City Council amends Farmers and Artisans License Exemption for farmers market vendors

During the Titusville City Council meeting on Wednesday, March 6, the Council amended the Farmers and Artisans License Exemption in Section 323.03 (e) and (h). Councilman Gavin Griffin said that this amendment came as a result from a meeting with some of the members of Titusville Renaissance, Inc.

The section now reads at point (e), “Farmers who offer for sale or sell, or who peddle from house to house or in the markets, farm or garden products produced and raised by such farmer; as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture.”

And at point (h), it reads, “Artisans who offer for sale or sell, as vendors of a market, any item of artwork, pottery, stained or blown glass, jewelry, rugs, blankets, ornamental objects, artistic floral arrangements, home furnishings, and other handmade items produced by such artisan.”

With these changes, the city hopes that they may be able to work toward bringing the Titusville Open Air Market back inside city limits.

During the manager’s report, city manager Neil Fratus stated that there are three prospective proposals for road paving this year in 2024. He suggested going for the middle proposal offer, at $266,875. He thought it would best service the city, though the city would be short $35,267 of what it had from fuel funding and carryover.

Fratus offered a few ideas to make up the difference, which included using the funds from the Raccoon Refuse performance bond with the savings from the playground equipment. They had allotted $150,000 but only used $85,000. There was also $9,000 from the Raccoon Refuse bond that wasn’t allocated to anything. And the city also has a loan repayment savings due to no longer paying a loan, a savings of $90,000. He added that the potential sale of the city parking by the hospital could go toward it, which would come in at about $52,000 with the sale.

Councilman Gary Thomas asked why certain streets that aren’t well known or trafficked are being paved. “My concern is that there are other streets that could be looked at with higher traffic blocks.”

He continued, “A lot of times we pave streets that nobody knows wehre the heck they are. They’re little known—sure, they’re important—but nobody knows where these streets are. And then they say, ‘Why aren’t we paving some places that are more noticeable?’”

Deputy Mayor Sara Jones noted, “The inverse happens, too. ‘Why are they only paving Main Street when my small street you can lose a car on?’”

“I’m not saying it’s not important,” Thomas replied. “I’m just saying how people are gonna react … And I understand it’s a cyclical thing.”

Fratus also noted that the judicial sales at Crawford County Courthouse would be held on Friday, March 22. An old condemned property on North Drake Street would be for sale. It’s currently owned by a private family who is no longer interested in the property.

The Safety Committee had also met recently for the school zone study and crosswalk safety updates. Fratus said that they explored some signage ideas and where to place them. And they will be involving the school district as they continue to consider the options.

The city is working on a sale agreement with Titusville Area Hospital for the city parking by Roberts Grove. Fratus said that the Titusville Redevelopment Authority is working with the hospital for this sale on behalf of the city. There are 26 parking spaces, and the previous Council had approved the sale of the parking on the north side only, in the amount of $52,000. He also explained that the reason the sale is going through TRA and not the city is that the city would need to put the sale out for bid. But they only wanted to sell to the hospital instead.

Mayor John Frye asked, “What would happen if the hospital were to close? And they no longer want to maintain it?” He said that he thought it was highly unlikely that that would happen, but he wanted to know if there was a plan in case it ever did.

Deputy Mayor Jones said there was a clause in the agreement at some point in the past regarding it, but it didn’t make it to the latest edition. But it’s something the city could renegotiate.

Councilman Griffin also mentioned a donation to the Titusville Food Bank as well. As stated in a previous meeting, the Food Bank was looking to acquire a new freezer, and Griffin had suggested using funds from the Raccoon Refuse bond. Since then, an anonymous donation was made to pay for the freezer, which was estimated to cost around $3,000. Griffin suggested maybe the funds from the performance bond could be looked at use toward the crosswalk safety.