Bexley Community Garden
Meeting Agenda and Minutes Form
Date/Time | 12/04/09 |
Location | Bexley City Hall |
Committee Name | Executive Committee (partial) |
Meeting Purpose | Discuss ComTil, plow dates, water lines, fencing, and next year memberships |
Attendees: Jay Brand, Bruce Langer, Barb Neubig, Jessica Evans
Alysha Clous-absent
Meeting Agenda: Short meeting called by Barb to discuss various topics
Meeting Minutes:
Bruce brought a copy of the Parks and Recreation “Friends of Bexley Community Garden” 2010 Roster. 13 Plots have been reserved so far, 11 of those were reserved by Bexley residents.
Jessica brought copies of the 2010 BCG Committees Roster. It is posted on the Blog. Master Gardeners Barb Neubig, and Diane Gosser will be added to the Roster under “Garden Mentors”. There is a possibility that a third Master Gardener will assist next year. Barb plans the Master Gardeners will be available 1 night a week at the garden during the growing season to answer questions and help gardeners.
Topics Discussed:
Plowing-Fall plowing is done. The plowed area of the garden has been expanded to 170x60 ft. It was decided that we need to stake and flag the 4 corners of the garden to prevent the water line contractors from accidentally seeding this area with grass. Bruce is going to talk to Dave Koch (city engineer) to see if corners can be marked. Mark (City of Bexley) is planning to plow the entire garden again next spring during the last week of March depending on the weather. Too much early rain will delay the plow date, which in turn will delay marking plots.
Compost-Bill Dawson from Franklin Park Conservatory contributed 40 cubic yards of compost and 20 cubic yards of shredded leaves. This was plowed into the garden in November. Thanks Bill! Barb Neubig has volunteered to arrange for ComTil purchase and delivery around the end of February or beginning of March. Thanks Barb! Our preference is for it to be delivered in the spring while the ground is still frozen. We discussed locating the pile in the NE corner near the compost bin. All gardeners will be responsible for adding ComTil organic fertilizer to their plots on their own. A list of local farms which offer free manure will be added to the Blog. Jay found two local farms that have free manure available.
Water- A water line and two new spigots are being installed by the city. The spigots will be 3-4 feet from the road in a grassy strip next to the garden. It was discussed that this area will be fenced into the garden so that they are protected. We have one hose from last summer that is owned by the city. We would like to borrow it again next summer (maybe the city will donate the hose if we ask?). And, we discussed the need to buy or otherwise obtain a second hose for next summer. There may be funds to purchase a second hose by spring. The completion date for water line construction is unknown, but should be done by spring.
Fencing-Most of the fence from last summer was taken down in November for fall plowing and to allow access for water line construction. One section of fence along the North is still in place. The current plan is for the city to re-install the fence around the perimeter of the garden and include the grassy strip with the water spigots after Spring plowing -probably some time in April. Bruce said he was told there is a population of deer in the area from Alum creek and we agreed that it appeared the height of last year's fence was adequate to keep deer out. It would be great to have the fence back up to protect our early seedlings.
Grass-The water line contractors will re-seed grass along the road after construction is complete. This is part of their contract. Barb was concerned about them accidentally seeding the garden since the edges weren't marked. As mentioned, Bruce volunteered to see that the corners are staked and talk to the engineer about the grass seed.
Grants-A rotary grant was submitted early this fall and the results are pending. If approved, this could provide the garden with significant funds (up to $3000) for next year. UPDATE-the grant was approved! Great news and congratulations to the fundraisers!
New Gardener registrations-We discussed advertising in the City newsletter (waterbill) in January. Press releases in “Bexley News,” “This Week” and “The Messenger” were also mentioned. There is also a Bexley Parks and Recreation newsletter. SNP was suggested as a possibility for advertising. These suggestions will be taken to the Communications committee (which will be scheduled to meet in late December). The present committee members believe all advertising should be directed from the communication committee and approved by Alysha if possible.
Next Meeting-The next meeting is tentatively planned for Thursday January 28. The Executive committee will meet first at 6pm, and a general meeting for Friends of Bexley Community Garden will be held at 7pm. January 18 and 19 are other date options if the 28this not going to work for the majority of committee members. The purpose of the pre-meeting is to discuss and vote on plot designs. Anyone wishing to contribute a plot design should send it to Jay Brand before the next meeting date and plan to attend the executive committee meeting to present and discuss the advantages of the design. The agenda of the general meeting is to
1-present the final plot design, 2-discuss plot mapping strategies, 3-ask for volunteers to be part of the plot lay-out committee, which will physically lay-out the garden design in the spring, 4-ask for volunteers to monitor the garden on a weekly basis, 5-discuss plot membership status and discuss advertising, 6-Mention the Spring operations schedule (Plow date, ComTil delivery, Plot Layout, Fence replacement) 7-open the floor for questions or comments
To Do:
1-schedule communication committee meeting last week of December with Rebecca, Jessica, and Alysha (anyone who wants to join, please contact me and I will add you to the committee list)
2-post these meeting minutes on Blog, notify all Friends of Bexley Community Garden
3-update committee Roster with Master Gardener names
4-Confirm date for January meeting, notify all Friends of Bexley Community Garden
5-Confirm “Thank-yous” to donors are sent out by end of 2009. Alysha volunteered to take care of this activity
6-update Blog with a schedule of meetings and activities
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