By Vivian Collings

Haliburton Farmers’ Market vendors still don’t know where they’ll be setting up their tents in a couple of months.
In December, the Haliburton County Farmers’ Market Association (HCFMA) brought a letter to Dysart council asking for the market to be allowed back at their original location in Head Lake Park.
Council agreed, but under the condition that HCFMA pay $5,100 to the municipality for site maintenance, or each vendor pay $25 every Tuesday.
Another condition was to move the market from the usual 12 to 4 p.m. to a new time of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to which HCFMA agreed.
But, regarding the first condition, HCFMA returned to council on Jan. 23, stating in a letter, “While we are very anxious to return to Head Lake Park under a cooperative agreement with the municipality, we are unable to support the fee outlined in the motion.”
They also asked for verification of past damages to justify the new annual fee in the letter.
“While we are aware of the odd tire track on very rainy days or perhaps damage to sprinklers, we have no record nor knowledge of any ‘significant’ damage that we have ever caused in our 11-year attendance in the park.”
Dysart council chambers were filled to the brim that Tuesday while HCFMA members and supporters anxiously awaited a new decision by council.
“First of all, we have had some thought about this, and although there’s a big concern we’re trying to put you out of business, we’re not,” said Dysart Mayor Murray Fearrey. “We have two sites we’ve offered you, free and clear. The first is Rotary Park Beach, I know you don’t like it, and the other is the boardwalk.”
Knowing that the market desires to return back to their original location, the mayor stated a new condition for vendors.
“We have arrived at $5 per unit, so in other words, say it’s May, and you have 12 [vendors], that’s $60 for a day. And if you have 40 in July, that would be $200 for a day. And if it rains on a Tuesday and you didn’t participate, it wouldn’t be anything,” Fearrey said.
He noted the substantial difference between $25 and $5 per vendor, per market day.
“I guess where we’re coming from here is I know everybody thinks it should be free, everything should be free by the way, but it isn’t,” he said. “Nobody’s trying to take advantage of the farmers. We know the importance.”
HCFMA had highlighted other organizations that use the park, free of charge.
“First of all, [the market] is for profit. I know you say it’s not for profit, but it is for profit, because the people that are in there sell [goods and make money]. All the other groups that are in there that you mention, like the boat races, bring everything in and take everything out, and they contribute to the hospital. So they’re giving to the community,” Fearrey said. “Rotary are in there, they do a lot of good, and they contribute to the community. We haven’t see that from the Farmers’ Market, so we’ll be looking at everybody in there and making sure that we treat everybody the same, and I hope with this proposal it’s doable.”
To represent the association, board member Angel Taylor offered comments to council.
“$5 per market is well over a 25 per cent increase in [the vendors’] fees for the season,” Taylor said. “This is a big ask from our vendors. You used an example of $800. It is very rare that we would have a vendor taking home that kind of money, and I speak as a past vendor.”
Taylor said she couldn’t make a decision on behalf of the rest of the HCFMA board and market vendors at that time without further conversation.
“The other thing I want to comment on is it’s wonderful that people may contribute to the hospital etcetera, but I really strongly feel that the contribution we bring by attracting thousands of tourists to this community that go in and spend their dollars is absolutely not to be underestimated, and I feel that it tends to be overlooked,” Taylor said. “I read from the letter we brought in at our delegation in December that some of the local businesses actually laid off people. They had had people in the summer when we were there, and no longer employed them, because [the market] being off to the side meant that they no longer had the level of income they had before.”
She said even though the market may contribute to the community in a different way, it should still be considered as a positive for the community.
“We were trying to,” said Fearrey. “The other thing that happens, we have it as ‘go to town Tuesday’, so all the merchants have sales, so one feeds off the other.”
He noted playing a role in bringing the farmers’ market to the park in the first place.
“We’ll give this consideration. We’ll get back to this at some point, have another discussion, and go from there,” he said.