- We should write up a formal agreement with our landowner, which gives us permission to build the community garden at the Pleasant Ave. property, and allows us to maintain it for a certain term, with an automatic renewal of the agreement if appropriate.
- A copy of our full insurance policy should be sent to our landowner.
Raised Beds
- Jorgen brought a sample of the donated oak lumber for our raised beds to the meeting, and demonstrated how the corners of the frames should be constructed for maximum durability.
- The raised beds will have an interior dimension of 4 ft. X 10 ft. X 10 inches high.
- The lumber is 2 inches thick and is extremely heavy. The frame pieces should be pre-cut before being moved to the garden site for assembly
- Some of the students in the local Future Farmers of America group have offered to build the frames for us.
Final Site Plan - Comments
- The water tanks will be very heavy when full, about 8000 lbs. each. We need to raised the bottom of the tank off the ground slightly to allow room to fill buckets under the spigot. Because of the weight it's important to find out what kind of foundation is required to prevent the tank from collapsing. Some of the soil that is removed for the parking lot installation could be mounded up into a platform shape to support the tank at a convenient height.
- The hydrant will be near the edge of the parking lot, and needs a protective barrier that is visible in a rear view mirror.
- We need to include at least 1 portable toilet in the plan. It can be placed at the edge of the parking lot to allow for truck service. Need to determine prices for Porta-John rental and add to budget.
Final Membership Agreement - Comments
- The annual membership prices are $25 and $45, to help us cover the expense of bringing water into the garden. After the first year we will have a better idea of what our water usage and expenses are, and we can lower the price of membership dues if possible.
- We should offer to sponsor a few memberships for families for whom the annual fee would be a financial hardship.
Full Project Budget
- The full cost of the project is $24,888.48. We have raised $4587.35 in cash and materials donations from the community. The remainder of the funds will need to come from grant awards.
- We should select the most basic items from our full budget and create a bare-bones cost to get the construction started this year. A proposal will be made to Milly's Pantry to provide a temporary loan of this smaller cost until we can receive financial assistance through grants.
Basic Budget
- Our priority expenses should be: building permit, gravel entrance with 1/2 of the parking area, fence with 1 gate, 1 water tank with hose bibb and 2 - 50 ft. hoses, a tool shed to secure our property, 1 wheel barrow and a couple hand tools, 1/2 of the raised beds, and a sign made of 1 painted sheet of plywood.
- The full cost of our priority expenses would be $8547. We have $2000 of those funds in the bank at this time.
- We should ask Milly's Pantry Board of Directors to loan us $7000 to help us get the construction started.
Fundraiser Ideas
- In order to take advantage of the large amount of foot traffic, we should try to set up a bake sale table at one of the local summer events: Keuka Arts Festival, Penn Yan Community Open House, Pickin' in the Street, Cruisin' Nite, etc. We need to contact the organizers of these events and find out costs to participate.
- The fundraiser will be a good opportunity to share information with the public about the community garden project.
- A simple handout will be printed in bulk through Keuka Lake Enterprises. These can also be distributed to area businesses.
- Bake sale items will need to be individually bagged to keep sanitary. We should probably have ingredients labels on bags, to protect people with food allergies.
- Food bags, tables, and chairs may be available through Food for the Needy.
- Leftover items from bake sale can be given to the Red Cross to add to emergency food distribution.
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