Jessica Conzo updated the City Council on the success of the farmers' market's move to downtown.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — So far, the farmer's market is seeing a 15 to 20 percent increase in foot traffic by moving to the First Street Common.

 

Downtown Farmer's Market Manager Jessica Conzo said the weekly event, now in its third season, has attracted thousands of shoppers and is on solid financial footing. The city provided $10,000 in seed money to get the market going for its first summer in 2013.

 

"We saw 10,000 people come through last year," Conzo told the City Council on Tuesday.

 

For the first two years, the market was being held in the parking lot across the street from the Common. The park was still in the midst of a massive renovation, which was just recently completed.

 

"It has been amazing. The Common is beautiful," Conzo said. "Our shoppers are loving it. It feels like a real farmer's market."

 

One drawback is that it is a little more difficult to move products in and out of the park, she said. But that isn't enough to keep the vendors away. Conzo said there is currently a waiting list of vendors who want to peddle their goods at the market. However, the organizers are growing it slowly to ensure that the vendors do make money. That includes putting limits on the amount of the same products.

 

"I think we have a fair amount of variety," she said.

 

Conzo said it took a little bit to get the farmers on board because other Pittsfield markets had failed in the past. She said it takes three to five years for a market to become established. Sponsors have really been the key so far, she said, because the market doesn't want to have to raise vendor fees above other markets.

 

An additional benefit is that the market accepts food stamps as payment and is launching a double value program, which gives shoppers using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits twice the amount of food for the same amount of money. Conzo said once that is more established, the market plans to do a push to get more people to use those benefits.

 

"We're fighting a tough battle against the food industry," Ward 6 Councilor John Krol said of the market, which supports local vendors.

 

In other business Tuesday, the City Council approved a tax incentive for the Berkshire Innovation Center. The tax increment finance agreement excuses 100 percent of all taxes for 20 years. 

 

The TIF had previously been held up by the City Council while a lease was being crafted. The council has not voted on a lease agreement though the city, Pittsfield Economic Development Agency, and the non-profit Berkshire Innovation Center Inc. have negotiated one that includes the city's agreement with PEDA to use land at the William Stanley Business Park and then the transfer the completed building to Berkshire Innovation Center Inc. 

 

The mayor also submitted his 2016 budget. The proposal is for $145,271,000, which includes a 1.76 percent increase on the municipal budget and a 3.5 percent increase for the School Department. The may also submitted a $10 million capital budget. The City Council will now review the budgets over the course of several meetings.

 

"This is essentially a level-service budget," Mayor Daniel Bianchi said. "It is a budget that I think is aggressive in our initiatives for the capital budget."