The Petrolia Farmers' Market is delaying its opening to give vendors time to put COVID-19 safety measures in place.
The town's director of facilities and community services, Dave Menzies, said it was scheduled to open Saturday, May 16. He said when the market does open, there will be new rules for patrons to observe.
“We are working on creating new traffic patterns for patrons and safety protocols for vendors and patrons," said Menzies. "Limiting social gathering is one of our biggest challenges and changing of the layout of the market is just one of the details that we are working on to help combat that concern.”
He said they have between eight and 15 vendors and the majority are producers.
Menzies said all are on board with applying the brakes for now.
"We're looking at foot traffic signage, plexiglass shields, helping any of the vendors with e-commerce to avoid cash transactions. There's a number of items that we're working on to try to make the farmers' market as easy to operate for both the town and the vendors and easy for residents to come pick up some fresh produce."
Menzies said they'll announce a new starting date as soon as the new regulations and layout are tested and approved by Lambton Public Health.
Farmers' Markets are identified as an essential service in Ontario, but will be limited to only food vendors in Petrolia.
Kerr Café on site will remain closed until further notice.