Fresh fruits and vegetables will not be for sale at the Flossmoor Public Library parking lot this summer.

Village officials announced Monday that the Flossmoor Farmers Market, a downtown attraction since 2006, has been canceled, at least for this year.

Staff members recommended to Flossmoor trustees that the market, a joint project of the village and library, be canceled for 2015. Most village board members indicated that closing the farmers market is the proper course of action; it has been mostly unsuccessful for years and in 2014 attracted only a handful of vendors and few customers.

“I think you are making the right recommendation,” said Trustee James Crum.

Trustee James Mitros said that people who go to farmers markets are looking for a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

“But we never got to that level,” he said.

Mayor Paul Braun, a supporter of the farmers market, said he was disappointed by the staff recommendation.

“We’ll just have to see what the community says about the loss of the market,” Braun said.

Assistant to the Village Manager Kimberly Richardson explained that library officials have already decided not to be a farmers market co-sponsor for 2015.

“If the board decides to continue the farmers market, please understand that with the loss of the library’s partnership, it will increase village staff time to recruit, manage and promote the market,” she said.

Richardson said the market required at least 200 hours of village staff time per season, costing Flossmoor approximately $7,640 each year. In 2014, she said, Flossmoor and the library spent $2,000 to promote the 18-week market, while only bringing in $800 in fees from vendors.

Different strategies were pursued in promoting the market, Richardson said. Ads were taken out in local newspapers, direct mail was utilized, community organizations were allowed to promote their programs and the market was promoted on social media.

“With all these efforts, foot traffic remained stagnant with approximately 30 to 75 customers a week and high vendor turnover,” she said. “By the end of the 2014 season, there were only two vendors present on the last day of the season.”

The Flossmoor Farmers Market was originally started in 2006 as a project of the Downtown Flossmoor Business Association. By 2008, the organization no longer wanted to operate the market, she said, and it was taken over by the village and library.

The market operated under a special use permit stipulating that it could only take place Fridays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those hours posed a challenge, Richardson said, since most working adults are not around at that time. Also, other nearby towns – including Park Forest, Homewood and Frankfort – have their own well-established weekend farmers markets.

Richardson said that Flossmoor residents knew that they could go to other towns for their farm-grown fruits and vegetables at times that were more convenient for them.

On average, Richardson said, the market was able to retain four vendors per season. Over six years, village staff recruited more than 44 different vendors and only six stayed for more than two seasons.

“This low retention caused staff to spend up to 20 hours a week during prep season locating new vendors for replacement,” she said.