The Oconto Falls City Council cleared the way May 13 for the Oconto County Farmers Market to relocate to Memorial Field starting this summer.
After four summers next to Highland Plaza along Highland Drive, the weekly market will be staged at the former high school football field behind the new fire station.
“In the future, we’d love to work with the city to make this a permanent home for us,” market organizer Sophie Ford told the council. “It brings in a lot of people to town, and I think we can only get bigger and really make it a great event for the city.”
The market is scheduled to open June 3 and run 4-8 p.m. every Tuesday through Aug. 26. Parking will be in the Memorial Field lot at the end of Central Avenue.
Ford and the council clarified the license the city now requires for the food trucks that are among the market’s mainstays.
A requirement that the license be approved by the city council ahead of time would make it difficult when changes are needed on short notice, Ford said.
“Sometimes we have people call that morning and say, for example, ‘Our refrigeration unit broke down, our trailer broke down, our truck broke down, we can’t get our trailer there,’” she said. “Then I have to call in somebody else that I have on speed dial saying, ‘Hey, you applied for this date originally, you couldn’t make it, but if you can make it now, you can come in.’”
In the past market organizers have made sure that all the food vendors provided the information the city requires on the new licenses, Ford said.
“With my background running the (former Milk and Honey) coffee shop, I know what they have to have according to the state,” she said.
Alderperson Mat McDermid suggested that food vendors be allowed to submit one application that covers the entire summer. He said the application was created more for one-time or annual events.
“I think as long as you’re collecting the information, Sophie, it’ll be fine,” McDermid said.
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