Is Folly’s Farmer’s Market getting thrown under the bus?
By Bill Davis | Staff Writer
For the past few years Folly artist and waitress/bartender Megan Day has worked with fellow local Sarah Poe to organize and run the weekly Folly Beach Farmers Market. Last year, the organic duo moved the market to a spot on Folly River Park from a nearby restaurant parking lot. This year, they will likely be moving the market from Wednesday to Monday evenings as to not compete with the West Ashley Farmer’s Market, which is put on and fully supported by the City of Charleston. The Folly market does not have the same support from the City of Folly Beach.
With the opening night for the market tentatively scheduled for April, the city is asking that the market, along with any other event drawing more than 75 people, pay $200 for the park and up to $500 for off-duty police officers.
“We typically only bring in $400 to $500 from vendors,” says Day. “And even if we only spend $300 for one officer, and $100 for a band, that leaves little room to do anything else, much less (cover) all the time we’re putting in to make it happen.”
Folly Beach City Administrator Spencer Wetmore describes the tough position the market has put the city in. On one hand, Wetmore says she and other officials personally enjoy the market and attend it regularly.
On the other hand, the market has to abide the same policies as other public events, and it can’t “over-tax” the city’s limited resources, says Wetmore. If the market used two officers for parking and crowd control, that would leave only active officer to patrol the rest of the island during that time.
Wetmore says City Hall received numerous complaints last year from locals, mostly focused on concerns of noise and traffic.
She stresses that Folly officers, expensive to some, come with experience, the respect their uniforms carry, a line of communication already established with Public Safety, and more.
Folly Beach Public Safety Chief Andrew Gilreath says the security officers don’t have to come from his department. Could Day and Poe contract with off-duty City of Charleston officers who might live on James Island, for instance?
“That’s not a problem for me,” says Gilreath. “If it accomplishes the mission, one way or the other, I’m open to that, too.”
Gilreath says he’s reached out for off-duty officers to Charleston Police Chief Gregory Mullens, but that his counterpart “didn’t seem interested” in the past.
Wetmore met recently with Day about the challenges the market is facing. She suggested finding an intern from a local college to help with the daunting task of putting on the market.
And she stressed that the market needs to be “in the spirit” of a farmers market, with more produce and food vendors, and not focus on vendors selling art, jewelry, and the like. Easier said than done. There are no farms on Folly Beach, so most of the food vendors come from off island, while many of the art and jewelry vendors are actual local Folly folks. Not to mention, while the city may have an opinion about what kind of vendors participate in the market, the city is not burdened with the task of securing the vendors.
That seems to be falling squarely on Day’s shoulders, as Poe has been out of town protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock. And, according to Day, it’s getting increasingly harder to get local produce to the Folly Market when there are so many other competing markets in other parts of Charleston. Moreover, those markets, like the ones in downtown Charleston, West Ashley, Mt. Pleasant, North Charleston, Summerville, and Sullivan’s Island are all managed by, or at least supported by, their respective municipalities. On Folly, the city could actually serve as a barrier to its success if it pushes to collect rent for the park, refuse to supply police officers, and require the market organizers to spend money on hiring off-duty officers.
Day and Poe will have a chance to ask City Council to waive some or all of the aforementioned fees at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, March 14. “We hope supporters of the market will show up,” says Day, adding that she will be seeking out local business sponsors “so we won’t have to scrape pennies.”
Folly Association of Business (FAB) president Lewis Dodson, owner of the Drop In Bar & Deli, sat down with Day recently and says the effort is “on the right track,” and that the business community fully supports the market.
Dodson says that visitors, the lifeblood of many Folly businesses, “will spend (money) with us … and anytime you can bring people out on Monday night is great.”
Dodson thinks that visitors to Folly will check in en masse on Saturday and Sunday nights, and then can hit the market for all their fresh “veggies” for the week.
He also says he believes City Council is a different beast than City Hall, and he thinks elected officials know what a great “family friendly event” it is, and hope they will do what they can to help.
“I’m confident everyone will work through any fallbacks,” says Dodson.
