To download a pdf application form for vendors click here
Applications for reserved spaces are due April 15, 2011
MISSOULA FARMERS' MARKET REGULATIONS - 2011
The following regulations are in compliance with the City Ordinance 8.20 113051 Resolution H5I76, the Management Agreement between the City and the Missoula Farmers' Market, Missoula City-County Health Department, and the bylaws of the Missoula Farmers' Market, Inc., P. O. Box 1716, Missoula MT 59801
1. MARKET HOURS: Saturdays 8:00 am to noon, April 30 through October 22, 2011. Tuesdays 5:30 to 7:00 pm, July 5 through August 30, 2011. There is no opening bell. Vendors may begin selling as soon as they arrive. A bell at 12:25 pm indicates that vendors have 20 minutes to clear the market. Vendors can bring vehicles into the market and begin loading after 12:00pm on Saturdays and 7:00 pm on Tuesdays. Vendors must be packed up and off the street by 12:45 pm on Saturday and 7:30 pm on Tuesday. Vendors must follow directions of the Market Master and assistants to ensure safety and smooth traffic flow.
2. ITEMS FOR SALE: The Missoula Farmers' Market is a local farm and garden market. Vendors are required to comply with Missoula County Health Department rules and licensing requirements. The Missoula County Farmers Market regulations for 2011 may be found at http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/envhealth/Licest/PlanReview/TFS/TFS.htm. When a license is required, the vendor must supply the Market Master with a photocopy of their license prior to sales. Under Market Authority and the Missoula City Ordinance, products must be raised, grown or gathered by the vendor in Western Montana, except fruit for jams, jellies, and syrups which can be obtained by the vendor from Western Montana growers. The Market Board has authority over what may be sold at the Market and it reserves the right to inspect the source of products sold.
a. PRODUCE: fresh vegetables and herbs, fresh or dried fruits, cut flowers, wreaths, and dried flower arrangements.
b. NURSERY PLANTS: All plants from seed must be grown completely by the vendor. All plants that are available as cuttings, roots, tubers, bulbs and plugs must be potted up and sold by the grower. You cannot buy plants to resell at the market.
c. PROCESSED FOODS: Commercial bakeries may sell a variety of baked goods, subject to Health Department directives. Any processed foods must be produced in accordance with the Health Department guidelines, including non-commercially baked goods, cider, and honey.
d. ORGANIC PRODUCTS: Vendors advertising their products as organic must follow the strict regulations set out by the USDA, and be able to show proof of certification upon request. (information available at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop).
e. PROHIBITED ITEMS: Craft items may not be sold at the Market.
3. PARKING: The parking lot next to the market space is now in private ownership. It has controlled access and the gates will not be opened before 6:30 am on Saturdays and 4:45 pm on Tuesdays. You may exit at any time but there will be no further access to this lot after 12:30 pm on Saturdays and 7:30 pm on Tuesdays. On Saturday the first row of the parking lot next to the sidewalk on Alder Street is reserved parking for customers. Vendors may use this space for unloading until 7:45 am. All vendors must obtain a Missoula Farmers Market sticker from the Market Master and display it on the inside of the windshield. To increase badly needed customer parking, vendors are asked to use other parking areas away from the adjacent parking lot. On Tuesday evenings, Alder Street will be reserved for customer parking.
4. SET-UP: For Saturday markets, vendors must set up between 7:00 am and 8:00 am. No vendor may set up after 8:00 am. Vendors may drive vehicles into the Market Place to unload until 7:45 am. For Tuesday markets, vendors must set-up between 5:00 pm and 5:30 pm. Vendors are required to unload vehicles promptly and must remove vehicles immediately when unloaded and then return to complete set-up.
5. SPACE DEFINITION: Sellers must keep within 9 feet from the curb. One space is 6 feet wide exclusive of trucks. All bakeries, food and coffee vendors will be located in the circle area.
