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Home My WebLink About03-22-2013 (2) ��.7�r�� .,,,M.e,,s M.,,k.t �� I �� _ _�� hi�...•/�.aw.•p.�;g;. Auburn International Farmers Market Advisory Board Meeting Minutes Friday, March 22, 2013 Aubum City Hall Annex Room #1 - 3:00 pm Mission Statement: The mission of the AIFM is to provide a forum for the purchase of a variety of healthy and locally grown products to area residents, a convenient marketplace for local farmers and artisans, and a vibrant gathering place for the community to enjoy downtown Auburn. i. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Trudy Ginther at 3:01 pm. Advisory Board Members present: Trudy Ginther, Maggie Greenslit: Ronnie Roberts, Christian McLendon and Linda Morris. Not in attendance: Trenity Walker (excused), Mark Wayne (unexcused). City Staff/Council present: Market Manager Joanne Macnab and City Council member Bill Peloza. Citizen present: Scot Pondelick. II. Minutes Maggie Greenslit moved to approve February minutes, Christian McLendon seconds. III. Market Manager Report— Joanne Macnab We currently have 21 registered vendors. 13 Farmers, 1 Prepared Food. 1 Processed Food and 6 Craft/Artisans. Our 2013 posters have been ordered, I ordered 250. Bookmarks and mailers will go to print in mid April. We will order 15,000 bookmarks. Opening day events are being confirmed which include Boy Scout Troop#401 presenting the colors during our opening ceremony. They have requested permission to have the Pocket Flag Project again this season. The Sound Transit/Farmers Market License Agreement will be granted, however, it may not be finalized until the end of next month (April). Sound Transit is waiting to incorporate the game train schedule and maintenance activities that are planned at the station this summer. The I Right-of-Way Use permit goes to the Public Works Committee for approval on Monday, April 1 Ciscoe Morris is confirmed for a presentation on June 30"' and Marianne Binetti is confirmed for 2 presentations. July 7 — "oldies but goodies" gardening for life and August 4—"the naked gardener" growing natural without pesticides. Hal Meng (certified Master Food Preserver) is confirmed for 2 canning demonstrations June 23 —traditional jams (utilizing berries) and August 4 — canning beans. Both the Auburn Police and the VRFA are on board with the chili cook-off, scheduled for September 8. Stephanie Minton (operates a catering business) has generously offered to supply cooking equipment and preparation facilities to both groups, as she did last year. All of our 2013 marketing merchandise is here and we have a new 12 drawer cart for merchandise storage and information booth supplies. In addition to securing additional demonstrations and entertainment opportunities for our sixteen week season, I have been helping the Washington State Department of Health revise the information manual forthe WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program and I'm assisting the Washington State Farmers Market Association with the final touches on a new management toolkit that should be available to all WSFMA members very soon. IV. Council report — Bill Peloza Bill agrees to MC opening day at the market. Bill asks Joanne Macnab to distribute copies of her update at future meetings. Bill asks if we have a theme schedule. Joanne has distributed at the Volunteer meeting, it is updated each week. Bill inquires about the contract with Sound Transit. Joanne responds it will be granted but they are waiting for the game schedule (Mariners) to incorporate and they will be completing some repairs We should receive the contract by the end of April. Bill spoke to contact Nancy Bennett at Sound Transit and Nancy wants everyone to know we are getting the facility for free and that we need to follow the ruies & regulations. Nancy has approved the use of chalk art, Bill recommends we notify Nancy when we use chalk at the facility. As soon as it starts to look bad, we should clean the chalk. Rachel Smith has been promoted so Nancy is our new contact person. Bill has notified the board that he is working with Daryl Faber regarding Joanne's compensation and the results will be positive. He will have an answer before the next Advisory Board meeting. V. CorrespondencelPublic Input Joanne asks Christian why Oddfellas got rid of their ATM. Christian said they removed it due to construction but will be bringing it back; it will now be located just inside the entrance. VI. Old Business , VII. New Business VII. Board Recommendations/Input Maggie asks if anyone has contacted Sound Transit about having the bathrooms cleaned prior to each Sunday and requests that they clean up the cigarette buttsas welL Bill says they don't haVe a cusfodian working on Sunday but perhaps the Boy Scouts could clean them up. Christian has offered to donate his leaf blower each week which he uses for the sidewalks , surrounding Oddfellas. Linda Morris has contacted the Culinary Arts staff at C,reen River Community Gollege,:Auburn _ _ High School, Aubum Riverside High School and Bonney Lake High School asking if they would be interested in demos. She has heard back from Auburn High that it won't be possible this yearbut Green River Community College has communicated interest. Maggie Greenslit has contacted Diana Johnson and Duanna Richards from the Community Didersity Department at the City and invited them to attend Intemational Day at the market. Joanne adds that she received the string of intemational flags yesterday. Maggie Greenslit shared the Master Gardeners will be at the market each week and have requested Wi-Fi access. Christian said 4hey might be able to pick up Oddfellas Wi-Fi, he has had it updated and should be accessible within 1000 feet. Linda Morris said PetPros will be a sponsor for the "Dog Days of Summer� and Joanne has been working with them. Trudy Ginther stated that for two years Waste Management has given substantial support to the market with the donation of the cooking and hand washing stations and shewouldlike to approach them for sponsorship of one of our theme days. Some ideas include a chili cook off or simply to sponsor prizes/giveaways. Perhaps at the $1000 or$2000 level. Bill has spoken to Laura at a recent dinnerevent and wamed her that she wasn't off the hook yet, he was planning to contact with his request. Joanne recommends asking for tents. CFiristian recommends asking for$3000 and adds they could sponsoc an entire month at the market and could hand out their bags. Ronnie Roberts says he could sponsor a month, and Christian . should