[DCG] Meeting Notes 2009-04-13

Dundee Community Garden
Meeting 090413
Dundee Pres. Church, 6:00pm

Attendees: Mary Green, Sharon Conlon, Rebecca Reagan, Deb Hickman, Aaron Elliott
Eric Williams, others… see hand written sign in sheet
Grading – Eric will look at his office to find out about what we could do
Alex suggested his uncle has a bobcat we might be able to use
We will need to get a hold of him

4902 Underwood
Owner has a contract drawn up by a lawyer for another property
Sharon has contacted him twice, including today, and is waiting to
hear back from him
Sarah Newman suggested around a dozen (12) plots would fit, but no
layout has been shown yet

We need to establish a board to vote on
Plot size, cost, management
Rebecca does a 1/4acre garden at 165th & Center, they grow 1,000 lbs
per year for the Food Bank
They watered by hand, but that took too long, from a church up a hill
Now they have an underground system funded by a grant
People volunteer to help for maintenance through the Douglas County
Extension agency

Aaron suggests that there are some "stranger people" and crime in the air
We'll need to come up with some way to separate it from the surrounding area
A community area for anyone to harvest from would help limit the crime

Alex will talk to his step father about getting grading equipment

We'll want to do soil testing
Tancy has volunteered to collect soil and take it to Midwest Labs
$10 for lead, $20 for "fancy pants testing"
basic testing is for pH and basic nutrients
they need 1lb of soil from a few locations, taken either 6-8in, or 12inches deep
it takes 5-10 working days, lead takes longer than the basic tests

Financing
Tancy will pay for the soil testing, but she'll save the receipt
We'll want to set up an official organization, possibly a bank account
For a bank account we'll need a Federal Tax ID
Eventually look at 501(c)3, but not immediately
We should talk to Dundee Bank here in the area for our bank account

Do we want to talk with the Dundee/Memorial Association this evening?
What would we want from them? Do we want to be a subsidiary organization?
It may be an additional level of bureaucracy, but they probably won't
want any more responsibility

Aaron was planning on talking to them this evening, Eric and Sharon
will stay around as well

Organizational structure
See Gifford Park list of members
Board Members, a number of standing committee members

Expectation for Board Members
attendance at monthly meetings
availability for On-Demand meetings

Do we want to have advisors on the board?
Sarah Newman, Scott (from Indian Creek Nursery)
We should meet with the owner at 4902 and have board members sign the agreement

Will we need an official lease from the owner? This is listed in the
Gifford Park paperwork

We will have a different board for different garden locations

Insurance
We need coverage, b/c the "hold harmless" clause probably won't be enough
Gifford park pays $1 to Chris for the year, will that allow us to use
renter's insurance?
It seems they have an official lease, making them renter/rentee

Sub-Committee Established
Deb Hickman, Monica
Tool injuries, bad food, etc…

Harrison
April 2nd Mary, Sarah Newman, Jo, Deb met with the principal
Filled out paperwork for use
Jerry Bartee came to Harrison School, left the message that this
request was not going to go thru
Because we had said "$15 for a plot", you can't pay for land
Principal would like to see the PTA more involved, new President will
be coming in June 2009
He wants to see how 4902 works
Conclusion: It looks like this site will not be workable this year
We will try to talk to the PTA in the fall when they actually attend
the meetings
We will establish a Harrison Committee

Grants
Monica has learned through Farmer Training about "Free and Reduced
Lunch" program grants
Deb saw a number of grants for gardens, none required 501(c)3, but all
were due March 1st
Tancy has a meeting tomorrow for Douglas County Board of Health,
Rebecca will also attend
Rebecca will be happy to help with the kid's-health-related work at Harrison

Board Members
Is everyone here interested in serving on the board? Yes from all
regular attending members
We will cap it at 12 board members, leaving room for other interested
people who aren't here tonight

Official name – Dundee Community Garden
First official vote – do we like that name? All in favor…. Yeh's have it

Officers
Nominations will be taken, but it must also be voluntary
Co-directors? Mary Green and Sharon Conlon
All in favor? Yeh's have it

Stewart from Creighton Law jumps in… "How about an Interim Board?"
Possibly for 2-3 months until things are up and running

Deb will be interim Treasurer
Eric will be interim Secretary/Rain Barrel Expert

EcoStore in Lincoln
Suggested that we talk to them about rain barrels, they have
food-grade suppliers

NOTE: Sharon drove here in a pick-up truck this evening
Eric will talk to her about collecting barrels from Jones Barrel this week

Tancy wants to make sure that it is OK to collect dirt from the 4902 site

What will we provide?
Land space, water… that's it
Bring you own tools, potential that Aaron will allow us to

Action Items
Establish a board – Interim Board has been established
Vote on by-laws – most likely after the permanent Board is established
Federal tax ID – Eric will take care of this
Dundee bank for the bank account, Bill Brush is a director and is very
community oriented
Rain barrel design/placement for 4902 Underwood – Eric will have
Sharon pick up and deliver barrels
Aaron will talk to his landlord about the rain barrel locations
Meet with property owner of 4902 – he's back in town 090414, Sharon
will contact him tomorrow Tancy will get lead/soil testing
Find out about insurance, sub-committee will look into this
Grading, hopefully by Alex's uncle, Alex will ask when he is available
Tancy knows someone who will deliver a truck load of Oma-Grow for $60 on request
Monica knows someone who might be able to deliver top soil

Short term BONUS meeting
April 27th, 6pm Dundee Pres. Basement

Agenda
We want plans from Sarah Newman by April 24th, emailed to the board members
Talk to neighbors, let them know what's going on and offer them plots
Workshop, education program for neighbors
Start a library, Alex and Monica are working on a worm garden
Eric wants a "sauce garden" instruction manual, Tancy may have one available
Find out if Gifford Park operates as a non-profit sub-organization of
the Neighborhood Assoc.
If so, contact Bob w/ Dundee/Memorial and set a meeting time with the Board

Regular monthly meeting
May 11th, 6pm Dundee Pres. basement