Photo by Jessica Vaughn

Coastal Alabama Farmers' and Fishermen's Market
20733 Miflin Rd
Foley, AL 36535
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FOLEY - A resolution was approved during the Foley council meeting on May 15 that will now allow the Coastal Alabama Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Market (CAFFM) to be used by the City of Foley for special events at no cost to the city.

“The Coastal Alabama Farmers’ and Fisherman’s Market is its own entity in that it controls the property where the farmers’ market is located,” Mike Thompson, city administrator, said. “The proposal here is that the CAFFM Board would allow the City of Foley to use the grounds, use the facility itself in times when the CAFFM is not using it for their purposes, and in return the City of Foley would provide them with the occasional maintenance and repairs.”

The proposal would allow for the shared use of the facility by the City of Foley and the CAFFM Board in return for the city providing the occasional maintenance job. On days when the facility is not in use for the farmer’s market or any other event hosted by the CAFFM, the city would be welcome to use the facility for their own purposes. With this proposal, the city would have a backup plan in the case of any unexpected weather interference, especially for sports matters.

“There’s no specific limit on the use there,” Thompson said. “If there’s a sports event and it’s raining, a place would be provided to set up near the sports fields.”

As for the CAFFM, they have started using the facility for the occasional wedding or family reunion, but such events aren’t a regular occurrence. This leaves the facility and property more available than it’s not available.

The maintenance that the city would provide would be for minor projects, such as bush hogging around the facility or a small repair in a bathroom. The CAFFM would still oversee major projects or repairs, which would have to be contracted out. Along with the agreement, the City of Foley would also not be over funding any repairs.

“CAFFM would fund the materials for the smaller projects, so this agreement is just for the labor provided by the city,” Thompson said.

Per the agreement, the City of Foley and the CAFFM must try to keep it equal between how much repair work is done by the city and how much the city is able to use the facility.

“We try to keep it equal, and then the city has to declare the public purpose, which the public purpose is that it can be used for events for the community,” Sue Steigerwald, finance manager of Foley, said.

With the approval of the resolution, the City of Foley now has a new facility to use for any community event, and in case of rain there will now be a secure location to move outside events.