Coun. Sergio Morales is questioning a letter from the Barrie Farmers’ Market (BFM) saying it would prefer staying put to being part of the planned permanent market project on Maple Avenue.
In a Jan. 3 letter to Mayor Alex Nuttall and members of Barrie city council, BFM’s marketing and operations manager Jaime Grant said BFM would rather stay at Barrie City Hall, where it operates Saturday mornings, than have a new location at the Barrie Bayside Market Area, to be located at the current transit terminal site.
“I haven’t heard this communicated from any other of the members, in eight years,” said Morales, who sits on the Downtown BIA board. “The letter was overzealous and confused a lot of people.
“When communication gets to the point you enter ‘open letter’ territory that draws lines in the sand, there's a problem.”
Grant did not respond to e-mail and phone messages from BarrieToday.
Speaking on behalf of the BFM in her letter, Grant said that while the BFM is constrained in winter months by being indoors at the Barrie City Hall Rotunda, it would like to work with city staff on an expansion plan to present to council in the near future.
Grant also noted in her letter that a permanent market would be considered direct competition to BFM, and not complementary.
BFM, operating Saturdays from 8 a.m. until noon, averages approximately 3,050 visitors in that four-hour period during the busiest summer months, Grant’s letter states. This breaks down to 74 per cent local residents and 26 percent tourists to the area.
Morales was asked if he believes it's too late for the BFM to pull out of the Maple Avenue project, which has been planned for years.
“The Barrie Farmers' Market must do what's best for them,” said the Ward 9 councillor. “An overzealous letter like that that brushes over 12 years of work is definitely not it.”
City council gave final approval to a motion Wednesday to refer Grant’s letter to its new finance and good governance committee.
Coun. Ann-Marie Kungl, who sits on the committee, asked for the referral and to speak with BFM officials at a future committee meeting.
“I am curious as to why there’s a change in interest from the market project,” she said, noting she also wanted “to be able to explore the impact of this change.”
Morales voted against the referral motion, saying the letter should just be received for information.
Stephannie Schlichter, Barrie’s director of economic and creative development, noted in a memo to council that BFM was a participant on the city’s market precinct task force. So was Morales.
“Recommendations of the task force included the relocation of the BFM to the precinct (Maple Avenue) site along with associated space requirements,” she said. “As such, should council choose to continue with the project, the scope will be further modified to address the new feedback from the Barrie Farmers’ Market.”
The previous council endorsed, in principle, the concept of a Barrie Bayside Market Area centred around the conversion of the existing transit terminal on Maple Avenue to a year-round market, including a community commercial kitchen, and the construction of a new building of at least 10,000 square feet nearby to house the Barrie Farmers’ Market, with a goal of opening to the public in 2024.
City staff estimated a bill for the first phase of the project of approximately $425,000 in consultant, architect and staff resourcing costs.
The estimated total cost is $29 million to $32 million during 13 to 15 years for the permanent market, Barrie Farmers’ Market and three or four additional buildings in the area, plus facilities such as a skating trail and artisans village. There would also be costs associated with providing Barrie Police Services with a new downtown home.
Operating costs for the market project are estimated to be about $550,000 annually, but the market could operate on a break-even basis.
The city’s portion of the money would likely come from Barrie’s reinvestment reserve, which is funded by Barrie’s Alectra dividends and meant for community projects. It’s expected there would also be federal and provincial money, especially for the farmers’ market building.
Completion of the Allandale Transit Mobility Hub would be required before any conversion or construction of the existing transit terminal. The site works and design for the Essa Road hub are well underway. However, the construction of this project was delayed due to lags in Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) funding approvals, as well as inflationary impacts on the project cost. Staff are currently awaiting further ICIP approvals before beginning the actual construction of the building. Other necessary pre-construction work continues.
