The Pitt County Board of Commissioners took no action to modify a new schedule at the Leroy James Farmers Market after discussing concerns raised at this week’s meeting.
Six people including regular vendors addressed the board about the county’s decision to operate the market on Saturdays only when it had been open on Fridays as well for much of the year. The commissioners met on Monday.
The market, 4560 County Home Road, is scheduled to reopen on March 16 following repairs to its roof, accessibility improvements and cleaning by county staff. Other renovations will include a paved lot expected to cost about $250,000 and be undertaken in the fall after the county cements its fiscal year budget.
It will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday. Its schedule is set at the approval of the county manager by staff recommendation, a spokeswoman for the county said.
Vendor and Farmers Market Advisory Committee Board member Patricia Shegas said low-income and senior patrons would not be able to make use of the City of Greenville’s bus system to reach the market because the buses don’t run on Saturdays.
Shegas also told commissioners that grants previously received by the market let it offer half-off produce to residents receiving EBT or SNAP benefits, which she said would be for naught if people could not attend the market.
John Romeo, a produce farmer, said the reduction in hours could impact the freshness of his crop. Patron Michelle Graziosi said that weather conditions hurt harvests last year. She questioned why the county would limit the hours that those farmers could operate given the circumstances.
Pitt County Manager Janis Gallagher and Assistant County Manager James Rhodes said the small number of vendors typically at the market on Fridays does not justify opening the facility that day. Rhodes reiterated that the schedule can be adjusted if demand increases.
Commissioners Tom Coulson and Chris Nunnally expressed concern that one day a week is not enough to allow for the market’s growth. Coulson specifically asked what logic or data would be used to determine different hours.
Gallagher said that vendors meeting with county officials were interested in more communication with staff. She said an online portal could be used to track factors that would show when operating more than once a week was sustainable.
Nunnally said he was worried that one or two days of operation a week would not provide a significant enough sample size to show expanded hours were of use to the market. Gallagher said that the market, unlike a restaurant, is dependent on vendors selling their wares and cited an incident last year where on Friday, Sept. 29, no vendors attended the market at all.
Commissioner Ann Floyd Huggins said she trusted that staff and the market’s advisory committee would be able to determine if and when hours should be expanded.
In a related action, commissioners voted unanimously to expand the market’s advisory board from five to seven members. Commissioners appoint members to the board.
The new board will include four agriculturalists and three at-large members who can be made up of other vendors, patrons or people interested in the market’s operation. The new members will follow the standard appointment process employed by the county, Rhodes said.
The memberships will be staggered and Rhodes said that the board will see four new members once new appointments are made, with two members’ terms coming to a close and two new spots available.
Sheriff’s pay raises
Pitt County Sheriff’s Office deputies and other certified, non-civilian positions will be receiving a pay raise beginning Feb. 18 after a unanimous vote by the board.
The board approved a plan developed by Gallagher and Pitt County Sheriff Paula Dance with no discussion on Monday. The plan eliminates four vacant positions to accommodate the increase. Gallagher said that salary analyses have shown sheriff’s office pay is below the average among Pitt County agencies.
The plan will reclassify deputies, detention officers and telecommunicators for raises ranging from 4.8 percent to 9.6 percent depending on pay grade.
The annual cost of the raise is just over $1 million, and an additional $366,620 is required to fund the raise through this fiscal year. Gallagher said that if those funds are not in the sheriff’s office’s balance she will make the board aware prior to the fiscal year’s end in June.
The positions will be reclassified at the next pay period on Feb. 18.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 19 in the Eugene James Auditorium in the County Office Building, 1717 W. Fifth St.
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