Ever since it opened in 2009 in the Sound Transit Plaza, the Auburn International Farmers Market has operated under the auspices of an advisory board, which helped set and recommend fees and policies to the City.

But that is likely to change, perhaps by Monday’s Council meeting.

Daryl Faber, director of Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation, said recently that, six years in, with market policies and procedures firmly established, the City, Market Manager Joanne MacNabb and others agree that the time when the market needed a formal board has passed.

“It was deemed we could switch over to more of a friends-of-the-market-type group, where we are seeking volunteers,” Faber said.

At the first council meeting of 2015, Councilmember Rich Wagner asked Faber why, given that other entities that the City operates, for instance, Auburn Municipal Airport and Mountain View Cemetery, have advisory boards, why should the farmers market be any different?

Faber responded that some do and others don’t. For instance, the Auburn Golf Course, Auburn Avenue Theater and the Auburn Senior Activities Center do not have advisory boards and are operated more under a wing of the Parks department.

“When you look at the farmers market, it’s a consecutive event that runs 20 straight weeks — and we just felt that while the advisory board’s advice has always been official, customer comments and vendor comments could still be accepted through a regular motion of the Parks department versus having a formal advisory board,” Faber said.

Faber said the City has notified all members of the present advisory board about the proposed change.

“We have complete confidence that we’ll be able to both use our volunteers, as we do at other community events, and staff that we have on board to continue to handle the operations of the market,” Faber said.

“More along the lines of an event like Petpalooza,” suggested Mayor Nancy Backus.

“Yeah,” Faber said. “While it happens consistently every week for those four months … and the advisory board has done a great job of putting all the keys in place over the last six years — it’s at a place now where we can keep its ongoing operations running smoothly and still rely probably on a lot of the same people who volunteer down there and provide advice for the operation of the market without there being a monthly meeting,” Faber said.

The Auburn International Farmers Market is open from June to September.