Coun. Diane Therrien calls on city staff to step in to help settle Peterborough Farmers’ Market dispute

After an extended break, city council reconvened at city hall on Monday night for its first meeting of 2018.

After a fairly brief meeting that saw council breeze through 10 items on the agenda, it was a motion made during “other business” regarding the Peterborough Saturday Farmers’ Market that really got the conversation started.

“I know that the city’s position has been ‘laissez-faire,’ to hope the market board and membership sort their differences out and that we can all move forward, however, it becomes increasingly clear that this doesn’t seem to be a viable option,” said town ward Coun. Diane Therrien.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I know that the city's position has been 'laissez-faire,' to hope the market board and membership sort their differences out and that we can all move forward, however, it becomes increasingly clear that this doesn't seem to be a viable option," said town ward Coun. Diane Therrien.

Therrien made the motion at the end of Monday’s meeting, requesting city staff send a request for proposals for a third party to step in and manage the Saturday farmers market which is currently embroiled in a bitter dispute with some vendors who are facing a looming eviction vote by its membership.

It seemed everyone around the table wanted to weigh in on the food feud.

Mayor Daryl Bennett has said before that the city has a landlord-tenant-style relationship with the board and doesn’t think it’s the right time to step in.

“I think the board is doing what they were elected to do, just in April of this year, and I see them moving forward with a lot of the issues that were at hand then, and are being dealt with as they are moving forward,” said Bennett. “I think we’re being premature in not allowing this to work itself through a bit further.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think the board is doing what they were elected to do, just in April of this year, and I see them moving forward with a lot of the issues that were at hand then, and are being dealt with as they are moving forward," said Bennett. "I think we're being premature in not allowing this to work itself through a bit further."

City CAO Allan Seabrooke says the city has heard from both sides with the market dispute.

Just prior to Christmas, seven vendors were sent notice that they were facing eviction for behaviour deemed “detrimental to the corporation,” after 16 members complained.

Following a four-and-a-half hour meeting last Monday night to debate the group of seven’s future, the meeting was eventually adjourned and a “gag order” imposed on the membership, keeping details of the meeting strictly confidential — a second meeting will be called later this month.

In the meantime, Seabrooke says the city is close to finalizing another year lease with the market.

“Our recommendation to council was to provide the current organization with the time to pull together and correct some of the issues that they have, rather than us taking the position of going out to RFP.”

Seabrook says when the short-term lease expires in April 2019, they would re-evaluate the situation then, and examine the best way forward at that time.

Coun. Therrien’s motion, directing city staff to initiate a request for proposal and have a third-party group manage the Saturday farmers market was lost in a vote.

Councillors Therrien, Pappas and Keith Riel voted in its favour.