RIPON – Could the streets of downtown Ripon soon be abuzz with local farmers peddling freshly picked wares?

When the Ripon City Council meets tonight at City Hall at 7 p.m. – located at 259 N. Wilma Street – one of the items that they’ll be discussing is the possibility of bringing back the once popular Farmer’s Market to the downtown area.

The Ripon Chamber of Commerce has been researching the item – which was placed on the agenda by Mayor Chuck Winn – for some time now with no clear-cut direction coming out of their investigations.

“I know that Danielle (Pierce) is in Rotary so she probably mentioned something about us looking into it and now that’s what the council is doing,” said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dorothy Booth. “There are a lot of things that still need to be worked out.”

According to Booth, it still isn’t even known whether the event would be able to be held on Main Street – which comes alive in the fall with the annual Main Street Day Celebration and hosts thousands for the Almond Blossom Parade.

While something like a weekly farmer market – which recently got underway in Manteca and several other communities throughout the Central Valley – would definitely bring foot traffic to Ripon’s commercial core, it could also make transportation for emergency vehicles next to impossible.

“We haven’t talked to all of the merchants yet to see what they think about the event, but a lot have been receptive to welcoming people in to see what kinds of interesting things that we have down here,” Booth said. “We’re still going to have to wait and see how the investigation turns out and what the council has to say on the matter.”

For a copy of the meeting’s agenda, visit www.cityofripon.org and click on the government tab. Both current agendas as well as past minutes are available.

To contact Jason Campbell, e-mail jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com, or call (209) 49-3544.