Staff writer
Hillsboro City Council members unanimously approved Mayor Delores Dalke’s recommendation to move the Hillsboro Farmers Market from the Schaeffler House Museum grounds to the Emprise Bank downtown courtyard Tuesday during their regular meeting.
Hillsboro Museum Board members Mary Regier and David Brown attended the meeting to participate in discussion centered on the move, something they requested at two previous council meetings.
“We tried to do our homework,” Regier said. “Our recommendation was to go out to Memorial Park because we wanted to protect the city’s huge investment in new sod at the museum.”
However, Regier and Brown wholeheartedly agreed with Dalke that shifting the event to a downtown location made a lot of sense from a variety of perspectives.
“Emprise is excited about hosting the farmers market there. Downtown businesses open on Thursday nights are excited about the possibility of having the farmers market there,” Dalke said. “It really is a nice big lot once you get in there. There are 10 tables with umbrellas and chairs that can be set up and plug-ins all the way through the area.”
Dalke favored the downtown solution over the city park because of better access parking and more exposure for downtown businesses. It was also a closer location to move to than the park, plus city building bathrooms and kitchen facilities could be available for vendor use.
Council member Shelby
Dirks questioned if anyone had checked with potential vendors to see what they thought of the downtown location. Dalke responded that Joni Calm, Hillsboro Farmers Market organizer, was OK with the idea and visited regularly with vendors.
“We talked about also using the Emprise drive-through area for more shade,” Dalke said. “There will also be less work of setting up tables and chairs as Emprise Bank is willing to take care of that.”
Dalke also said it might be a good idea to look into getting live music downtown on Thursday evenings.
“We very much endorse that whole idea,” Regier said. “We are just glad to get off the new grass and into a more workable situation.”
Farmers Market sales begin in May. City Administrator Larry Paine said new sod might not be laid at the Schaeffer House Museum until the second week of May.
Re-elected members sworn-in
City Clerk Jan Meisinger performed a swearing-in ceremony for re-elected council members Byron McCarty and Shelby Dirks. The two ran unopposed in city elections earlier in April.
McCarty was re-elected Council President by members, designated to serve in absence of the mayor or to take over if the mayor would be unable to serve.
In other business:
- The council approved an application from Pat Nuss to establish a bed and breakfast at 702 W. B Street. Paine said several neighbors of the residence attended a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last month and expressed support for the zoning change. The council approved a conditional use permit with stipulations that no more than eight people be permitted to stay there per day, only four off-street vehicle-parking places be provided, and the special use permit would be only for the current owner or resident of the property.
- The council approved public commission hearing resolution 2012-3 regarding unsafe property at 128 Main Street downtown. This is the first step demolition of the building at that location.
- Members discussed the city’s response to recent stormy weather and the sounding of tornado sirens for 45 minutes on Saturday evening.
- The council held a Hillsboro Public Building Commission meeting during which Bob Watson was re-elected to the position of commission chair.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting will be 4 p.m. May 1.