The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About02-24-2012Auburn International Farmers Market Advisory Board Meeting Minutes Friday, February 24, 2012 Auburn City Hall Annex Room #1 - 3:00 pm Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Trudy Ginther at 3:00 pm. Advisory Board Members present: Trudy Ginther, Maggie Greenslit, Mark Wayne, Christian McLendon, Ronnie Roberts and Linda Morris. City Staff /Council present: Market Manager Joanne Macnab, and City Council member Bill Peloza Minutes Maggie Greenslit moved to approve October minutes, Ronnie Roberts seconds. III. Market Manager Report — Joanne Macnab A. November sent Thank You cards to all of our 2011 Season Vendors. B. American Farmland Trust "America's Favorite Farmers Markets" contest ran from June 1 through August 31 and the results for AIFM were: 2nd place overall in Washington state, 1s' place in 31 — 55 vendor market, 12th place nationwide for medium sized market. We received a certificate for being America's Favorite Farmers Market in the top 20 Medium category and a letter of congratulations. We also received a Thank You package with an apron from Epicurious.com and No Farms No Food stickers. C. Met with Diane Sarr on November 16, 2011, and will continue poster program at AHS for the 2012 season. The Auburn High School poster art entries will feature dates & times of the AIFM Market for the 2013 season. This will eliminate the need to revise or alter the entry to support the following market season as in the past. D. November 10, 2011 Joanne submitted a $1500 City of Auburn Arts Project Support Grant for the 2012 season. The full grant request was awarded on January 11, 2012 and can be used for arts related projects or programs, for the benefit of the residents of the City of Auburn. In 2011 we received a $1000 grant from this program and utilized the funds for performance artists during the 2011 market season. E. AIFM acquired the sound system and CD player that we had been borrowing from the Parks Dept. for $300, the remainder of the budget from the 2011 Auburn Arts Commission Project Support Grant. F. New fee structure was adopted by the King County Board of Health for farmers markets with a three tiers of fees for food protection permits effective June 1, 2012.(see market manager's report for details). G. All permits for the Department of Health have been applied for. H. Membership to the Cascade Harvest Coalition and advertising in the Puget Sound Farm Guide is complete as well as the membership to the WSFMA for 2012. I. Plan for 8 theme days and some special programs in 2012 that were decided at the October volunteer meeting: 1. Sound Transit /Metro Appreciation Day June 17 2. International Day June 24 3. Senior Appreciation Day July 1 4. Dog Days of Summer July 15 Ciscoe Morris July 22 5. Kids Day July 29 6. Sister City Day Aug 12 Chili Cook -off — Police vs. Firefighters Aug 26 7. International Day Sept 2 8. Vendor Appreciation Day Sept 16 J. In the 2011 Season, vendors donated 2,235 pounds of produce to the Auburn Food Bank. K. Feb 3 -5 Trudy Ginther and Joanne attended the WSFMA Annual conference in Leavenworth, attended by —200 farmer's market managers, board members, farmers, staff and other professionals from across the state. AIFM was awarded 1s' Place for Picture of the Year Photo contest. The photo was taken by Trudy Ginther. Great job Trudy! We will be featured on the WA State Farmer's Market Association's website and other promotional material. Joanne was honored to be nominated for Market Manager of the Year. Market Manager of the Year was given to Jennifer Weicking from Wenatchee Valley. L. Risk Property Manager reviewing lease and licenses with Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority and the City of Auburn. M. Sound Transit doing maintenance at 5 South End Facilities. Meeting scheduled to see how it will affect our market. N. Awarded a $20,000 grant from King Conservation District to be used for marketing, promotion, and to expand our education and demonstration component. O. Distributed 2012 Marketing and Promotion Plan. Showed samples of bookmarks that will be used for mass distribution. Auburn Reporter will feature a banner ad on the front page every week the market is open featuring the theme and highlights for the week. P. Will do a Postcard mailing 2X before market and mid - season with schedule and special events instead of recipes. Q. Joanne created a spreadsheet called 12 Vitals of the Market that she shared at the WSFMA conference as a tracking system. Suggestions were made by the board to add weather and theme days to show how it affects the market day business. R. Joanne distributed a copy of the budget for 2012 and it was reviewed by the group. 2 IV. Council report — Bill Peloza A. Reviewed highlights of Joanne's report acknowledging the grants we received. B. Reviewed Sound Transit renovation project. Bill and Joanne are meeting with the Sound Transit group to see what impact it will have on AIFM. May need to close bus lanes for up to 3 weeks. V. Correspondence /Public Input A. Maggie acquired a list of diversity groups to use for International Day. B. Linda will get some info from the Pacific Northwest BBQ and Chili Association for the chili cook off. VI. Old Business A. Motion made by Ronnie and seconded by Linda to renew and approve Trudy Ginther as Advisory Board Chair and Margaret Greenslit as Vice Chair for another year. All were in favor. VII. New Business A. The website was updated on January 6, 2012 with all the new dates, theme days etc. New application and rules and regulations are online. B. New schedule for banners — will put out Mid May until September 24, 2012. Purchasing an additional banner for info booth to use when traveling to other venues and special events. C. We already have 6 returning vendors signed up, as well as some new ones. VII. Board Recommendations /Input A. Trudy suggested we do signage at Churches and distribute info to them via church bulletins "Remember the Market" B. Trudy suggested using this theme on A Boards. C. Discussion about FREE shopping bags. Got sponsorship from Emerald Downs for opening day. Looking for other sponsorships. Looked at options — more expensive bag, more vendors. D. Discussion about how to bring more people into the market, Coupons, Free Passes— Christian offered Emerald Downs passes "while they last ", how to add value. E. Ronnie will do outreach with U -line see about sponsorship. F. Will look into Medical Companies — ARMC, Multi -Care. G. Maggie suggested we add the year on the sleeve for T- shirts and make them a collector's item. H. Trudy shared Ballard Market has hoodies. Joanne will be use marketing dollars for volunteers to have hoodies. I. Joanne wants to get food demos and possibly classes on canning and preserving. Trudy will research WSU for canning and preserving fruits and vegetables. .r . . J. Truiiy and Ronnie wili taik to Home Economics teacher, Culinary Arts teacher for volunteers. Joanne will contact Scout troops. IX. Adjourriment There being no further tiusiness, the meeting was adjoumed at 4:39 pm. Approved this�Day of�/I�uuni , 2012 � Trudy Girrther, C � ir 4