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CASE # J CONSIDER FARMER'S MARKET PROMOTION By: Mark Riverblood, Parks Supervisor BACKGROUND: There has been a stated resident desire for local services like a grocery or farmers market within Ramsey since as early as the 2001 Comprehensive Plan process. The Town Center project continues to move forward in meeting these resident requests, and the recently approved Comprehensive Plan has as a stated goal under Community Health and Wellness: " b) Fresh healthy food conveniently available to all Ramsey residents STRATEGIES: 1. Promote a local farmer's market in Ramsey" Further, approximately one year ago, the Anoka County Growers Association (ACG) came before City Council to solicit support for establishing a Farmers Market within. Ramsey. At the time, Council consensus was that effort should be invested in bringing a viable market to the Town Center. In response, staff has established a plan with ACG to see this happen in the summer of 2010. Observations: There were two critical concerns of ACG that needed to be met to ensure that they would commit to a site in Ramsey. The first was a sampling survey to demonstrate community support, and the second was adequate promotion of the Farmers Market so that the, growers would be likely to be profitable, and the number of growers would increase and the market would continue in subsequent years. A number of surveys were generated by staff, and 100% of the respondents "supported the availability of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables." Over 61% of respondents indicated that they would "definitely patronage a Farmers Market within the Town Center." The survey findings has satisfied ACG, and there are 5 growers that intend to commence Ramsey's first Farmers Market at Rhinestone Commons (west of PACT) each Thursday between 3 and 7 pm beginning on July 15"', 2010 -and into October, weather permitting. The purpose of this HRA case is to address a plan to promote the venue to ensure that residents are aware of it, that it is a success, and to generate additional trips into the `COR' area. There are two principal aspects of the strategy; the first is a Ramsey Resident spot with aone-dollar redeemable coupon (capped at a maximum of $2 per person, and limited to the first $400 redemptions), that will need up to $400 dollars in funding. However, the prime mode of awareness to route people to the Farmers Market will be signage located at key locations in the southern portion of the city.