There has been much discussion in the community resulting in
a number of emails to various councillors. In response to some of the questions
posed to me I want to offer the following answers.
What has council done that affects the Golden Farmers’ Market (GFM)?
At the present time council has made no changes to the fee
for the Temporary License of Occupation required by the GFM to operate neither the
Wednesday nor the Saturday markets. The Standing Committee on Finance has made
the following resolution which was intended to take effect in 2015.
“That the Standing Committee on Finance recommend to council
a Temporary License of Occupation policy amendment that contemplates a Mobile
Vendor Association fee of $3.50 per parking stall per day..”
Council will debate this issue at the regular council
meeting on June 10th and decide upon a course of action at that
time. If the amendment is approved by council the annual fee to use 16 parking
stall in the CP parking lot for the summer, 15 Wednesdays, would be $840.
Why review the fees for a Temporary License of Occupation?
It has been bought to the attention of council that the
current fee structure was inequitable and disadvantaged several businesses in
the downtown core. Council requested that the Standing Committee on Finance
(SCOF) review the fee for Mobile Vendor Associations and report back to
council. This has been done.
How can council justify the increase in TLO fees?
It is incumbent upon council to treat all businesses
equally. Council cannot favour nor subsidize individual businesses. The SCOF
has recommended that the fee for the Mobile Vendor Association be on par with
the fee for Sidewalk Cafes. To achieve parity with the Sidewalk Café fee of
$100 per month per parking stall, the fee for the Mobile Vendor Association
should be $3.50 per day per parking stall.
Is the GFM a not-for-profit organization?
The Golden Farmers’ Market is a Mobile Vendor Association
and I believe is not for profit, however the individual vendors are most certainly
businesses and are participating in the farmers’ market with the intention of
making a profit.
Will the increase result in the demise of the GFM?
It is inconceivable that a fee of $3.50 per day per parking
stall would cause the demise of the Wednesday GFM. Although there are 16
parking stall in the area occupied by the GFM, it is typically occupied by 20
vendors. Hence each vendor would need to contribute $2.80 per day.
Who pays for the CP parking lot?
The town of Golden has recently renewed the lease with CP
for the use of the parking lot at $9,000 per year escalating at 3% per year for
the next 3 years. This is paid for from property tax revenue. So in essence all
Golden tax payers are subsidizing the Golden Farmers’ Market.
Case on point
One of the regular vendors at the Wednesday GFM, Stoke
Roasted, is from Revelstoke. The bags of coffee he sells are in direct
competition to the Bean Bag coffee roasted right here in Golden. Now I
encourage competition and welcome his presence however, is it fair that the
town gives the Revelstoke company a better deal than the deal we give to our
local businesses?
The cups of coffee he sells are in direct competition to the
several coffee shops we have in town who have received their 2014 property tax
bills this week.
Every Wednesday he drives from Revelstoke and with the
current cost of gas, I’m sure he spends more on gas than the $2.80 per day TLO
fee for a prime location in Golden.
Most of the money he makes goes back with him to Revelstoke.
How does this help the local small downtown businesses?
Should the small struggling businesses in town have to
subsidize their competition?
Next Step
The executive and vendors of the GFM will be invited to
speak at the regular open council meeting at 7pm on Tuesday June 10th.
I encourage you all at attend and participate in the debate.
The opinions expressed in this blog are my personal opinions
and may not represent the opinions of other councillors nor the opinions of
council.
