PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Portage City Council seems committed to building a bigger farmer’s market, but there is disagreement over what it should include. They currently hold their Farmers Market in the City Hall parking lot which worked well when it was first started, but attendance has grown considerably since then.
At their Tuesday night meeting, the Council received a presentation on four possible locations. Council Member Lisa Braton, who has been the biggest proponent of the idea, was ready to pick a site and start planning construction.
But Council Member Lori Knapp felt they needed to decide what the open market should look like first.
Mayor Patricia Randall says its a seasonal facility that is only open one day a week, so it doesn’t need to cost as much as a new fire station to be attractive.
Cost estimates on the sites they considered ranged from over $2-million to over $6-million.
Some Council members have suggested it have its own stage, possibly a commercial kitchen, but Mayor Randall says those facilities already exist elsewhere in the city. And Council Member Terry Urban also suggested a couple of other sites he thought might be better.
The members voted to hold another work session on the idea, and possibly get some public input on the plan before moving ahead.
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