weigh their existing setup against the potential benefits of the Columbia Farmers’ Market.

If voters approve Proposition 2 next Tuesday, the Columbia market will move into new accommodations in a multi-use facility the city would build using proceeds of an extended one-eighth-cent sales tax for parks. That tax is scheduled to expire March 31.

Once a part of the Columbia market, the Boone County market split off in 2003, mainly as a response to the Columbia market’s plans to raise money for a permanent home. Many of the current Boone County vendors agreed that the Columbia market didn’t need to have “a big fancy building with fountains and bell towers,” said James Hohman, a Boone County vendor who used to belong to the Columbia market.

Boone County vendors say they’re happy with their market and the fact that their loyal customers followed them to the new location behind the antique store at 1100 Business Loop 70 W.

The popularity of Boone County market President Steven Sapp and Vice President Rick Goodman, both former members of the Columbia market, also appears to contribute to the vendors’ satisfaction.

“They’re honest as the day is long,” said Frank Utterback of Sunrise Farms in Centralia.

Nonetheless, vendors’ responses range widely when asked whether they would consider returning to the Columbia market if voters approve Proposition 2. Many vendors list various reasons they could not do so if the Columbia market retains its current organizational structure.

Several sellers cited rising membership fees at the Columbia market as one reason they would not return. Fees at the Columbia market have risen since the Boone market group left; vendors now pay $150 for a season-long membership that guarantees a space each market day or $250 for one permanent stall. This season, Boone County vendors paid $100 for a one-year membership or $190 for a permanent space. Some vendors worry that any increase in fees at the potential new Columbia shelter would make it hard for smaller vendors to afford.

Hohman, owner of Home N Grown Gardens, said he’d rather stay at the Boone County market because customers can reach his stall so easily. Many of his elderly customers would have a hard time carrying their purchases back to the relatively distant parking lot at the Columbia market, he said. He likes the fact that even at the height of the season, his customers can usually park right near his stall, making it easier for people of all ages to shop.

If the city builds a permanent shelter for the Columbia market, some Boone County vendors would still insist on changes in regulations. Some Boone County vendors would rather see the market completely controlled by farmers and producers rather than seeing the current system, in which the non-profit Sustainable Farms and Communities is involved in the lease agreement.

They would also like to see more strict regulation of the vendors allowed to petition their way into the market from outside the 54-mile radius boundary. According to Columbia market president Guy Clark, only two vendors have petitioned and been allowed to sell at the Columbia market this season.

While many Boone County vendors noted smaller reasons for their reluctance to rejoin the Columbia market, Sapp cited a much larger issue; he doesn’t think farmers should be able to use a facility they didn’t pay for. If Proposition 2 passes, the structure will be funded entirely by sales taxes. Vendors, aside from the sales tax they pay as residents, will have to pay only a yearly membership fee to use the space.

“If the Columbia market can’t support itself, the city has no place supporting it,” Utterback added.

For now, vendors can only guess what the outcome of Proposition 2 will be. Some sellers will remain at the Boone County market regardless, but for others, approval of the measure could signal a chance for the Columbia market to court some vendors back.