HUTTO, Texas — A discussion at a Hutto workshop meeting about possibly regulating farmers markets has sparked fear and uproar among some market owners and vendors.
Husband and wife Joseph Cortez and Daniela Medellin operate the city's farmers market every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. with roughly 40 small businesses under their belt. It's a venture they started in 2023 and one they operate in the downtown area and temporarily at the Hutto Discovery United Methodist Church due to the cold weather. It's one they want to continue operating.
"Being able to serve as a place that small businesses can come and sell their homegrown and homemade goods, it's incredibly important to us," said Medellin.
However, Cortez and Medellin said concerns about potential new fees and regulations in the future spurred debate after a meeting on Dec. 14.
"We expect responsibility; we expect communication; we expect a relationship; and we expect our elected officials to speak with knowledge, not just to speak with misinformation and opinions," said Cortez.
The initial focus at the December meeting was about how food truck operations are managed within the city, and eventually shifted to food vendors at farmers markets – specifically, where products are coming from and if there should be regulations.
"When people come into the city, we don't have a health department, but they do expect some level of regulation," said Mayor Mike Snyder during the meeting. This, in turn, led to those small business owners speaking before council at the Jan. 4 meeting to reiterate the importance of what they call their livelihood.
"This is the only way that I'm going to be able to go forward in my future and take care of my family," said one business owner during the Jan. 4 meeting.
According to Snyder, Hutto does not have any rules for vendors and small businesses that come in and want to sell items, and the workshop meeting was simply a discussion about possible ideas.
One idea thrown out there was to put all of the markets into the city-owned Co-op for seven days a week, at no cost.
"If something were to go wrong in town, we have no way right now – we have no way of knowing who's here because there is no permitting process that's currently being followed," Snyder. "We're not trying to impose fees on people. We're trying to have a little bit of regulation so everybody knows exactly who all is here."
But Cortez and Medellin are not convinced and believe if they were moved to city-owned property it would only damage businesses across the board.
"This is our home and we're going to speak up not just for the market, but for the community and for our neighbors and for all these businesses that are here today trying to make make a living in the ways that they can," said Cortez.
The mayor and city council are expected to take up the discussion again on Feb.1.