City clerk Francesca Quintana presents Friday night market plans to the city council for next year
LINDSAY – After a few complaints from residential homes last year, Lindsay made minor adjustments to their Friday night market boundaries for the 2024 season.
At the April 11 city council meeting, city clerk Francesca Quintana presented the boundaries of the city’s Friday night market, as well as the oversight committee that will oversee any problems that arise at the market.
Not much has changed in the boundary map except it will extended a bit farther down North Sweetbriar Avenue. And there were no changes to the structure of the oversight committee. However, after a discussion at their Feb. 28 city council meeting, the council requested a rundown of the current market’s details, in order to gauge whether any changes would need to be made for the 2024 market season.
“I do want to say, fantastic market so far, the diversity of the vendors is great,” Mayor Hipolito Cerros said. “It’s good to see the city moving and seeing those sales tax from those consumers.”
The market is a staple to Lindsay, and features live music, karaoke, dancing competitions and a variety of food from local vendors – including Ricas Enchiladas, a community favorite from the market’s past. The market’s boundaries map was agreed to between the city and the market operator, VL Lindsay Friday Night Market, on March 2 for next year.
The street fair runs down Honolulu Street and intersects with South Elmwood Avenue. North Sweetbriar Avenue is also included in the market’s boundaries. The market stops at South Mirage Avenue. Last year, the market went farther down North Sweetbriar Avenue than this year. City manager Joe Tanner said that this had caused conflict in the past with some of the residential homes that sat along the avenue.
“We got numerous complaints from townhome PRs homeowners renters along the street,” Tanner said. “That was the only major issue since I’ve been here as far as the market is concerned, though.”
The purpose of the oversight committee that Quintana presented is to have final say in resolving any disputes submitted by vendors through a complaint form provided by the market operator. Unlike the North Sweetbriar Avenue incident, the committee will only be handling complaints from the vendors participating in the market. The committee is composed of Mayor Cerros and council member Ramona Caudillo.
“The market operator commits themselves in good faith to resolve those disputes,” Quintana said. “If for any reason, [vendors] are unable to reach an agreement or resolution, that is when the matters escalate to the oversight committee.”
Quintana asked for the council’s direction on the market, in case they wanted to make any changes to the plans. However, the council did not have any.
