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Farmers Market founder resigns from Greenport Planning Board

JULIE LANE FILE PHOTO | Greenport Farmers Market organizer Lara McNeil serves soup on Oct. 15, when the market closed for the season.

Lara McNeil has stepped down from her position on Greenport’s Planning Board, but says her decision has nothing to do with the difficulties she recently encountered in seeking to open the Greenport Farmers Market on village property.

Ms. McNeil, who served as chairwoman, said she resigned March 1 after serving for five years because the combination of running the market, work and studying to become a registered dietitian made her feel “tapped out.”

The decision wasn’t a result of the Village Board’s decision to increase permit fees for the market’s use of a municipal parking lot to $2,500 for the season, she said. Over the weekend Ms. McNeil announced an agreement to move the market to the Greenport United Methodist Church at 624 Main St. north of the downtown commercial district.

“I made a strong effort to keep the market separate from the Planning Board,” Ms. McNeil said. “I enjoyed serving on the Planning Board and I hope to serve the village in some capacity in the future. I just can’t do it right now.”

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