Meeting Minutes, September 15, 2009

Sorry for the delay in getting these out.

David Maidman gave a brief introduction and background of the process we have been using to come up with the PowerPoint/video presentation we had developed.

He then introduced Betina Ali and Cynthia Barros who went through the presentation and fielded the audience's questions.

We then broke down into smaller groups based on our neighbourhoods to discuss

• Why do you want to be a part of a community garden
• What values or traits would like to see in your ideal community garden (if you could make your dream community garden, what would it look like)?
• Do you agree these are the best two locations?
• What site would you like to see developed first and why?
• What do you think is the fairest and most appropriate way to allocate plots in gardens where there are few plots and many gardeners? Why?
• Should gardeners be allowed to keep the same plot year after year or should people on the waiting list be rotated through?
• What questions need to be answered to best develop a site into a community garden?

See the attachment Community Garden Group Facilitation. Results.doc for the results. To avoid the security certificate notification change https:// to http://.

The following sites were picked as the four best for Phase I development for the Royal City Community Garden Society.

West End - no one in attendance. The two recommendations for this area are the southeast corner of Grimston Park and 22nd Street and Dublin the BC Hydro right of way.

East of McBride - this group favoured the site in the alley between Simpson and Alberta Streets north of Columbia.

Uptown - this group favoured the east side of the front lawn of City Hall

Downtown - this group favoured the area of Albert Crescent Park near Carnovan and Elliot.

September 17

We made our presentation to the Community and Social Issues Committee and it was well received. They passed a motion recommending that City Council support the development of 4 community gardens in the City by 2011.

We are not sure when this will go to council but we will keep you informed so we can make a presentation in support. To contact the Mayor and Council to voice your support send an email to

postmaster@newwestcity.ca

Mailing address

City of New Westminster
511 Royal Avenue
New Westminster, B.C. V3L 1H9

Phone: 604-521-3711

In the meantime we are forming the following working groups to develop our organization and promote community gardens in New Westminster.

Structure/Governance - to research best practices from other community garden societies and develop the formation of the Royal City Community Garden Society and other governance protocols for the gardens.
Brennan Anstey will facilitate this group.

Design/Development - to look at other community gardens designs and develop a set of best practices for our gardens.
Angela Wanczura will facilitate this group

Fund Raising - to develop fund raising strategies and research and apply to possible funding sources.
Betina Ali will facilitate this group

Education - to organize educational workshops and bring in speakers to teach gardening skills to our members.
Lindsey Munson will facilitate this group

Publicity/Outreach - to keep the public informed of the progress of the gardens and to educate other groups and organizations about community gardens and our goals and objectives.
Cynthia Barros will facilitate this group

To volunteer to help out contact nwcommunitygarden@gmail.com and we will put you to work. By all of us working together and forming a community we can make these gardens happen.