Vendors market pushes back against Libby Chamber

Mere weeks after Libby Chamber of Commerce officials asked City Hall to put the kibosh on a rival farmers market, vendors from that bazaar turned up in droves to defend the right to do business at a location of their choosing.

“I’m third generation here in Libby, Mont.,” said Angie McLaury of McLaury’s Apiaries. “Frankly, I’m kind of sad at seeing this kind of animosity and tension that we’re having in this town.”

“We need … a venue that doesn’t have the restrictions and also the governing [directive] of wanting to make money,” said Sheryl Pulis, a representative of the Libby Vendor Market.

“The actions of the Libby Chamber amount to greed in my mind,” concluded Bradley Dunn-meier, a Troy-based farmer.

McLaury, Pulis and Dunn-meier and more than a dozen supporters connected to the Libby Vendors Market packed City Hall on May 3, arguing that they have the right to set up shop adjacent to the spot where the chamber of commerce holds its farmers market.

The two markets, the chamber-run Farmer’s Market at Libby and the independent Libby Vendors Market, began publicly feuding last month. It’s not a question of whether Libby is a one-market town; the two entities have coexisted for years. But when organizers of the Libby Vendors Market got city permission to use the parking lot of Fireman Park this year, chamber representatives sought to see it rescinded.

“We also do not want a secondary market,” said Liz Whalen, chamber president, at an April 19 city council meeting. “Because we have created a brand of a successful market. Our vendors have paid, our business sponsors have paid for this market to appear there. They expect a level of brand [quality].”

Chamber representatives pointed to their lease with City Hall, saying it gave them a measure of control over what happens around their building. They asked city officials for a formalized veto over any activities in the chamber lot or nearby parking areas.

But the admittedly vague document leases an undefined acre of city land to the organization. Mayor Brent Teske has said he does not believe the agreement gives the chamber say over what happens at the adjacent parking lot for Fireman Park. By his measurements, one acre encompasses the chamber building as well as the stretch of parking lot it uses for its farmer’s market.

Chamber representatives also criticized the vendor market for listing its upcoming location as the chamber parking lot, arguing that it possibly infringed upon trademarks, and worried that their organization would face lawsuits in the event of an injury at the rival market.

“I am for as many markets in Libby as possible,” said Megan Rayome, a member of the chamber’s board. “[This is] a deliberate attempt to piggyback on our goodwill.”

Vendors market organizers have since edited the wording of promotional materials.

The April 19 city council meeting was largely filled with chamber supporters and representatives, with just a lone member of the Libby Vendor Market in attendance. While a solution proved elusive, city officials encouraged the two groups to work together and expressed hope in setting up a meeting to hash out any remaining differences.

The shoe was on the other foot May 3. Supporters of the Libby Vendors Market took turns touting the event’s contributions to the community.

“There are so many different things that all these different people bring together to be able to give back to Libby,” Pulis said. “If we’re squashed … that’s not fair.”

Amber Pacheco-Holm, vice president of the chamber, served as that organization’s sole speaker. Reading off of a prepared statement, she asked to clear the air. The chamber’s disagreement with the vendor market centered upon its location. Otherwise, chamber leaders “support your vendor market as we support all businesses,” she said.

Gone was the request for a vote on who can use the nearby land. Instead, Pacheco-Holm asked that organizers of any events in the immediate vicinity of the chamber’s building submit logistical information for review.

Still, “the chamber board has significant concerns about the confusion of having two separate markets at the same location,” she said.

The chamber found support from Kristin Smith on city council. Though she thanked members of the vendors market for attending the meeting in high numbers, she saw giving the business organization a say in who used the nearby parking lot as a reasonable request.

“The chamber is a very professional organization and hopefully people would want to understand that they want to protect their image,” Smith said. “They presented us with a solution last time about reviewing projects that are active in the parking lot.”

But Teske said it was not the city’s role to limit activities on public land based on the chamber’s interests.

“It’s not chamber property,” he said. “It’s public property. It’s city property. If they want control over it—”

“—I get the concerns,” Smith replied. “They have done a lot to take care of that parking lot and the property, the one acre.”

“Their one acre is in no way in jeopardy of anything in that [Fireman Park] parking lot,” Teske said.

Smith urged members of the vendors market to seek out other venues, pitching the Asa Wood property and Riverfront Park as possible locations. Ultimately, both she and Teske encouraged the two groups to open up lines of communication.