sponsora month as well, they could get 250—300 bags with their logo to hand out within their sponsorship month. They could promote their"green" status with the bags.. Joanne ran out of bags ffi the end of 2011 (started with 500). Last year,300 bags came from Muckleshoot Bingo. This year the Outlet Collection will be donating bags. Bill advises ordering 10,000 bags and putting the Waste Management logo on, please advise price. Ronnie and Christian could donate and get their logo on the bags as well. Perhaps we could have tHe . Waste Management logo be larger and have a lot ofbther sponsors logo's on the bags but in a smallersize. Joanne sent both an email asking if fhey were still interested imsponsoring. In 2009 bags were approximately $800 for 500;ttiey had the market logo on one side and their logos on the other side. Will need to give a deadline for the order date; we can mosf likely get a better deal than $1.50 each, Joanne will getsome proposals Trudysuggests contacting. Multicare for 50% of the sponsorship and we could have Multicare, Waste Management, Oddfellas and Gosanko Chocolate logos all on the bags. . 3 Ronnie states that Gosanko's will donate 100 coated (not chocolate) dog bones for the dogs at the "Dog Days"theme day, perhaps for the goody bags. Last year Pet Pro's donated a stack of $10 coupons for their stores, four or five gift baskets, a dog bed, two kennels and they had a booth which equals a $250 sponsorship level. Christian asks 'rf we have approached Coastal Farm & Ranch, Joanne has'it on her"to do" list. Christian states they have been great to work with since they opened their:store. Linda Morris suggests having them participate in "National Farmer's MarkeY' day. Trudy suggests contacting all these prospective sponsors so we can place all their logo's on the bags. Trudy has agreed to contact Multicare and Joanne wilf corrtact Coastal Farm & Ranch. Bill adds that we needto do a better job of recognizing our sponsors, perhaps via A-board signage. The Portland market does a great job of recognizing their sponsors. Joanne suggests we use the A board with the removable piece and always include Waste Management and King Conservation District;we could rotate those with Soroptimist. Bill adds thaf,King Conservation District often asks if we are promoting them. Ronnie asks if we still have the metal fence sections, Joanne responded yes, they:are used'at bbth sides of the market. Ronnie suggests the A boards be placed aY both eritrances along with sponsor signs or 6anners. Linda adds we could use corrugated signage, Joanne will work with Multimedia. Ronnie states when he sponsors he would like to see his logo throughout the market. The Aboards could become the "sponsor boards" each week. They could also be placed at the road closure locations. Joanne states that King Conservation District would like a booth this year, they didn't attend last year but Jessica is adamant about:attending this year and trying to find a King County farmer they have helped to be recognized at the market. Bill shares that the Wi-Fi project is not dead yet, Sound Transit said no but the City is working on it. lYs currently being tested. Christian said he used to be able to pick upthe City's Wi-Fi from Oddfellas but can't any longer. Joanne shares the city still has Wi-Fi. Ronnie Roberts agrees with Karen Kinney, the Executive Director of the Washington State Farmer's Market Association regarding pushing ahead with forward thinking. Now that,the Cavanaugh block has sold and will be built, it will make the market more attractive. Christian agrees and adds the Sound Transit folks will probably become tired of the market and our g�owing demands. Christian feels the market will outgrow the space and we could u4ilize the. new area. Maggie asks if there is power and water. Linda states we would need water, power, rest rooms and storage. Ronnie states that as the area begins to build, parking will become an issue and the City may require more parking and Sound T�ansit may not be as helpful with our needs. Ronnie feels very lucky to have Bi�l Peloza on our side with his pas"sion fo�the market. If something were to happen inthe years to come where we don't have that relationship we need to be prepared. Maggie adds that according to the City website, iY is our role to repoR to the City, not Joanne, meaning the Mayor and City Council. Christian asks if what gets decided here is taken to the City. Ronnie adds that is Bill so perhaps we should be talking to him: Bill says he is the direct line to the City Council. Ronnie states thaYBill'has done a tremendous job and we are thankful. Bill adds the volunteers are amazing. Bill asks if the volunteers will be getting wind breakers. Trudy says we got hoodies last year and hats this year.. Bill reguests seven more hats for council members. We also have 50 aprons and more than 100 t-shirts. Christian offers to contact Emerald Downs; they may be able4o donate cash or give-aways. Joanne says they were the opening day sponsor three years ago. Ronnie offers to contact the Outlet Collection (Super Mall) to see if they would like to participate. 4 Joanne attended a Market Manager's meeting on Monday.and would like to invite area markets to participate in "Famier's Market Week". They could have a booth and promote their markets. Most of their markets are held on Saturday so most could attend. Ronnie does not want our shoppersto spend money at their markets. Bill does not want other markets to haVe access to our vendors. Bill states that we are getting a very good reputation in the area because we are "at the table"; Joanne attends these meetings and the annual conference. They are now looking up to usrather than down aYus.. Trudy states she heard from Karen Kinney asking her to call Joe Fain about the bill (to get ft passed), it has come out of committee and now it goes to the house. If the bill passes; Farmer's Markets will be able to sample wine, beer and hard cider. Chris4ian adds there are a lot of beer and cidervendors as well as wine. They could sample at the market and buy the bottles at Oddfellas "to go". Joanne says Gradwohl; the beef vendor is going out of business. Bill states that as an administrative protocol, we do have seven members on this board and did we hear from the two not in attendance? Trudyhas heard from Tren butnot Mark. Bill adVises the minutes reflect°excused"for folks who communicate their non attendance, and "unexcused"for folks to do not. AdjoummeM There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm. Approved this Day of , 2013 Trudy Ginther, Chair 5