Community Garden Subcommittee (CGS)

August 9, 2010 6:30pm

  1. CALL TO ORDER

Co-Chairperson KimberlyGollcalled the meeting to order at 6:32PM.

Subcommittee Members present for the meeting were:

Co-Chairperson - Kimberly Goll
Co-Chairperson - Theresa Lostaglio
Member - Karsten Baumann
Subcommittee members absent from the meeting were:
Member - Kris Gardner
Member - Catherine Willis
Member - Myriam Rouzky
Member - Kechia Brustmeyer

Also present were the following staff members:

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services – Tony Chiotakis

Public Works Administrative Services Manager – Laurel Belanger
Public Works Parks & Grounds Superintendent – Steve Dickinson
Also present were the following:
The Honorable Jackie Holcombe – Mayor, Town of Morrisville
  1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
ACTION: Upon a motion by Member Karsten Baumann and a second by Co-Chairperson KimberlyGoll, the motion to adopt the agenda as presented passed unanimously.
  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
  • July 12, 2010

ACTION: Upon a motion by Co-Chairperson KimberlyGoll and a second by Member Karsten Baumann, the motion passed unanimously to approve theJune 17th, 2010, minutes as presented.

  1. NEW BUSINESS

“Passing the Baton”

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis stated that when the idea of a community garden was first initiated and the Town was trying to determine how best to discuss the idea with the public, and what format should be utilized, it was determined that a subcommittee would be formed off of a lead Advisory Committee. He continued stating that the lead Advisory Committee chosen was the Morrisville Environmental and Recycling Advisory Committee (MERC).

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis stated that the findings of the subcommittee should be brought back as a report to MERC as the subcommittee is not a committee of action. He added that the report to MERC could consist primarily of the survey results and a summation of the actions taken by the subcommittee along with a recommendation to MERC.

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis stated as MERC is a Council appointed advisory group, MERC could then approach the Council on what has been founded by the CGS and with a recommendation of what they feel the next steps should be. He further added that this would be especially important if the Town is going to be a part of the support system of the project.

Town of Morrisville Mayor Jackie Holcombe concurred.

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis suggested engaging the interested parties to see what their interests are and include this information in the report to MERC.

Co-Chairperson Goll stated that she thought that was an excellent idea that would enable the Council to watch the newly formed group grow whether it is independently run as a non-profit or as Town sponsored entity.

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis stated that he thought it would be a good idea for CGS to report back its findings to all the Advisory Committees that had comprised the membership of the CGS in addition to MERC. These would include the Planning and Zoning Board as well as the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee in order to let all parties know that there has been some conclusion to CGS’s initial work.

Co-Chairperson Goll inquired as to where the current subcommittee would like to go from here. She added that perhaps the 47 interested individuals from the survey should be contacted and their input be part of the report back to the Advisory Committees.

Member Baumann wondered whether the 47 individuals would be needed to make the decision on the legal aspects of the new group’s formation.

Co-Chairperson Goll stated that she felt that the decision to become a non-profit or some other faction of organized structure should be decided by the core group formed from the 47 interested parties, as they will be the persons running the newly establishedunit.

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis stated that if the new unit decides not to go with the non-profit organization, but would rather be a Town supported association, this would have to be put before the Council for their approval.

Co-Chairperson Goll stated that the next step should be to contact the interested individuals and invite them to the next scheduled meeting of the GCS.

Public Works Administrative Services Manager Laurel Belanger suggested moving the site of the next scheduled meeting on Monday, September 13th, to the Town Council Chambers at Town Hall. She added that even if only a handful of people show up there will be no risk of not having enough room to accommodate a larger group of people if more attend.

Member Baumann suggested that a letter be drafted and an agenda planned in advance to send out as an invitation to all interested parties to attend the meeting in September.

Co-Chairperson Goll requested the help of other committee members in the drafting of the invitational letter.

Co-ChairpersonLostaglio volunteered to write a draft of an invitational letter to go out to those individuals who showed an interest in becoming part of the new management team for the community garden project.

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis suggested including a copy of the survey results with the invitation.

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis stated that once the new management group is established, they can, on their own, establish sub-groups to take care of land acquisition, equipment acquisition, etc.

Members began a discussion period on what information should be contained in the letter and agenda for the September 13, 2010, meeting.

Public Works Administrative Services Manager Laurel Belanger stated that once the invitational letter had been drawn and the agenda planned, she would email all the individuals that indicated that they would want to be part of the planning phase of the community and invite them to the meeting in September.

Public Works Administrative Services Manager Laurel Belanger stated that she had invited Michael Byrne, an attorney with the firm of Moore & Van Allen in Morrisville, with a strong background in legal considerations for beginning community gardens, to sit in on the next meeting for the purpose of being able to answer any type of legal questions that may arise.

Co-Chairperson Goll stated that the attendees to this next meeting will be fully informed of the needed process of reporting back to the full Advisory Committees and the Council before any firm development of a new management group can begin.

Public Works Parks & Grounds Superintendent Steve Dickinson stated that in looking at spring 2011 for an initial planting season may be a little overzealous in that it may be difficult getting the soil ready for planting. He further stressed that when a suitable plot of land is found that soil testing be done immediately.

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis stated that on the land option he had thought of several possibilities.

After identifying the potential land sites discussion ensued.

Senior Director of Community & Emergency Services Tony Chiotakis suggested that once the new committee becomes established these contacts would be worth getting in touch with to ascertain a viable location.

Co-Chairperson Goll stated that to date there had been no strong attempt to request land. She added as the committee moves forward efforts could be made to initiate cooperative sharing with established community garden entities to in the aide to locate and acquire a proper site.

Town of Morrisville Mayor Jackie Holcombe stated that once the community garden group was well established adding a hydroponics feature to the gardening options would be a very nice educational component toinclude.

Public Works Administrative Services Manager Laurel Belanger suggested that the CGS report to the full Advisory Committees at MERC’s first meeting in October. She added that she would invite representatives of each the other Advisory Committees involved to attend the MERC meeting and obtain a collective GCS update.

  1. OLD BUSINESS

Survey Questions –Final Results

Public Works Administrative Services Manager Laurel Belanger presented copies of the final results ofthe community garden on-line survey to the group for review.

Co-Chairperson Goll stated that there was a total 166 individuals that participated in the survey. She added that she felt that the numbers were excellent.

The members reviewed thecollective question results individually and discussion ensued.

Co-Chairperson Goll stated that with the survey indicating 47 individuals that would be interested in helping to manage and organize a community garden that the next step would be to get these people together and pass the organizational responsibilities on to them. She further stated she felt the current CGS had completed their job of researching the project and that it was time for the formation of a working group to start planning for a spring garden.

Public Works Parks & Grounds Superintendent Steve Dickinson stated that making contact with the individuals that showed strong interest in seeing this project unfold would ensure these same people that there is an active group following up on the survey results.

Public Works Administrative Services Manager Laurel Belanger stated that Public InformationOfficer Stacie Galloway had supplied GCS with all the email addresses of those individuals that indicated that they wanted to be part of the planning phase of this garden as well as those that just wanted to be kept in the loop with the project’s progress.

  1. COMMITTEE COMMENTS

No Committee Comments

  1. ADJOURNMENT

Co-Chairperson Goll then called for a motion to adjourn the meeting, and upon a motion by Member Theresa Lostaglio and a second by MemberBaumann, the meeting was adjourned at 7:20PM.

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Co-Chairperson Kimberly Goll Secretary to the Committee

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