6. FIRE LANES: must be kept open at all times.
7. ANIMALS: No pets, leashed or unleashed, except service animals, are allowed within 15 ft of the Market area.
8. IDENTIFICATION: All mushrooms, huckleberries, and eggs sold must bear vendor identity information on bags or cartons.
9. ATTENDANCE: The vendor, grower, producer, and market seller must be one and the same individual, husband and wife, or co-owners of the produce business. The “Vendor” is the individual renting the market space. A reserved-space vendor may use a substitute for up to five markets in a season. Additional absences may be arranged at the discretion of the Market Master. Owners of commercial food and beverage establishments are not required to be present at the Market.
10. FEES: Fees are based on linear footage of frontage of the space occupied. In order to facilitate fee collection, non-reserved or first-come, first served vendors must be at their space from 7:30 am on Saturday and 5:30 pm on Tuesday because fee collection begins at that time. Fee schedule for non-reserved spaces and trucks is given below.
11. CLEAN MARKET PLACE: Sellers are responsible for keeping and leaving their area clean, including the parking area where vendor vehicles are unloaded. The market provides brooms and dustpans. To reduce litter, please provide a receptacle for trash generated at your stand.
12. CIVILITY: Vendors and market employees are expected to treat one another and their customers with civility and respect. Verbal or physical abuse is a violation of Missoula Farmers' Market regulations.
13. RULES FOR RESERVED SPACES: Reserved spaces are those which are assigned for the season. Applications for reserved space must be submitted by each vendor prior to the beginning of the market on the requested date. Payment in the amount specified in the application form must accompany the application. No vendor will be allowed more than three reserved spaces, and the assignment of reserved spaces is at the discretion of the board. Vendors may be temporarily allowed additional spaces if unclaimed spaces are available. Vendors who had reserved spaces during the preceding year will be given priority for spaces and selection of locations for available spaces the next year. Reserved spaces may not be sold or transferred to another party. The right to use a reserved space is limited to the assigned vendors and may not be used by any other persons except at the discretion of the Market Master. If the reserved space vendor does not occupy the vendor's space by 7:45 am on Saturday, the Market Master may assign the space to a first-come, first-served vendor. A vendor may request a reserved space after the start of the market season by submitting a completed application form along with payment. The form is available on the Missoula Farmers Market web site.
14. RULES FOR NON-RESERVED SPACES: The Market Master assigns non-reserved spaces on a first-come, first-served basis. Vendors without a reserved space must consult the Market Master about where to set up. The Market Master has the final word in all disputes over space. It is a violation for any vendor to save or secure a space for a later arriving vendor.
15. TRUCKS: Trucks are allowed only in truck spaces, which are no more than 25 feet long. A vendor may not use a truck space in combination with any other space at the same market. Vendors selling from a truck must notify the Market Master the day before the market they plan to attend. A vendor may only use a second truck space after all vendors wanting a truck space have been accommodated. At the option of the Market Master, trucks may be parked end to end or side by side. No tables are allowed off the back of trucks.
16. DISREGARD OF MARKET RULES: These regulations are enforced to promote welfare and safety of sellers and shoppers alike. If notified of an infraction by the Market Master, the vendor must correct it. Disregard of these rules will lead to expulsion from the Market. A first violation will result in a violation notice being issued. A second notice will result in exclusion from the following Saturday Market. A third notice will result in exclusion from the Market for the rest of the season. Violation notices are cumulative from year to year for a period up to three years. A fourth notice may result in permanent exclusion from the Market and will require the vendor to petition the Market Board for reinstatement. Appeals of any Missoula Farmers' Market violation notice may be made in writing to the Board, P. O. Box 1716, Missoula MT 59801.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Call Market Master, Tawney Sabin, 544-1532.
FEE SCHEDULE FOR UNRESERVED SPACES FOR 2011
SATURDAY MARKETS:
Minimum of $5.00 for tables less than 6 feet wide
$1.00/foot up to 6 feet frontage, totaling $6.00
Second six feet at $1.00/foot (12 ft = $12.00)
Third six feet at $1.50/foot (18 ft = $21.00)
Truck fee $40.00.
TUESDAY MARKETS:
Minimum of $5.00 for spaces less than 6 feet wide
Maximum of $10.00 for space up to 18 ft.
Truck fee $25.00.
